What this really is, is when the leather turns a blue color where your back, butt, or arm rests on the wet leather and the dye from your clothing is then transferred to the leather.

The dye from your clothing is actually dyeing the leather in your car. The leather soaks it up like a sponge, like I’ve always said “What you put on leather stays in leather”, and as you see it’s true.

Whats really bad about this is there’s is no cleaner to remove this from the leather without damaging the leather or the leather’s original dye, at least not one that I know about. Your only solution to this is to have the seats, armrests, ect. resurfaced or dyed to bring it back to it’s original color.

I’d have to say the cars that I see this on the most are Lexus, Toyota, and Infinity, all have light interiors with a soft leather that just soaks it up.

I worked on and Infinity G35 today that had it bad, the door panel all the way down was blue not just where the guys arm was. It dyed the plastic part below the leather wrapped armrest, that was pretty surprising to me. Usually it’s the leather seats, armrests, and console lids are what gets the most damage.

This is one problem that there’s not an easy quick solution too, other then maybe using a towel to sit on when your out in the rain or if your out on a hot day.

When your leather seat turns blue from the dye in your clothing don’t try to remove it with solvents or harsh cleaners, all this will do is make a bad thing worse. All solvents will do is remove the original dye from the seat along with blue color and dry the leather out, causing it to crack later. Remember “what you put on leather stays in leather”. Just call your local automotive interior professional, like myself The Interior Guy, and have the leather seats, armrests, console lids, ect. dyed back to it’s original color and luster. This will not only save you time but money too. Why replace when you can resurface!

Talk to ya soon,

Mike – The Interior Guy

This was a fun one….Actually it didn’t give me to much of a fit. The leather laid just right, I was able to pull it together quite nicely.

I first cleaned the leather seat thoroughly with my prepping solution, I know I always say this, but I can’t stress prepping enough, it is the only way to a top notch job.

Next I inserted an under patch with a pair of needle nosed tweezers. This step is crucial, this is what will hold the gap together. I use a cloth under patch that has a heat sensitive glue applied to one side of it. I cut it just right so that the patch covers the inside of the cut about a 1/4″ all the way around. When you put your patch in, put the patch in your tweezers so that the edge of the patch is at the tip of the tweezers and the rest is inside the tweezers, then slide it in, keeping in mind not to stretch the leather and adhesive side towards you. Then smooth it out so there are no wrinkles in the patch. Now I know there is an adhesive on the patch but I use a little leather glue to help a little more too. Spread the glue on the patch and the underside of the leather with a pallet knife or your finger. Pull the cut leather together by holding each end of the cut with you finger and thumb, then pull you fingers away from the cut, this will close the gap, then dry with a hair dryer.

The next step is applying your compound. I use a special compound that I get from my supplier that works really well. It’s a low heat compound that is sand-able and grain-able. I love it, but we all have our favorites. I first sand the area with a heavy grit sandpaper to give the compound something to adhere to, and again clean with your prepping solution. I then applied a layer of grip base for the water based leather dye and to give a little more sticky stuff for the compound. Now I start applying the compound. I apply thin layers with my pallet knife making sure the compound is smooth and fills the cut completely, feathering it out with my finger. When heating the compound be careful not to heat it to much, if you do the edges of the leather will curl, then your going to have a harder time hiding the leather repair, so low heat. Press your grain mold into the repair with your palm, not to much pressure or you’ll put an indention in the repair area. I put about two thin layers of compound then apply a layer of grip base then a layer of leather dye. I do this to give me an idea of where I’m at in the repair. You need to this for a couple of reasons, one to see if your done or to see if you need to add more compound, and the other is to get color in your compound, basically your sandwiching the leather dye with the compound.

When done your repair should be level, smooth, and blended with rest of the panel. Your color is a major thing when doing a spot repair, make sure it is spot on. Your repair may be level, smooth, and blended but if your color is off, your repair will show. If it’s close it won’t work……spot on.

Here’s the finished product, whew…. this one I was really proud of, you couldn’t even tell there was a cut when I was done. Now they don’t always mend this nicely. Every vehicle is different in so many ways. Your repairs will differ in many different ways, don’t be afraid to experiment a little, different under patches can be used, different compounds can be used to get the effect you need to achieve, and different techniques can be used to get that perfect repair.

If you have any questions with how to repair cut leather, leave me a comment or join my forum.

