leatherique kit #3 Redye***before/after pics***

[///M42 sport]

I bought this kit after hearing all the good reviews about leatherique. Well after two weeks of scrubbing and conditioning my front and back seats I have to say this project is not for the faint of heart. Although, to be fair, I worked on it a couple of hours everyday so thats why its taken so long. If you plan on tackling this project, I highly recommend having another car to drive around b/c to be thorough, you need to take your seats apart. Also with leather seats our age, it takes a fair amount of conditioning to turn the seats soft again. The spider cracks are a pain in the ass to sand b/c most of them occur along the stiching so you have to be very careful not to break the threads.

I'm currently at the last prep stage before the redye, however after testing a spot with dye, I discovered its near impossible to apply the dye evenly by hand. NOWHERE was this mentioned on their site. As careful as I am air bubbles still appear when I try to brush the dye on and I learned that you have to CONSTANTLY stir the dye in order to prevent the pigments from settling down. I wish I had four hands to do this job! I'm pissed b/c now I can't finish the last step w/o my seats looking like shit... I'm currently looking for someone with a spray gun to finish the job. More money down the drain. $175 for the kit +$50 for extra materials, and now $$$ for someone to spray my seats! :evil:

[bimmer8604]

ive heard the same thing, leatheriques stuff is good, but yes, it is very involving. I havent had any experience with their dye, but you should beable to spray it on.

Have you thought about maybe doing a few light coats? Like brush some on, and then maybe using a rag to buff it or something? again, i dont know exactly with what your dealing with, but i know with most shoe leather dyes or something you apply it, then buff it out smooth with a rag.

I would def. reccomend using just the normal leatherique reconditioning products tho.

Good luck!
kyle

[///M42 sport]

yeah thanks but its near impossible to keep brush strokes from appearing. The dye is also lotuswiess so its really hard to get the same shade brushed on since the pigment settles so fast.

[japspecvr6]

had the same problem.....i would never recommend it.....

[///M42 sport]

I'm currently trying to spray the dye on. It seems to be working better but I have to call leatherique up to get the correct dilution ratio.

[///M42 sport]

Well I finally finished the restoration project. I ended up using a product that allowed me to spray the dye on the leather. I did multiple thin coats and it took me a whole day to spray my interior.

Couple things I learned about the spraying process. On vinyl the first coats is supposed to look like shit. Once you have 3 or 4 coats on, then the color will look more even.

The when sanding your leather, make you its absolutely smooth or it'll show when you put your dye on.

Its been four days since I put the dye on. Appearance wise, I'm happy with the results. The interior looks brand new. However it doesn't feel smooth b/c I still need to smooth out the dye. It took two solid weeks of hard work to do my front and back seats. If I had to do this over again, I would have saved up to have the seats recovered. However, if you have more time than money, then I would recommend the leatherique kit.

I'll have to post before and after pics soon.

[///M42 sport]

used this to spray on dye, worked very well once I got the hang of it.



before

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wNDM5NTUzNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D

after

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTA2MzUxMTZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

Sorry they're pretty crappy pics taken with a cell phone. Basically all the cracks and spiderwebbing were sanded down till the leather was smooth again.

[bimmer8604]

Wow, that looks good. My dad just bought a redye kit for his e36, I dont know what brand, but i know it wasnt leatherique. hopefully it turns out pretty good. I'm not there to babysit him anymore

kyle

[YAN-3]

WOW man that looks whicked good. too bad i have my sparco seat in now. But still a sweet investment for leather seats.

[///M42 sport]

Just got a digicam

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTEwNzE3NzZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTEwNzE3ODZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTEwNzE4MDZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTEwNzE4ODZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTEwNzE3NjZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

[optimusp517]

that's looks pretty damn impressive for just a dying job.

[grapedrink]

Damn nice job. Got any before pics?