Daytona Seat Leather recondition?

check out Leatherique pretty amazing most high end detailers here in La use it have many photos on Website just got some it s really inexpensive 30-40 bucks

 

Yes, call Mike at 818231 9077. I found him out through Damian at Fusion Motor Sports. Mike is not known to Ferrari community at all because he is low profile, takes your car in his climate control garage and does such an awesome job that the car looks like it just left the factory paint bay. He is hard core detailer with no nonsense attitude. He just detailed my 67 Duetto that I exhibited at the recently concluded Dana Point Concourse D'Elegance. I wished I had entered it for judging as the paint was as good as any classic in the show.
The only problem with Mike is he is not mobile, but than doing jsutice to paint prep in a climate controlled garage with all his gadgets is worth the trouble.
Off course the other one is Jason from Excliber 805 233 2237. Jason is the tried and tested Ferrari detailor for the entire city. If you are specifically looking for Leatherique revival for your seats, Jason is your man as I believe he uses Leatherique quite a lot. Regards, Adil.

 

Why is this?

I've used it before.... it was messy and kind of labor intensive, but 'dangerous' it aint.
What did you have to be "very careful" about, it's just some kind of natural oil (fat liquor, some have stated).

 

+1. I use this stuff on my F + MB cars

 

I wonder if the leather dye broke down due to the product?
Very strange as my seats had absolutely no reaction other than being restored to practically new suppleness.

Don't know if the bottles say it, but "test in an inconspicuous location" is usually the norm when trying something new. I lucked out with my seats.

 

Also wonder how old the seats were in your Esprit?

Maybe the age or quality of the British dye (or leather itself) plays a factor?


Too bad really as I'm in love with this messy gunk.

 

Most good detailers can sand, and re dye your seats and make them look factory fresh...should run about $300-500 per seat.

 

Do you guys recommend leatherique recondition oil or dye? I have some scuff on side bolster as well. Would the oil be sufficient to hide the scuff? Is that DYI and fairly easy to do? Do I need the leatherique cleaner to clean up the oil that was applied?

I currently use Zaino Leather Conditioner and Zymol Leather conditioner. Both are very good for maintenance. I need something stronger for restore.

 

For physical repairs like scuffs I bet you would need to go to a dye or something. The oil is really more of a rehydrator-type product. I don't believe they advertise it as a product that masks flaws.

Well, as two individual accounts of this product have stated here in this very thread, it sounds like it can be very good or very bad. My experience has been extremely good, others indicate it breaks down the dye (or something).

If you use the leatherique oil then yes I would advise their cleaner as well. As odd as it is this cleaner just looks like milk but somehow it really does seem to break down the oil so you can mop up the residue. Don't ask me how it works since it looks like such a simple product but I can attest that it does seem to help a lot.

If you decide to use it, sounds like caution should be used just in case something happens to the surface of the seats. YMMV

 

Leatherique is amazing for cleaning and softening the leather. If the leather is scratched or wrinkled, it may work a little, but don't expect miracles. If it did perform miracles on that level, women would be putting the stuff all over their bodies!

If the leather is actually worn so that the gray/white is the result of the dye being worn off, you may need to redye that area. Leatherique will provide you an exact matching dye if you send them a small sample that you can cut from underneath the seat. Or if you want a quick fix, just rub a little black shoe polish on it. I've done it a number of times and it works pretty well. Just apply the polish a few times and make sure you rub it in and wipe it well so that it won't rub off on your clothes.

As you know, The Rejuvinating Oil is applied to the leather first. The longer you let the oil soak into the leather, the better the results. Then you wipe off the residual oil with the Pristine Clean. If you wanted me to come down and do the process, I'd suggest having me detail the rest of the car in between the 2 steps.

 

Seat may have had a dye job that was breakin down great effect on my grey interior

 

Used Leatherique rejuvenator and conditioner on my sad looking very worn black leather seats on an 11 year old BMW with an incredible result! Looks close to brand new! Wish I took before & after pictures. However, when I tried same Leatherique on my 2004 360 Spider Daytona seat bolster area, looks like it took previous dye off, and now those fine cracks look more pronounced. Now I am afraid to apply Leatherique on rest of the seats in fear of getting other previously dyed areas coming off and becoming more visible.

Has anyone experienced this? Any suggestions?

 

What is hard about using leatherique to do a redye? I have black seats so my thinking is it would be straight forward

 

I have lots of personal experience with leatherique.

Ferrari 308 complete re-dye: Used the spray method, as if it was paint. Took about a week total, not 40hrs labor, but each step needs to sit as does the dye in between coats. Please just read the leatherique site for the details.

Porsche Boxster: Complete redye. The leather was in good condition just had changed from the lighter orange red (boxster red) to a deeper red. In some spots there was wear as well, but it still looked good. On this car I also used the leatherique carpet dye, perfect and easy. I used the paint brush method on the Porsche so I could leave the dash in the car. The paint brush was easy, and was a 2 day job. The only trick is to use an expensive brush from an artist store. If you pay less than $20 you have the wrong one. I used a 1" square brush.