Talk to ya soon – Mike ” TIG”

Most of the leather seats I’ve noticed have a lighter middle with a darker outer part. Very few have the opposite, but they are out there. But none the less, dyeing them is no different.

Prepping the leather seat is of course one of the keys to your success, make sure you use your prepping solution to clean the seat thoroughly. You can find another article here for the solution I use to prep a seat. Now if your just going to do say a bolster, then you probably don’t have to clean the entire seat, but if the whole seat is being done then clean it thoroughly. This helps your leather dye adhere and less dye will be used because your not having to cover up dirt. I will usually clean the entire seat regardless, this ensures I have nothing to mess with my leather dyes, and when I’m done the leather seat looks new.

Lets just assume that the entire seat is being dyed…You’ve cleaned the entire seat and done the necessary repairs, you have your water based leather dyes mixed and ready to spray, and you have applied your grip base or sticky primer to the seat, now it’s time to dye the leather seat.

Here’s a big trick… I’ve seen a lot of guys not using this method and it’s definitely a time saver and saves on tape too which saves you money.

Don’t mask the seat off, yup don’t use tape. A lot of guys will mask off the sections one at a time and dye each section of the seat. Why….all you need is a piece of poster board or a plastic dealer license plate to use as a blocking card ( you know the ones that have the logo of the dealership on it, just tape up the holes and you have the perfect blocking card, and they flex too, so you can mold them around on the seat ). For those of you who don’t know what a blocking card is, a blocking card is just that, it blocks the paint from going where you don’t want it to. When taping off a seat it never fails either you don’t get it taped off right and you have lines or the worse thing that can happen and that is when you peel the tape off, dye lifts with the tape, arrrrrg, that is frustrating. By using a blocking card the lines are not as sharp and the leather dye blends nicely in the seams, and basically a no worry job can be achieved with one little license plate.

Now here’s where your talent comes in, you have to have good paint gun control to be able to do this. Just hold the blocking card up to the section you don’t want the dye to hit and spray the section you want dyed right up to the card, making sure to keep the card tight to the seam. If you get over spray on the section you don’t want dye to be on, take a little of your prepping solution spray it on your towel and carefully wipe it off. This assuming your using water based leather dyes, it won’t work with a solvent based dye, you will have to use lacquer thinner for solvents based dyes, but hopefully by now you have moved on to the water based leather dyes, they are so much more flexible and user friendly ( believe me been there done that ) and hold up a lot better, anyways they dye the leather from the factory with a water based dye, so why wouldn’t you want to use the same.

Not to go off on a rant but water based dyes are the best for automotive leather seats, period, they won’t crack or peel if applied the right way and if the right water based dye is being used you will have a guaranteeable job. If anyone would like to talk to me about the leather dyes I use in my daily routine, just drop me a comment or an email and I will HOOk you up with a leather dye that I feel is one of the best on the market today. When your done with a job the seat looks new, not painted or repaired, it just looks new. Lacquer based dyes are just a thing of the past, everything on the interior of todays vehicles are dyed with water based dyes, so why not use what the factory uses. I used lacquer when I first started back in 1999 and used them for about 3 years, and had a a lot of problems with leather seats turning out stiff and would crack after about a year after dyeing. I switched to water based and WOW! I was like a kid in a candy shop. My repairs were looking better, lasting longer, and the leather seats well just look new. Oh and one other thing no more headaches from the fumes. Okay done with my rant, on with it….

Start with the center section first, dyeing from the furthest point from you and working your way out. Spray light coats drying as you go. Once the center is done, move to outer portions of the seat, using your blocking card in the same manner. Now this part can be tricky, you have fresh dye that is a different color and you don’t want to get the darker dye onto the lighter dye, but if you do, wipe it before it’s dry, that way you won’t have to go back to the other color. I just use one paint gun, but if you want to save a little time use two paint guns, that way you can just go back and forth with your colors easily until you get the hang of using your blocking card.

There is one exception to the rule of the blocking card and that is the Ford Excursions rear seats. You may have noticed the light colored center sections, they crack and flake. I’m not sure if there is a problem with the leather in these rigs or the dye that is being used from the factory, but these things are terrible about cracking and flaking. Use your prepping solution and a 240 grit or even a 180 grit sandpaper and wet sand the sections, this will help to smooth out the leather before you fill. I have found it is easier to use a 1″ sponge brush to apply the leather dye instead of spraying and using a blocking card. The sections are just too small and it just seems easier to use a sponge brush. Just prep like you normally do, fill the cracked leather with your fillers, seal with your primer, then apply the leather dye with the sponge brush. Light coats as usual, drying between. The cool thing about this is the outer darker portion is vinyl and usually doesn’t need dyed, just cleaned. But the front seats do have leather outers and you can use a blocking card on those but I have used the sponge on those too, just dyed the outer with the blocking card and the spray gun.

