Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Leather Seat Reconditioning

[Erik Nielsen (judge4re]

I redid the interior of the Mondial a few years back using
Leatherique.  It's okay and looks better than it did.  That said, I
wasn't totally thilled with it.  The 308 needs to be redone, but when
it is time, the platinum amex is coming out and I'm getting Luppi to
do it.

On 11/29/08, Rick Lindsay <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi Larry, et al.,
>
>    I just read that article and I noticed one thing; They make it sound
> really easy, and there was no step wherein the leather was rehydrated and
> softened.  It was just cleaned and painted.
>
>    I've been refinishing leather using Leatherique products for years and
> here's what I've learned.  This technique is for total refinishing, not
> touch-ups.  Touch-ups are done just like with paint, but without primer.
>
> + Connolly leather is not dyed, it's lacquered
>
> + To get any leather conditioning into the fibers, the old lacquer has
>   to be stripped off.  That's best done with lacquer thinner and its a
>   nasty process.  Doing so also strips oils out of the leather.  Use no
>   more thinner than is necessary to strip the finish.
>
> + Once the lacquer thinner evaporates out of the leather the surface will
>   be stripped of lacquer and the pores of the leather will be open.  The
>   leather at this state is fragile.
>
> + Multiple coats of Leatherique's Rejuvenator Oil will rehydrate the
>   leather with collagen and soften it nicely.  I use 4-5 coats and either
>   wrap the wet surfaces with Saran Wrap or plastic garbage bags.  The
>   idea is to retard the evaporation rate.  Warm is good too, like working
>   on a nice sunny day.  Plan on spending up to a week on this process.
>
> + Once softened the leather is "healthy" again and will stand up to
>   bending and stretching without damage.  This is the step that is missing
>   from the magazine article - and its the most important step for
>   preserving the longevity of the leather.
>
> + The leather needs to cure for a few days before the surface is cleaned
>   with a pre-final-finish liquid that smells of Windex and ammonia.  It
>   now needs to dry for a day or two.
>
> - And this is where I deviate from Leatherique's process.  I have found
>   Leatherique's light colors of dye, specifically Ferrari tan, match very
>   nicely.  Black also made a nice matte finish when applied to vinyl.
>   I have not found Leatherique's color match for dark colors (except
>   black) to be very good.  My 308GTB's interior is dark blue.  The best
>   Leatherique could do with repeated tries, is a gray-blue.  I will strip
>   that finish off of my seats and door panels this winter as the color is
>   applied is unacceptable.
>
> - Do not believe any of these folks when they tell you that you can
>   apply the final finish with a brush.  Yes, you can apply it but any
>   larger expanses of leather will probably show brush strokes and that
>   makes the finished result look amateurish.
>
> + I will final-finish my 308's seats and door panels with SEM's lacquer
>   based finish.  It is a quality product and does dark colors really
>   well.  And of course, I will spray it on.
>
>    Larry, thanks for pointing us to this article.  With winter coming on for
> those of us in the North, these are the kinds of projects we'll be facing.
>
> Regards,
>
> rick
>
>>
>> For those wishing to do this, there's a good article in
>> the Jan 09 issue of "Sports & Exotic Car"
>> magazine published by Hemmings  that shows step by step
>> guide to redying a leather seat -
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Larry T
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