S-Type Sport leather covered steering wheel is needing a refurb. Went to buy some dye today and all I could find at local auto stores is for "vinyl or leather" paint.
Should that be used on theses steering wheels? Was that what was used by the factory?

Thanks. Chuck

 

My steering wheel is still in good shape but the leather gear knob has worn its outer surface on the top.
This wear has not affected the leather as yet but with further use since the protective leather coat has gone the leather will start to wear and make a repair very difficult or impossible if the leather develops a hole.
It is quite a process to repair the wheel or even the leather knob but quite doable.
Lots of products on the market but this supplier boasts about been able to match Jaguar colours.
The link is for the Australian site but I thing it is a German based company. Likely a USA supplier as well. The steering wheel film clip is worth watching.

https://www.colourlockaustralia.com....ing-wheel.html

 

Most all modern car interior leather is essentially "painted" at the factory as there's too many flaws in affordable leather so they have to cover them up. The average cow has warts, moles, birthmarks, ordinary freckles and are subject to all the same sorts of scars and common benign skin conditions like keratoses and vitiligo that we humans get. For natural leather they selectively breed for perfection and raise the animals with no thistles, no barbed wire, no parasites, no biting insects, etc. Something like less than 10% of hides are good enough to just be dyed. Such high quality hides are very expensive thus you only see what's called aniline or semi-aniline leather in very high end cars like a Rolls or Bentley today.

Car interiors are usually "corrected-grain" leather where they literally sand off the natural grain along with any flaws, add a thick lacquer coating and emboss it with an imitation grain so that both the grain and color are consistent. It's very durable which is good for automotive use but still feels softer and cooler to the touch than vinyl. Usually only the seating surfaces and other parts you actually touch (like the steering wheel) are leather, but notice that the leather grain often matches the vinyl or plastic on the other parts (how'd they do that if it were natural, right?). And since its just made from ordinary hamburger skins, the cost is within reach for many middle income buyers.