Once your done dyeing the leather seat look it over good to see if there are any spots that you have missed or have any over spray. Nothing looks worse then colors bleeding together and parts dyed that weren’t meant to be dyed. If you don’t clean up your job you won’t have something you can be proud of or your customer can be proud of.

Topcoat with a low gloss urethane clear topcoat to give more durability and seal your job. Let dry thoroughly then condition. Cure time will vary depending on the weather conditions, usually 6-10 hours for optimal adhesion.

Keep in mind that dyeing two tone leather seats takes longer to do and can be tricky at times but good gun control, being able to position your blocking card correctly, and a lot of patience will pay off in the end. Just take your time and practice makes perfect.

Hope this helps you guys out and plan on hearing from me a little more. I’ve decided to start posting on individual jobs that I do on a daily basis if I can, there may be a few days that just don’t work out but I think this will help out a little more with getting the word out and help keep your automotive interior repairs the best you can put out. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to shoot me a comment or drop me an email and say hi, and don’t forget the forum, would love to get that going, it’s a great way for all of us repair craftsman to come together and strive to be the best at what we do by sharing ideas. Or if your a customer throw a question up and find a repair person in your area or get a tip from a professional.

Talk to ya soon,

Mike “TIG”

As a professional leather repair specialist I’m here to tell you that there are not to many products that can be used on a leather car seat that won’t remove the finish before removing the stain. Most leather in todays cars is a finished leather with a water borne urethane leather dye applied to it and is pretty susceptible to chemicals and can be removed pretty easily with a solvent cleaner. So when in doubt call a professional.

Water stains in Leather Seat….this is a pretty hard one to get rid of. I recently had reader send me an email on how he could get the water stains out of his car after leaving his sunroof open. This part is kinda for him considering I think I lost his email with pictures, I did get to see them though, so not all was lost. The pictures showed a crease that ran along the middle of the leather seat where the water had puckered the leather. In this type of situation there are two things we could do, one is sand the crease out and with some fillers and dye make the seat new again, this is where a leather professional comes in to play, or replacement of the section that is creased, that’s where an upholstery shop comes in. In these type of situations there aren’t any leather conditioners or cleaners in the world that will remove a creased or puckered leather, what happens is the actual structure of the fibers in the leather have been altered and what you see is what you have.

If the water hasn’t puckered the leather and has just left a stain, a little trick I learned from my good friend Dwain Berlin with Leather Craft Secrets, and you go to your bread box in the kitchen for this one. Take a piece of bread and roll it up into a ball and rub and blot the area with the bread ball, works pretty good. Dwain has a lot of great advice for leather care, and if your interested in some great fun with leather go check out his book, it’s quite impressive and I myself learned a few things.

Most of the time water will just evaporate and with no problems and the stains will disappear. If your car leather gets wet dry it as best you can with a towel and then condition it with your Lexol Conditioner. One way to dry the cars leather is by leaving the windows down and setting it in the sun to dry, or crack the windows and turn your car on with the heat on full blast and let it run for about 30 minutes. I’m not real hip on that one cause it’s a waste of gas but it does work to dry things out better. But always condition, some rain waters are pretty dirty and harsh and the leather needs those extra nutrients to keep it soft.

If the stains are just too bad then new leather dye is the only way to bring it back then call your local leather professional like me to come and make it new again.

Mold Stains in Leather Seat….Or mildew which ever. This one kinda goes along with the water stains. Take and mix a cup of water and a cup of rubbing alcohol and mix them together, take a towel and rub a small amount of the solution onto the stained areas, until the spot is gone, again watch for dye lift, this trick works pretty well and usually removes the mildew pretty quick without dye removal.

Food Stains in Leather Seat….This one can be an easy one if you just don’t eat in your car, but I’m just as guilty as most and eat on the run. A mild dish soap and warm water with a rag or scotch brite pad will do the trick in most cases. Most automotive leather is finished and food stuffs usually will wipe right off. If you run into a stubborn one though try a little all-purpose degreaser on a rag, don’t rub too much or dye may lift. If the stain on your leather car seat from food doesn’t come up with this then the dye from the food has penetrated the fibers of the leather and has dyed it, so it’s time for a professional leather dye job.

