Advice wanted on recolouring vinyl upholstery

[mikendeb]

I am planning on changing the colour of my seats / vinyl trim and have been mulling over the options of fitting standard off-the-shelf vinyl replacements myself ( fairly expensive ), diy fitting off-the-shelf leather leather replacements ( very expensive ) or having a professional retrim ( extremely expensive ).

However, a professional suggested that he could actually spray my existing trim which is original and in pretty good condition. Has any one had any experience in having this done or doing it themselves? Having done a swift search of the web it seems there are a number of products that seem perfectly suitable for diy.

I would be interested to know how easy it is to do and what the results are like in terms of quality of finish, longevity etc?

[thebadleys]

Hi,
I recoloured some door cards and 1/4 trims on my MGB from black to Navy blue the resulting finish was quite good BUT shiny and did not look right. this was the type of spray I used

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRG-Leather-Vinyl-Dye-Spray-Shoes-Boots-Car-Seats-Handbags-150ml-All-Colours-/251402993414?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item3a88c93f06

After a few week they lost some of the shine but were eventually replaced with original material, I'm not sure about seats as to if the colour would wear off, might be worth trying one seat.

Nigel

[Jeff]

I bought some dye for vinyl and leather from e bay though a 'reputable' supplier having seen a friend dye his scooter seat which looked very good.

Dont know if I was asking too much but tried magnolia shade on existing chestnut brown and also on a light grey, I was assured it would be fine.

The result was terrible, following instructions to the letter, after 3 coats still looked blotchy and the original colour still showed through.

The product wasn't expensive and perhaps that was the problem.

Jeff

[38rover]

Hi
I have just recoloured 2 front seats from a Tom Cat (were grey) to match my tan interior excellent results.
I purchased all the gear from The Furniture Clinic they will match colour required if you send them a sample cutting of required colour,because the seats had Vinyl sides and back it was necessary to use and adhesive promoter .
Through clean (or strip if leather) 2 coats of promoter 2 coats of colour 2 coats of sealer all sprayed applied I then left for 3/4 weeks and polished with leather polish results were fantastic they look like new seats.
When ordering the sealer it comes in various finishes from matt to gloss

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/

PS I have no connection with The Furniture Clinic but it is good gear did my Rolls with there stuff about 4 years ago and still looks good

[StokeyStag]

Something to be aware of: the upholstery on my Stag was dyed some time ago by a PO and the colour took well, but now the edges of the side bolster and seat have been worn getting into and out of the car and the original colour is showing through.

[1959terry]

About 20 years ago I changed the colour of the interior of a Daimler Coupe and I used a produce that Practical Clasics recommended. It was called Vinylcote and it did a fantastic job. I assume with the development of products in the last 20 years the paints or dyes must be much better now unless you buy the cheap alternative?

[andy p]

I have had leather interior paint before and sprayed a set of seats looked ok.


when i got my stag it had beige trim and I sprayed it satin black from normal cans was like it for 3 to 4 years and nobody knew apart from me, after about a year the drivers seat started to crack so I sprayed it again, was fine till I found a black trim to replace it

[PJM Stag]

I think it depends on the original colour and new colour required. Changing to tan to black may be easier than black to tan. There is a guy who attends stoneleigh who can supply the materials or do it for you and his demonstration aids look good. Not used them myself but it does look good. No personal interest etc.

[Lokisdad]

You could also try www.bespokeleathering.com. They do leather and vinyl re-colouring kits. A friend of mine who ran his own leather interior restoration company insisted that this system is the only way to go to get a lasting finish. (Probably similar to the Furniture Clinic stuff). I plan to do my interior with it in the near future.
Harvey

[38rover]

The treatments are flexible paint not dye and if you are colouring Vinyl you must use an Adhesive promoter
Furniture Clinic say there paint and lacquer will never crack and they are water based so no nasty chemicals.
When I was stripping leather I used basic thinners much cheaper than the recommended chemical which I am sure is thinners but a gallon of thinners about 10 pounds and you will need quite a bit.

[Goldstar]

I just spoke to Colin at Furniture Clinic who was v helpful.

I want to rejuvenate the shadow blue interior in my car. It's not a standard colour on their charts so they need a patch to match. It only needs to be a half inch square but, like most things, the bigger the better. So they will mix it and send it back as a kit should all take less than a week to make up.

As 38Rover says, Colin did say that the adhesive promoter was essential in high use areas (seats) but not necessary for the door cards/cubbys etc.

Should be the kind of job that has a big impact on the look of the car.

Paul

[milothedog]

That has just reminded me. I have an unused leather dying kit in a medium brown colour, we bought it some time ago to do a sofa but changed our mind. It has all the bottles of stuff to prep as well as the dye. Anyone can have it for the cost of the postage and some beer money? We paid about £90 a couple of years back. get in touch if your interested

Ian

[rac]

I just spoke to Colin at Furniture Clinic who was v helpful.

I want to rejuvenate the shadow blue interior in my car. It's not a standard colour on their charts so they need a patch to match. It only needs to be a half inch square but, like most things, the bigger the better. So they will mix it and send it back as a kit should all take less than a week to make up.

As 38Rover says, Colin did say that the adhesive promoter was essential in high use areas (seats) but not necessary for the door cards/cubbys etc.

Should be the kind of job that has a big impact on the look of the car.

Paul

Hi Paul very interested in your post about shadow blue interior as mine would benefit from some smartening up so would be very interested to see how you go on with it.
cheers Rob.

[38rover]

As i understand it the adhesive promoter is required on all vinyl services but not on leather once it has been stripped of its finish

[Goldstar]

Only reporting what I was told by the expert.