Preparation is key, like most projects.

*Possible Issues: If you re-dye just one small section, it might not match the rest of the surface, and thus look different. Different = bad. The swatch you send, or a pre-matched factory color might not match your current leather because your current leather has been exposed to the elements; sunlight, air, salt-air, human skin oil (yuck), etc. Thus I recommend re-dying the entire interior if you want perfection. In the case of a seat, you may need to re-dye both seats so they match. This is ONLY if the dye does not match perfectly.

**Always test on a small section, and let the dye dry! Dry dye looks different than wet dye. I tried to touch up my couch, sent swatch, ordered dye, tested on small spot, looked perfect, but when it dried it was not as shiny as the rest. Thus it looked bad. The couch was coated in some type of polyurethane with a shine, the leatherique dye is flat, like car leather.

I use leatherique Rejuvenator oil (now just called rejuvenator because there is really no oil in it) to keep my F430 Cuoio looking brand new. Its simply the best.

Now some photos:
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That stuff is amazing and the photos are the proof. I use it in my interior and Wow...it's great!

 

Just used the leaterique and pristine clean that I purchased as a kit for $60.00
I too had a little wear on my driver side bolster. This stuff works amazing I treated the entire interior leather with great results. The bolster fade has softened up and looks much better. It also took out the shine in the black leather that made it look like vinyl.

You do have to be patient once the first stage is started, rubbed the leatherique in by hand let the car sit outside for a few hours then in my warm garage for the next 24hrs. Cleaned all the residue with prestine clean and I am extremely happy with the results.

 

Thanks for all of your input. I agree that Leatherique is an amazing product. My black leather seats look near new again.

I am just concerned about rejuvenator taking previous dye off since I prefer not to redye my seats unless I have to. Have you guys noticed rejuvenator taking dye off also? I think I found one thread mentioning it.

Also, my Daytona seats have black inserts; do I need to treat that area any different than the tan area?

Thanks.

 

Let me tell you my story. Had less than stellar results with the dye. Did the rejuvenation process by the book (rejuvenator oil then prestine cleaner). Then applied prepping agent on a small area of the seatback bolster, which had the most wear. That area had several areas where the dye was completely worn thru, basically in the same state instructions call for (sand until dye is gone but before leather becomes suede). I didn't do any sanding, and I'm glad I didn't. Applied the dye with a less than perfect brush, but that should only affect how smooth the finish is, and not the adhesion of it IMO. When I was finished, color wasn't a perfect match. I can understand that because seat looked lighter on the back, and had about 2 or 3 different shades in the front, with the typical wear areas being darker, so a perfect match throughout is all but impossible.

Now to the worst part, and the answer to the above quote. There was a black mark on the newly dyed area, and when I rubbed it with prestine cleaner, the dye started to come off like a rubber coating (I'd say by the rubbing, not the cleaner). And before that, I noticed the new dye was 'scaly' when I pinched the leather, telling me the dye didn't adhere nearly close to factory. My main concern was the dye also came off from the raw leather, so I was happy I didn't sand anything, or I'd be in much deeper trouble.

Bottom line is this product might be great for full dye jobs, with everything sanded, AND applied with a sprayer, like it's suggested. And preferrably by a pro who has done it before . All I wanted to do was repair a few small areas worn out so seats looked like new again. Leatherique suggested buying a brown dye at Hobby Lobby and try to match the more yellowish color of my seats, and buy a better brush. I'll try that and post results, but I'm not too optimistic about that being a permanent job. Will try my best though. And no, I won't sand anything, and suggest any other DIYer (leaves any sanding for a pro who can guarantee the job on your expensive seats). In case the new touch-up job doesn't work any better, I'll continue recoating that area every time it peels off, as not to wear the leather any more. But won't coat the seat cushion bolster wear, like I wanted to, unless the color match is perfect, because it's much more visible there. Finally, with red stitching, you just can't apply the dye everywhere, making the job much harder, especially if you want to sand the leather. I just don't see how anybody could do a perfect job of redying everything and leaving red (or any other color) stitching like new. Below is a pic of the area I did (right after I was done, before it started peeling off after a few weeks). The repair is more obvious in the flesh, especially next to the stitching. Hope this helps some folks. Take care.
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I read the instructions and Leatherique says to apply it then let the car "steam". Obviously this isn't water vapor so what impact does it have on cloth and/or electronics in the car? I would expect it to be absorbed into the cloth surfaces, including the carpets.

I have never used the product so thoughts and comments.

 

I agree with ELP_JC that Leatherique may not be the best product for seats that had touch-up dyed areas. Rejuvenator definitely took off previous dye from my seat, and the area now looks more worn than before.

But for non-dyed seats like my BMW black leather, it did an amazing job! Totally beat up scuffed and faded seats now look brand new! I left the car in the hot sun after applying Leatherique rejuvenator (sprayed then massaged with latex gloved hands) for about 8 hours, and no other cloth or plastics got affected.

I highly recommend this for non-dyed seats of all condition, but would caution those seats that were spot dyed.