Restoring leather interior (Liquid Leather)

[pangster]

I finally got round to sorting my interior out - so thought I'd do a quick write up.

I ordered my Liquid Leather Scuff Master treatment kit from http://www.liquidleather.com - in the order form or if you call you specify the make, model and year of car as well as colour of leather. They then send you out the kit pre-mixed to a sample they hold on file. If you have any reservations about colour matching then you can always send them a small sample of your leather and they'll match it for you - although in the kit you do get 2 small bottles of toners to make up for any slight variations.

Here's a picture of what you get in the kit as well as some other items you might find useful for this job:



Kit contents:

GT12 Liquid Leather Cleaner
GT11 Liquid Leather Conditioner
Scuff Master Touch Up Kit (contains 1 x bottle of premixed dye, 1 x light toner, 1 x dark toner, 1 x gloss enhancer and 2 x sponge applicators)

In addition to the supplied kit you might also want to consider the following:

Rubber/latex gloves (if it can dye leather I'm pretty sure it can dye skin! lol!!)
Small artist paintbrush or cocktail stick (for application of neat dye)
Cotton cloths/rags
Methylated spirits
Small plastic bowl

Step 1:
Hoover your interior and seats

Step 2:
Clean all of your leather interior thoroughly with the supplied GT12 Liquid Leather Cleaner. You can use a small nail brush or old toothbrush to agitate the cleaner on stubborn areas and then make sure you clean off all the residue and leave to dry.

Step 3:
Once dry - wipe down the seats/interior with a mild solvent like methylated spirits and dry.

Step 4:
Take your pre mixed Scuff Master dye and apply neat to a small crack/scuff with your cocktail stick/brush and wait for it to dry. Once dry inspect to see how accurate colour match is and add toner to adjust accordingly. Once you are happy with the colour match proceed to paint in the remaining cracks - I found that this worked best by working along the creases and not try to over paint areas that shouldn't have dye applied. The same applies to scuffs - apply a slightly diluted mix (10-20% water) to the scuffs with the sponge applicator.

Step 5:
Leave the dye to dry for around 1 minute then wipe off with a damp cloth (work along the direction of the cracks/scuff) and repeat Step 4 if necessary. Once you are happy all of the scuffs/cracks have been dyed then move onto Step 6.

Step 6:
Prepare a colour wash for the treated seat - for my first colour wash I mixed around 80% dye with 20% water and applied this over the seat. Again I let this dry and then rubbed down with a damp cloth. I was quite happy with the match/balance of the colour at this stage so mixed my final colour wash which consisted of around 20% dye and 80% water and added a little drop of the gloss enhancer I received with the kit. This colour wash was then applied to the seat and I left it to dry (24 hours).

Step 7:
Take the GT11 Leather Conditioner and work this into your leather until it is completely absorbed. The aim here is to apply an even coat and make sure you work the conditioner completely into the leather. Areas which are particularly dry may require repeated application - just be patient and make sure it is worked in properly.

Step 8:
Job done! - with any luck your interior should look something like mine!

[pangster]

some more pics of before and after:

BEFORE:







AFTER:

[abdul]

going to order some

[pangster]

going to order some

i had posted this on the site post crash and thought it was worth reposting! lol!!..

[Harvey]

Hi just to add a couple of photos of my drivers seat before & after.
I was amazed at the change for just a couple of hours work,and not hard at all. Only did the bolster panel which was worn not the hole seat not bad at all.
Harvey

[volvokid]

Hi just to add a couple of photos of my drivers seat before & after.
I was amazed at the change for just a couple of hours work,and not hard at all. Only did the bolster panel which was worn not the hole seat not bad at all.
Harvey

That's great, did you use a sanding pad first? I did mine not long ago

[Harvey]

Hi no just used the cleaner that came in the kit then did a watered down mix for the first coat then two thin coats straight out of the bottle, then put on the conditioner the next day job done.

[Kingsford G]

I`ve got one wiv the car,the guy who sold it had one ordered it bbut need gt11,gt12.

[Harvey]

Hi sorry the kit i got was with the cleaner,the dye/paint,then the conditioner the hole lot cost about 35 pounds.

[Gunscrossed]

I've got one of these kits on the way.

[Harvey]

Hi pound for pound it's about the best value I think I could get.

[Harvey]

Hi have you used your kit yet ?.

[imp75]

Hi, my bolsters look the same as your before pic, I've used liquid leather on bmws black before bit can you tell me what colour you ordered please. I've got ivory/beige leather in my s60.

[Harvey]

Hi, my bolsters look the same as your before pic, I've used liquid leather on bmws black before bit can you tell me what colour you ordered please. I've got ivory/beige leather in my s60.

Am away for a while will post colour code when I am back.
Just a throught I think the colour in the Rs is not the same in the rest of the Volvo range.

[Harvey]

Hi just to add a couple of photos of my drivers seat before & after.
I was amazed at the change for just a couple of hours work,and not hard at all. Only did the bolster panel which was worn not the hole seat not bad at all.
Harvey

Just to update this gave the seats a clean & bit of conditioner and the drivers seat still looks spot on.That's about 18 months.

[graemewelch]

Just to update this gave the seats a clean & bit of conditioner and the drivers seat still looks spot on.That's about 18 months.

that looks same colour as my seats. do you know the exact colour

[T5REU]

I got this kit about 8 months ago. Not used it yet as still putting g car back together, however I have the above volvo R coloured seats. I sent them a off cut if my seat and they matched it and have that colour now on there list. Just message or call them. Use my name to remind them if u need phil reeves. I told them the year and car they came off 03 s60R.

[T5REU]

Ps I got the off cut from under the rear base sear. Best place as loads of over hang to cut off there. Just cut it and send it them.

[graemewelch]

the furniture clinic is going to colour match my seats for me. they are local so i get to have a nose around the shop to. prob spend more than what id planned like. but hopfully ill get some sound advise to

[Tomcat]

Going to give this a try, both my front seats have marks and wear.