Aniline leather or NuBuck leather is a different story though, thats the soft stuff you see as an inserted piece usually in the middle of the seats. You can use the soapy solution but water spots sometimes show up, so a special cleaner works best for this kind of leather. One I suggest is from the guys over at Leather Magic, they have a NuBuck Leather Care Kit that is the answer to all your NuBack needs. This kit includes cleaners and conditioners for the soft stuff, this type of leather is delicate and should be treated as such. Don’t use your usual leather cleaners and conditioners on this type of leather due to fact of the oils in them will damage the look of the leather, then no more soft feeling NuBuck, so definatly check out Leather Magics NuBuck Kit.

Ink, Marker, and Crayon on Leather Seat….Urgent!!! Get to it as soon as you can! If the ink is fresh you have a better chance of removing it from the leather then not. Rubbing alcohol, with a little bit of acetone added will sometimes get it. I’ve heard of hairspray, tried it with not much luck. Usually when an ink pen and leather come together they marry and don’t split to easily. Ink is a dye and is made to penetrate whatever it comes into contact with. Most ink spots I’ve ran into I’ve usually had to dye the leather to cover the spot.

Crayon on a leather seat can be a booger if it’s melted in the seat, you can try this but be careful not to burn or pucker your leather. Take an iron and a paper towel and lay the paper towel over the crayon and with a low heat rub the iron over the paper towel over the crayon. The crayon will melt into the paper towel, move the towel around to clean spots until the crayon is gone, a little of rubbing alcohol should remove the remaining. This trick works on carpet and cloth too. If they’re just marks on the leather seat a little soap and water should do the trick or even a little rubbing alcohol on a towel works good to. If all fails there is a product from Protective Products Corp. that is all natural with no solvents that will remove crayon and lipstick it’s called Solv-It, but just like anything try a spot in an unsuspecting spot to see if it removes dye.

One last trick that I’ve read about around the net and am in the process of testing it, but it the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, they do work around the house, so why not the car too. I’ve removed crayon and marks on my walls before with them, I do notice it take a little paint with it though, but they do work. If you use one, be careful and don’t go ape sh$#, rub it then look, rub it then look, they will remove dye, so when using it take your time and check it as you go.

Sweat Stains in Leather Seat ….Salt stains from sweat can be pretty gross looking, but there is a little trick. Take and make a solution of 3 parts vinegar and one part water and wet a towel and rub the area clean, the vinegar breaks down the and helps to remove the stain.

Paint on Leather Seat….Paint removal on a leather car seat, well that ones a hard one. If it has dried it’s probably there to stay. If it’s a water color, just use soap and water to remove it. Latex house paint, you can try a little Goof Off but keep in mind this is a solvent and can damage the leather seat and remove dye. I have in the past been able to take my pocket knife and scrape it off. Wet the area first with a little water and lightly try to lift the paint off with your knife or even a razor blade, but don’t cut the leather. Mostly though this really doesn’t work without removing the dye underneath, but I have had luck sometimes. If its car paint, try a little paint reducer on a rag, but just wipe lightly and don’t soak the area with the reducer. Solvents and leather seats just don’t mix.

My best advice to all when it come to stains in your leather car seats, and that is to be conscious of what you do, try to keep our little Picasso’s pen free, keep our food out of our cars, roll the windows up and sunroofs closed, and always remember to treat the leather with your Lexol Conditioner on a regular basis, this helps to keep the leather car seats protected and soft and makes it easier to get the spills and accidents from turning into disasters.

But always remember that we leather repair professionals are here to save those leather car seats and bring them back to there original state. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me for all your leather repair needs.

There are so many different ways that a leather seat gets worn, the usual spots are the bolster on the lean-back and the outer panel or center panel of the seat bottom. Some of which have had sizable holes that depending on where they are positioned can be fixed with a low heat leather repair compound and an under-patch.

Now before I start any leather repair project I mix my water based leather dye. I look around the seat side for a clean spot to get a good match, if there isn’t a clean spot then I make one. Two reasons I mix my leather dye prior to starting and that is for one to make sure that I have the leather dye on board with me, which I always stock every night so I know I will, but you never know, and for second I want to make sure I get the color right before I start. Color match is a big thing to me, nothing looks worse then a bad color match. In fact you can ruin a seat if the color isn’t right, by not getting your color exact you won’t achieve the natural look of the leather seat and the interior of the vehicle. When mixing I always look around the vehicle to see the color scheme and make sure that I have a good match. Test your leather dye on the seat side, put a dab, dry it, if it disappears then your good, if not tint.

