Upholstery/trim discoloration

[peeeot]

The garnet red dashpad and door trim and assorted other places in my interior that get a lot of sun have deepened in color to a darker red than they're supposed to be. Some of the surfaces are vinyl; others are leather. How difficult/expensive would it be to refresh the color on these pieces? How would I do it?

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Have you tried cleaning then well?

 

Use a good cleaner on the leather and agitate it with a soft brush. Dark colors tend to "bleed" over time. You'll probably notice that simply by cleaning you'll get red residue on the cloth.

 

I would follow that up with a good leather treatment on the seats and a dressing on the plastic.

[peeeot]

I tried using a bit of armor all cleaner on a spot on the dashboard. I scrubbed at it for a while and let it soak in some. I think it might have gotten slightly lighter, but I'm not sure. I've kind of assumed that it's faded, not dirty, and that it will therefore need some kind of dye to bring the right color back. Any good sources for that? Advance Auto Parts has some stuff but it's more burgundy than my interior is supposed to be. I want to match the color to factory stock as best I can.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Dye will likely have a very DULL look to it. Try more armorall or a different product with more gloss, to give it a 'deeper' shine.

[peeeot]

I spent some time today with armorall cleaner and protectant as well as some 3m leather+vinyl stuff I had around. The door panels look much, much better; the color is more vibrant and of course shinier. I think they are upholstered in vinyl.

 

The leather seats looked shinier and generally brighter in color, but I was hoping the texture would soften up a bit, and it didn't. Maybe I need to use leather conditioner for that.

 

The dash got shinier but it remains a darker color.

 

I've seen people use spray vinyl dye to change the color of a vinyl dash pad, and it looked factory stock when they were done. Why do you say it would look dull?

[peeeot]

Today I finally got around to buying some leather care products. I got Blue Magic's Leather and Vinyl Cleaner as well as Leather Cream Conditioner.

 

On initial application, it doesn't look like much of anything has changed. I'm trying to bring back the color AND soften the stuff up so it will quit cracking. I don't think these seats have ever been conditioned before.

 

Is it possible for simple cleaning to restore the color of leather? Can repeated applications of conditioner revive the texture? Or is this stuff too far gone?

[slick]

I personally use Lexol Leather Conditioner myself. It's the best I have used yet.

 

As far as getting color back into the leather, it can be done. I know there is a guy locally that redyes peoples stuff(home and auto) back to the appropriate color. Not exactly cheap though, as it was quoted around $50 to just do a shift knob.

[peeeot]

yikes. That won't be happening any time soon.

[slick]

Yeah, it's definately not cheap.

 

I have, however, seen GM color match dye in some magazines before. I'm sure if you search around enough, you can find it.

[peeeot]

that's not something an Autozone or Advance would carry, I presume?

[slick]

You can look near the paint section, but it's never something I have ever seen. Gimme a few days to think about where I seen the stuff at. One of the websites is right at the tip of my tongue.

[slick]

OK, rksport.com used to carry stuff, but they don't anymore.

 

Here's a site I found for dye's: http://www.parasolinc.com/leather_dye.asp

[1990lumina]

Try some saddle soap on your seats....that stuff should loosen the leather up and make it nice and soft again..

[peeeot]

that sounds like what I need... what kind of store sells saddle soap?

[1990lumina]

Hmmm....well I dunno I know my Mom got some at a farm supply store..but seeing how Saskatoon is in the middle of a farming province it's not too hard to find here

[peeeot]

I bought some saddle soap. It didn't seem to make it much softer, but maybe I need to do several applications.

 

I was hoping it would make the color a little less greyish. Maybe I should use a brush.

[digitaloutsider]

http://www.properautocare.com/leatmytofsad.html

[peeeot]

hmmmmm. Well.

[Michele]

I have bought Saddle Soap in Wal-Mart's shoe department to clean my boots..... Hope there's one near you!

[Euro]

i've heard that works too....and btw Michele, thats a sweet ass paint job on your cutty