Leather Sport Seat Reconditioning/Restoring

[itsonlygeorge]

I recently picked up a set of black sport seats that are pretty dry and have some deep cracks here and there. I've been researching various products. I want to find something that will add strength to the leather and fill in the cracks. Has anyone used these products?

Leatherique - read good and bad things and I am not convinced it will work well.

Leather World Repair Kit - I saw a good restoration thread using Leather World repair kit, but it doesn't seem to hold up and the cracks come back.

Colorplus Soffener - seems legit, some sites swear by it.

Furniture Clinic - seems good and has "Leather Binder" solution that is supposed to strengthen and fill in leather cracks. Anyone used their products? The Leather Binder specifically.

Leather Doctor - read some good reviews of Leather Doctor products, but I have no idea what to use. way too much stuff on site.

I am leaning towards using Color-Plus Soffener to recondition the seats along with their Flex-fill to address the cracks, and a dye to re-color the seats.

[dogze30]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/45458-Leather-Seat-Restoration

[itsonlygeorge]

That's pretty amazing stuff. I wonder how well it will work on deeper cracks and if how well the crack filler will hold up. I took a few pics of the conditions of the seats. I guess I will order some of the Colorplus Soffener and Flex-fill and do a write up as I go along.

[itsonlygeorge]

Drivers Seat:




Bolster:




Cracks:


Rear Seat:

[TimeMachinE30]

That is patina, sir. Even the back-seat. Busy car!

[itsonlygeorge]

That is patina, sir. Even the back-seat. Busy car!

Yea, I kind of like it how is, but I want to take care of the leather.

[FL318is]

I have the same set up. Vert front, sport rear, black. I used leatherique. Worked pretty damn good on cracks and with dye. BUT, get other opinions

[15Michaeljoseph]

Damn! look at that back seat! You buy the car from Ron Jeremy?

[audiquattrot]

I don't think there is a product out there that won't 'recrack'. Me personally after going thru the fill/redye process....my suggestion is to skip the whole 'fill' step, and just sand down the cracks as best as you can, and just redye over that. All those cracks you see WILL resurface, just a matter of how long that will take. Dyeing it alone will make those seats look 100xs better once its all black.

[itsonlygeorge]

I am more concerned with the deeper cracks and strength of the leather. I don't want the leather to rip. I don't mind how the wear looks, I just want to feed the leather and ensure it will last.


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[itsonlygeorge]

So how do your seats look now that the filler has begun to crack? Is it worse than it was before? Got any pics?

[TimeMachinE30]

Since you are redying...the parts with deep cracking where you are concerned with the material tearing...try to find replacement skins. The dye will bring them all to the same color.

[Big swifty]

I've used black Meltonian shoe polish with good results.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=329337

[AndrewBird]

There is no filler that won't crack. Leather IMO should NEVER be sanded/filled/painted. Leather that looks like yours is not savable IMO, or at least not worth it. You will spend a lot of money and time trying to make it look good only to end up with a mediocre result.

Most of the "dyes" are actually paint and will rub off and/or crack overtime. The kits that are actually dies are a lot of work and will only color the leather, not fill cracks. Cracked leather is damaged and can not be returned to it's original finish. Sanding will only make things worse by removing the tanned surface.

Your best bet is to get them re-covered.

Personally, I hate leather. Lots of upkeep, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, slippery, etc. Cloth is so much nicer in all regards.

[itsonlygeorge]

I understand that the leather is past saving or restoring. However, I just can't afford to rewrap everything right now and I want to bring the leather back as much as I can to get some use out of it. I would at least like to recondition the leather to bring some flexibility/moisture back to avoid further damage. It would be great to hide the cracks and re-dye as well.