Once we have our leather dye mixed the right color with the appropriate amount of cross-linker, flex additive, and flat additive if needed, it’s time to clean and prep the leather seat. This is a very crucial part in the process and should not be taken lightly. If the area is not clean, prepped, cracks filled and leather primer applied then the leather dye will not adhere properly and you have a mess. So clean like mad.

First you take a spray bottle with a mild de-greaser mixed with water, a scrub brush, a scotch brite pad, and a towel and get to scrubbing. Spray the top portion of the seat first, scrub with the brush, then the scotch brite pad, and wipe it down. Pay close attention to the creases and the upper and outer edges of the seat, it has to be clean. Now move to the seat bottom, clean the front and the sides too, scrub it good, you don’t want to be putting leather dye over dirt.

After you have scrubbed the seat with the de-greaser, grab your spray bottle of prep solution which is a mixer of alcohol, acetone, ammonia, TSP substitute, and water mixed equally, and scrub the seat again with your scotch brite pad, this will remove any more goo left behind and prepare the leather for dye.

Once your leather seat is clean you can now get a little better picture of what kind of damage you have to the seat, the dirt gives you a false idea to the real damage, most of the time it’s not as bad as you first thought. The dirt makes it look worse.

Wet sand the damaged areas with 240 grit sandpaper and your prep solution, this will remove any ruff edges and you will notice the dye will lift and start to mix with the solution and fill and seal some of the cracks and worn areas on the leather seat, this is a good thing, use it. This gives you a smoother area to work with which means less filler to be applied, always remember less is better. So get the leather as smooth as possible. In the cracked areas if you fold your sandpaper and use the edge to sand the cracks and make them look more like a natural crease it helps. Now sanding with the solution, spray and sand until dry, the dye will start to kinda ball up a little, just keep sanding lightly until smooth, you want to use this dye as a filler too.

Once sanded apply a thin coat of grip base, or sticky primer to the seat with a wet paper towel and wiping it over the entire leather seat. Basically where your going to dye is where you need to prime. This will seal off the worn and cracked areas and give you good adhesion promotion for your leather dye.

Let’s chat a bit about the areas needing leather repair. The cracked areas depending on how deep they are will depend on the type of leather repair compounds to use. If the areas are pretty bad then I usually go for the low heat compound, but if not then I will use an air dry leather repair compounds. I have so many different types of compounds I use depending on the severity of the damage, it would be impossible for me to go into each. But one thing I try to keep in mind and that is to keep the repair area as small as possible and as smooth as possible, don’t glob your compounds on, thin layers curing between. Sanding in between the coats will help to keep things smooth and prepare for the second coat. Try using in some cases a 400 grit or even an 800 grit, this helps from lifting the compounds you just put on. When sanding low heat cured leather repair compound cool with your chill bar first, otherwise it will lift it. Cleaning as you go, always prep between coats of compounds, even a little bit of grip base between coats too and always after your compounds before dye is applied. Never hurts to dye as you go to see where your at in your leather repair, if you look good then finish the seat off and blend your leather dye over the rest of the seat. If not keep going, never just settle for ok, always go for perfection nothing less. Patience is a must, don’t get in a hurry or it will show, and in some cases hurrying your compounds will only cause you to take more time fixing your screw ups, so take your time.

Dyeing the leather seat takes finesse, start by dyeing the upper portion then work your way to the bottom and then out. This keeps from dragging your hoses across the fresh dye. Remember to dye lightly, drying in between coats with a hair dryer. Light thin coats, makes for a better job in the end trust me. When dyeing, a little hint use a plastic license plate or a piece of card board to slide down between the seat belt latch and the seat and use another one for a blocking card to cut down on your over spray.

Once dyed, it’s time for your topcoat. Top coating is a must to finish your repair off, that’s the way it’s done at the factory, dye then topcoat. This seals it all off and gives you more wear in the end, and thats what you want is a repair that lasts. I like to add a little slip additive to my topcoat to give the leather seat a softer and more natural feel. Check for over spray spots, and wipe them off by spraying a little prep solution on a towel and wipe it off, don’t leave a mess of over spray with your nicely repaired leather seat.

