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Leather Refurbishment DIY (loads of pic)
As some people have asked me how i redid my seats im gonna post here some pictures and how I did.
First a took out my seat´s from the car and went to my local upholstry guy who redid the foam in both backrest and seat, as the backrest was completly flat and the seat cushion where to soft as you could feel the metal support.
The things you will be needing for this job is as following:
Air compressor:
Paint gun, i used a SATA mini jet:
Maskingtape:
Mask:
Gloves:
Alcohol:
Microfiber cloth:
Miracle sponge:
Rug Upholstry:
Sanding paper 320 and 500 grit
Leathermaster B/C color (i used black)
Leathermaster Top 3 (gloss or non gloss I used the later one)
Leathermaster leather compound
Here is some picture of how the backrest looked before I went to the upholstry guy and change foam, and a picture after.
Before:
After:
First step
The first step is to vaccumclean the seats and remove all trimings on the side so it get easier to aplly paint everywhere, also you don´t mask things up as much.
Second step
Use gloves from here and forward
Clean the seats with the miraclesponge and a mixture of water and Albrite´s rug upholstry (1:5) spray the mixture on small areas and use the sponge to clean it (no pressure just gentle strokes) wipe the seats down with some microfiber cloth or what you have that dosen´t leave any contaminations.
Third step
After the seats have been cleaned, take a microfiber cloth and use T-red (alcohol) to take out any fat and grease
Step four
Apply the scratch remover everywhere you want to fill the cracks and such, use it in thin layer either with a brush or your fingers. Let is cure for 10-20 minutes or speed things up with a heat gun (i didn´t)
Step five
Take the mirka sandingpaper 320 or 500 (if you use the 320 you must use the 500 after) and sand down the leather compound you used in step four until it feels smooth.
Jump back and do step four again and five until you are satisfied, i filled my cracks about 5 time before i got satisfied.
Step six
Take the microcloth and wipe the seats one more time with T-red (alcohol)
Take a sponge and some dye and color up where the leather is really bad or missing (very white marks as you filled the bad parts with leather compound) Let it cure until it´s non sticky, apply everything very thinn.
Step seven
Take the masking tape and mask everything that you cant unscrew and wrap everything up that you don´t want to re-color.
Step eight
use gasmask for the following steps
Time to paint, fill your cap with paint and start painting the seats, use low pressure and paint severall thinn layers, after your satisfied let it cure for 12-24 hours.
Step nine
The paint should be cured and it´s time for the top 3 top coat, if you don´t use this the color will vanish in some time. You can use glossy or non-gloss, i used the non gloss as glossy leather looks dirty in my eyes.
Same thing with this move, apply thinn layers until you feel satisfied, I had to use extremlly light coats as i couldnt wait 12 hours for it to cure, Ive speeded it up with a heat gun and maybe let it cure for 4 hours or so. Nothing i recommend people to do but i was in a hurry that day.
Step ten
Take a microcloth and apply some leathermaster protection cream or any other brand and wipe it dry, re-assembled all the trimmings and re-install in car. Have maybe forgot something but just ask away.
Upholstry foam cost 45£ for each seat, and color, top coat and such I payed 55£
Bought from a leatcher repair shop and got enough to take on the rear seat aswell.
So a total of 145£ (Had already the other products but say 45 quid more with protection cream, t-red, sanding paper, glovers, microcloth, sponge, tape and so)
Good Luck all !
Also for those who think this looks hard and just want that fresh look, this result can be attchived just by using the mraclesponge and some albrite rug mixture. Just use some protection cream afterwards
First a took out my seat´s from the car and went to my local upholstry guy who redid the foam in both backrest and seat, as the backrest was completly flat and the seat cushion where to soft as you could feel the metal support.
The things you will be needing for this job is as following:
Air compressor:
Paint gun, i used a SATA mini jet:
Maskingtape:
Mask:
Gloves:
Alcohol:
Microfiber cloth:
Miracle sponge:
Rug Upholstry:
Sanding paper 320 and 500 grit
Leathermaster B/C color (i used black)
Leathermaster Top 3 (gloss or non gloss I used the later one)
Leathermaster leather compound
Here is some picture of how the backrest looked before I went to the upholstry guy and change foam, and a picture after.
Before:
After:
First step
The first step is to vaccumclean the seats and remove all trimings on the side so it get easier to aplly paint everywhere, also you don´t mask things up as much.
Second step
Use gloves from here and forward
Clean the seats with the miraclesponge and a mixture of water and Albrite´s rug upholstry (1:5) spray the mixture on small areas and use the sponge to clean it (no pressure just gentle strokes) wipe the seats down with some microfiber cloth or what you have that dosen´t leave any contaminations.
Third step
After the seats have been cleaned, take a microfiber cloth and use T-red (alcohol) to take out any fat and grease
Step four
Apply the scratch remover everywhere you want to fill the cracks and such, use it in thin layer either with a brush or your fingers. Let is cure for 10-20 minutes or speed things up with a heat gun (i didn´t)
Step five
Take the mirka sandingpaper 320 or 500 (if you use the 320 you must use the 500 after) and sand down the leather compound you used in step four until it feels smooth.
Jump back and do step four again and five until you are satisfied, i filled my cracks about 5 time before i got satisfied.
Step six
Take the microcloth and wipe the seats one more time with T-red (alcohol)
Take a sponge and some dye and color up where the leather is really bad or missing (very white marks as you filled the bad parts with leather compound) Let it cure until it´s non sticky, apply everything very thinn.
Step seven
Take the masking tape and mask everything that you cant unscrew and wrap everything up that you don´t want to re-color.
Step eight
use gasmask for the following steps
Time to paint, fill your cap with paint and start painting the seats, use low pressure and paint severall thinn layers, after your satisfied let it cure for 12-24 hours.
Step nine
The paint should be cured and it´s time for the top 3 top coat, if you don´t use this the color will vanish in some time. You can use glossy or non-gloss, i used the non gloss as glossy leather looks dirty in my eyes.
Same thing with this move, apply thinn layers until you feel satisfied, I had to use extremlly light coats as i couldnt wait 12 hours for it to cure, Ive speeded it up with a heat gun and maybe let it cure for 4 hours or so. Nothing i recommend people to do but i was in a hurry that day.
Step ten
Take a microcloth and apply some leathermaster protection cream or any other brand and wipe it dry, re-assembled all the trimmings and re-install in car. Have maybe forgot something but just ask away.
Upholstry foam cost 45£ for each seat, and color, top coat and such I payed 55£
Bought from a leatcher repair shop and got enough to take on the rear seat aswell.
So a total of 145£ (Had already the other products but say 45 quid more with protection cream, t-red, sanding paper, glovers, microcloth, sponge, tape and so)
Good Luck all !
Also for those who think this looks hard and just want that fresh look, this result can be attchived just by using the mraclesponge and some albrite rug mixture. Just use some protection cream afterwards
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