Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Leather Seat Reconditioning

[LarryT (l02turner]

Thanks Rick -
Appreciate you filling in the missing/weak parts of the article.  It's 
always helpful when someone who has done the lengthy, detailed work 
describes it for the rest of us.

                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
       Have a nice week -

Sincerely,
Larry T  (74 911, 91 300D 2.5T)
www.youroil.net Oil Analysis Kits &
Porsche Posters/Weber parts
Test Results - http://members.rennlist.com/oil/
.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick Lindsay" <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
To: "LarryT" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Leather Seat Reconditioning


> 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