The seat should look new. If you did your job right, if the right dye was used, and the right steps were followed in your process to repair worn or cracked leather you should have a leather repair that will last for years to come and a happy owner of that leather seat.

The process of resurfacing leather takes certain steps to follow, which if not followed correctly, will cause the dye to lift and peel from the seat. As I have always stressed in all my articles is the prepping process. The only way to make a dye job on a leather seat look, feel, and last is to clean it thoroughly and prep the surface for maximum adhesion of the dye. Let the leather dye do what it is designed to do, don’t cover up dirt.

The way to to do this is to clean the leather seat with a scrub brush, a mild soap, and warm water to start. Scrub the seat from top to bottom, paying close attention to the creases and crevices in the seat, these are places for the dye to lift if dirt and goo is there. Wipe it down with a clean towel, again getting down in the creases.

Now the prepping process goes on. In a spray bottle mix in equal parts, water, rubbing alcohol, acetone, ammonia, and TSP substitute. Spray the seat in sections starting at the lean back, and scrub the leather with a scotch brite pad to scuff the leather just enough for the dye to adhere and to remove any more goo hiding out on the leather wiping clean as you go with your towel. This solution will also open the pours to leather and soften up the original dye for better adhesion promotion.

Once clean and scuffed apply a thin coat of grip base or sticky primer to the seat with a damp Bounty paper towel. Apply a thin coat to whole surface of the seat, basically where your going to dye is where the primer will go. Dry it with your hair dryer. This will give you a good sticky base for the dye to adhere to and make your job last.

Dyeing the leather seat takes finesse and good gun control, the dye needs to be applied in thin coats drying between coats or the dye will not adhere properly. One way you can tell if your applying the dye to thick is when you spray you water borne dye on the seat and it “fish eyes”. What this means is you will see little bubble like places in the dye when you spray it on. So thin coats and dry between each coat. Start your dyeing process on the lean back furthest from you and work your way towards you, down, and out. This helps to keep from dragging your hoses and cords over your freshly dyed seat.

Paint gun choice is up to you, but I will say a small detail gun is choice. I have tried the airbrush, I have tried the Prevals, and I’ve tried the siphon feed guns, and the best gun in my eyes for dyeing a leather seat is a gravity feed touch-up gun. They are small enough to maneuver around in the vehicle and hold just the right amount of dye to finish the job. I use the Sharpe 7040 HVLP a small very reliable gun, in fact I bought 2, one for back up. It sprays a small enough pattern to control, but not to small like an airbrush, and lays the leather dye nicely onto the seat. Paint gun choice to me is pretty crucial to making your job a success, so make the right choice when you pick your paint gun for maximum results.

Once the leather seat is dyed, top coat with your water borne clear. I always like to add a little slip additive to the top coat to give it a soft feel. Don’t forget to crosslink the topcoat, this will help to give you more chemical resistance. This process helps to seal the dye and give you a longer lasting leather resurfacing job.

After the topcoat is dry, apply your conditioner and stand back an drool over how nice that seat looks.

Now you have the confidence to stand back and know your dye will stay and your job was done right. I have been dyeing leather seats for a long time and I would love to hear your input on Leather Resurfacing. There are so many different things you will run into when dyeing a leather seat, so drop me a question or 2.

Now when I say small this can apply for a tear up to 1 1/2″ to 2″, probably might go a little bigger, but lets not push it, if it needs to go to the upholstery shop for an insert then that would be better then a crappy looking leather repair on something that probably wouldn’t hold anyways. When in doubt, insert it.

Prepping a seat is the key to success in any leather repair, and a lasting leather dye job. So, prep the whole lean back, and while your at it just clean the whole seat, why not, but you don’t have to, with your prepping solution removing all grease, dirt, and grime. You need a clean surface and a well prepped area to work with. When I prep, I use a solution of rubbing alcohol, acetone, ammonia, and a small amount of TSP substitute, with water in a spray bottle. Spray the seat with the solution and scrub with a scotch brite pad to scuff the leather seat for leather dye adhesion and remove any grime that’s on the seat, then wipe clean with a clean lint free towel. Once your clean, apply a grip base primer to the seat, I usually in most cases will dye the entire lean back when I do a repair or the entire seat, but sometimes it’s not necessary, so you may not need to prime the whole seat, but do clean the seat good this cuts down on the amount of leather dye used and the ending result will be a premium leather repair.

