Leather
Posted: 25 Jul 2004 01:41 pm
I thought that i would share my success with you all! I bought a full set of leather from the scrap yard, with the front seats burried beneath about an inch (approc 2.5cm) of broken glass! 'Shock' i hear you all gasp! Anyhow, many cuts scrapes and major bleeds later the full set of leather front and rear, including door cards was out! And what a state it was! I'll take you through what i did...
First the seats were hoovered to remove the rest of the bloody shards! Once hoovered a Leather & Vinyl cleaner was rubbed on, left to soak then cleaned of with a lightly damp shammy!... See the Picture...
The far chair has been hoovered and cleaned, whilst the closer of the two has had neither!
Once the chairs were both cleaned, black shoe pollish was used carefully with a cotton bud, and rubbed into the worn or cracked areas! Once dried, the treated areas were buffed to remove excess. Finally the faces of the seats, i.e. the real leather bits were treated with leather feed, which feeds, nourishes and revitalises the leather, as i hope you can see in the clear difference between the two below chairs...
The chair on the left has been repaired (with shoe polish) and fed, where as the one on the right has just been hoovered and cleaned!
I hope these pictures are helpful, in showing what a bit of TLC and Elbow Greese can do for a once thought of as 'a ruined set of leather'! Personally i think the results are brilliant!!! I'm Well Chuffed.
Now for those disbelievers of you, who think the leather is fake! Other than very very expensive prestige cars, leather seats are usually described as, and are 'leather faced'. This means the bit you sit on and have contact with! Therefore the sides and back of the chairs are a leather 'look-a-like' such as vinyl! The wear patterns of leather and vinyl are clearly different, as leather, a once living material dries out and cracks, vinyl just looses its fake leather grain! I have yet more pictures to describe what i mean...
This is the leather tongue from behind the rear armrest, covering the ski hatch! Look at the felty back, definatly leather! (vinyl has a white cotton mesh on its rear)
.
I shall look out the names of the cleaning products used if any one wishes!
Cheers[/b]
First the seats were hoovered to remove the rest of the bloody shards! Once hoovered a Leather & Vinyl cleaner was rubbed on, left to soak then cleaned of with a lightly damp shammy!... See the Picture...
The far chair has been hoovered and cleaned, whilst the closer of the two has had neither!
Once the chairs were both cleaned, black shoe pollish was used carefully with a cotton bud, and rubbed into the worn or cracked areas! Once dried, the treated areas were buffed to remove excess. Finally the faces of the seats, i.e. the real leather bits were treated with leather feed, which feeds, nourishes and revitalises the leather, as i hope you can see in the clear difference between the two below chairs...
The chair on the left has been repaired (with shoe polish) and fed, where as the one on the right has just been hoovered and cleaned!
I hope these pictures are helpful, in showing what a bit of TLC and Elbow Greese can do for a once thought of as 'a ruined set of leather'! Personally i think the results are brilliant!!! I'm Well Chuffed.
Now for those disbelievers of you, who think the leather is fake! Other than very very expensive prestige cars, leather seats are usually described as, and are 'leather faced'. This means the bit you sit on and have contact with! Therefore the sides and back of the chairs are a leather 'look-a-like' such as vinyl! The wear patterns of leather and vinyl are clearly different, as leather, a once living material dries out and cracks, vinyl just looses its fake leather grain! I have yet more pictures to describe what i mean...
This is the leather tongue from behind the rear armrest, covering the ski hatch! Look at the felty back, definatly leather! (vinyl has a white cotton mesh on its rear)
.I shall look out the names of the cleaning products used if any one wishes!
Cheers[/b]
on that "bloody seat"? LOL 