Now to the hole. Lets say it’s in a V shape, just for example. Like where you’ve gott’n out of the seat with something in your back pocket, ouch! I know the feeling, back in college I had a 1986 Mustang SVO, very rare and nice car (man I miss that car) and I got out to go to class with a pen in my back pocket and ripped about a 2″ V shape in the seat, I about puked right there, and of course at the time I didn’t know anything about leather repair. But now I do and here it is.

Sand the area around the tear with a 240 grit sandpaper, this gives a little more for the low heat compound to grip to. Take a piece of underpatch material and slide the under patch under the tear with a pair of tweezers, allowing about a 1/2″ on the inside all the way around. I usually cut my patches in a circular shape, it makes it a little easier to slide under. You can use different types of under patches, I like the kind that is coated on one side with a heat activated glue.

Now take a drop of leather glue and spread a thin coat on the patch on the underside of the leather repair area. If the leather will lay down smoothly and match up then great, but sometimes it just won’t. In this case we will use combo of the glue and your low cure leather repair compound and smooth a small amount over the patch then lay the leather down. Spread a small amount of low heat compound over the area and smooth it out with your pallet knife, remembering to keeping your area as small as possible, the smaller the better. Now heat the area with your heat gun, hold the heat gun out away from the leather repair and slowly move it into the repair area, this will give you just a little more control of the heat, you don’t want to burn and shrink the leather. The idea is to cure the compound and get it to adhere before you cook the leather, it’s a skill thing, practice makes perfect. Once the compound is cured immediately press the grain pad in your palm onto the repair, don’t press to hard, but firm.

At this time using a wet paper towel apply a small amount of grip base to the repair area and dye with your color matched water based leather dye. With your paint gun spray dry thin coats of dye, not wet. Then reapply and smooth out another thin coat of compound. Heat again and grain then dye, get the idea, what you are doing is building the repair up. Thin coats of compound applied and cured then reapplied, are much better then one thick coat. Once you have it built up and looking nice, blend the repair into the rest of the seat if needed, by applying thin wet coats of leather dye to finish it off. Drying between coats of dye with a hairdryer, and one great tip is rubbing the leather dye with your hands to force the dye into the creases of the leather helps a ton, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. I say that but I’m allergic to rubber gloves, it bites, so I come home every day with leather dye all over my hands, it’s a pain, but I love the work and the job looks better with a little bit of love rubbed on those leather seat repairs. After the dye is cured, apply a top coat of satin or dull leather clear top coat mixed with a bit of slip additive added for the soft feel. Dry the seat thoroughly, then apply your leather conditioner to finish and give the seat the juice it needs and a great feel and look for you.

Now there are so many other variations to this fix, sometimes I will have to use an air dry leather repair compound over the top of the low heat compound to smooth out the leather repair. Sanding it with a 400 grit sandpaper until it looks right. You can also turn your air down on your paint gun until little droplets are coming out to give it a textured look, drying between coats. Texture coatings, can be used, but if you do it right the gun effect works great. When I do a leather repair I won’t give up until it looks perfect. Patience is a virtue, right. Don’t get in a hurry, this will only frustrate you more and then you really got issues.

Leather repair is a craft and profession. The dyes and compounds I use are top quality and are made to last. Giving you a lasting leather seat repair, and comfort knowing you have a leather repair that will last and look great for years to come.

I hope this was some help to you, in the coming months there will be more articles like this one but on different situations on leather repair, liked I talked about in the first. There are so many different ways that a leather seat can be damaged, we spend a lot of time in our cars and well “sh$$ happens”, right. So check back to see my next article on automotive leather seat repairs. If you have anything you would like to ask feel free to shoot me some comments on Leather Repair – How To Repair Torn Leather Seat.

So, with that said I’m going to give you what I call the “quick fix”. A temporary fix to get you by until the car is sold or you get enough money to do it right. Now I’m not going to give you some substandard way of fixing your leather seat, remember I do this for a living and from time to time I have been asked to do the “quick fix” to get someone by. Although I don’t like doing that for the people I do work for. To me thats my name and reputation that is on that repair, but when someones in a pinch you got to help them out.

This is a seat in a 2003 Ford F-350 from a customer of mine that I fixed. If your seat looks like this it’s not gonna take much to make it look a lot better then that.

Supplies…. you will need some stuff before you start this project and most of them you can get from your automotive paint store.

• Denatured alcohol – used for prep
• sandpaper – used for prep and sanding of cracks in leather 240 grit and 400 grit a couple of sheets of each will be good.
• 1 aerosol can of Sem Plastic and Leather Prep - if not available not really necessary but nice to have. helps to open the pores of the leather to help the adhesion of the dye.
• 1 aerosol can of Sem Classic Coat or Sem Sure Coat leather dyes (if you get the sure coat, it’s waterborne and is a lot more flexible and more like the finish already on the leather and will not dry the leather out). But most auto stores only carry the Classic Coat which will work, just don’t load the dye on, the more chance for it crack later. Now take the vehicle with you or something to match the color, if you ask the guys at the auto paint store they can probably find the right color for you.
• A sealer of some sort is needed to seal the raw leather before you dye it but not always necessary. If available Thompson Water Seal will work, or a leather sealer like Leather Tac this will help the dye adhere to the raw leather and help to smooth out some of the rough leather. Another trick is glue, but it needs to be a flexible glue and one that does not contain silicone. If you can get leather glue from your local craft store that would be perfect. Glue will seal the leather and lay down the rough leather.
• 1 can of a plastic adhesion promoter, I like Bulldog easy to use and it works
• terry cloth towels
• paper towels
• soft scrub brush
• Scotch Brite pad – green one is fine
• latex gloves
• hair dryer – helps speed things up a little

Clean the seat thoroughly before you start. Mix a small amount of mild soap ( Dawn dish soap ) and warm water in a small bucket. Dip your scrub brush in the solution of cleaner and scrub the seat from top to bottom, making sure to get down in all the crevices of the seat, wipe the seat clean with the terry cloth towel. Now take the Scotch Brite pad and dip it in the solution and scrub the seat again, this time scrub in small circular motions, this step not only finalizes the cleaning process it also scuffs the dye on the seat to give the new dye something to adhere to. In some instance dye will come up when this step is done, don’t worry because your going to dye it anyway. Wipe the seat clean with a towel. Next, wipe the seat down with the denatured alcohol on a paper towel, while the alcohol is wet wipe behind it with a clean paper towel, to remove all the goo and silicon that will keep the dye from sticking to the seat,

Once you have cleaned the seat thoroughly, it’s time to work on the cracked or worn area. Take a strip of your 240 grit sand paper and dip in the cleaning solution and wet sand the area where the cracks are, you will see the dye start to lift and move around while you are sanding this is a good thing, move that dye into the cracks and use it as a filler. Wipe the area with your towel and see if the area is smoother, in cases where there are cracks is where I use leather fillers to fill in the cracks, but this is the “quick fix”. Now dry the area with a hair dryer if available. Getting the cracked area as smooth as you can get it will help to hide the worn area and make your repair look better.

Now if you the Sems Leather Prep use it now, follow the directions on the back, pretty simple, wipe on wipe off. If the area is still a little rough use the glue with your figure and rub it onto the rough area and smooth it out, let dry and sand it smooth. Seal the area if you can by wiping the sealer with a paper towel on the area.

Time to dye. Use a small piece of cardboard to use as a blocking card for the over spray. You will have some over spray so cover the areas with an old sheet, like the console and seat belts. Spray the seat with the dye holding the can 12 to 18 inches from the seat, using short swooping burst, don’t just start spraying away. Spray light coats, letting them dry between (use the hair dryer). You can sand between coats, if there are still some rough areas. In some cases if the cracks aren’t filling in, you can spray a heavier coat over the cracked area and rub it into the cracks with you hand. Two to three coats of dye should be sufficient. Spray the whole face of the seat to blend the color and make it look more uniform, remember short bursts and light coats. Now hopefully at this point you should be seeing a good looking seat.

This is what your seat should look when your done, granted I am a professional and I use all of the top of the line products, so yours may not look this good but it should be close.

Let dry for a few hours before you drive, but be careful, only sit on them if you have to. Optimal drying time is 8-10 hours for the dye to cure out totally.

The last step is to condition, I can’t stress this enough. Leather needs to be conditioned to keep it soft and flexible. There are several types of conditioners that are great to use, one I recommend to all my customers is Lexol, it’s created by a company that deals in just leather products. Just pick a good one and make sure you put it on, it will finish your job and make your seats feel and look great.

Hopefully this helps you in you leather repair adventure. If you have any questions about your leather repairs don’t hesitate to contact me, there are so many different situations that have so many different ways to fix them. It’s really hard to put it all in one article. So join my forum or email me with your questions on how to fix cracked leather.