Thought I’d pass along a unique, and maybe a little unhinged method to rejuvenate leather.

cars have “coated”, and sometimes “semi-aniline” leather. The third type of leather is “aniline.” Aniline leather has very little pigment added to it and is, as a result, very easy to mark and stain. But it’s very soft. Semi-aniline is more resistant to stains, and is soft, but not as soft as aniline. Coated leather is leather with what is essentially paint on it. This is great for when you spill a coke on your seat but that also means that the conditioner you put on your seats never reaches the leather.

so, if you’ve got seat covers that are in good shape visually but are stiff, here’s the tip—condition from the back side.

how? Well, that’s where this tip gets complicated because you have to remove the covers. You don’t have to typically remove the entire cover, just enough to see the back side. Most seat covers have leather that is exposed on the back but there are typically other sections that have foam sewn to them. To get to that leather is where this tip is really unhinged. You have to cut through the foam to reach the leather. Fair warning, this is risky but the several times I’ve done this it does not change the shape of the seat cover nor is it visible in any way.

Here is leather without conditioner.

After conditioning.

The cut foam.

Seat cover going back together.

 

I'll have a completed pic here soon. If you cut the foam, use a brand new razor so that it has no trouble on the foam, and feel free to use a new razor several times, you want it to cut the foam easily so that you don't put pressure on it and accidentally go through the leather. Remember, a dull knife cuts more people than a sharp one.

and you need to have new hog rings and hog ring pliers in order to reinstall the cover. You can use zip ties instead of hog rings (which I've done and it works almost as easy, and sometimes easier cause you adjust the tension).

Buy a huge variety of leather conditioners and use all of them at once. And be liberal with the application. The best smelling product I've used is Gliptone.

final tip, the final result will still be somewhat stiff because the coating adds thickness to the leather. But, the advantage of this strategy is that any excess conditioner remains in the seat foam, potentially renewing in the future (but that may be my optimistic nature).

 

You're right, Andy, that is an Out There idea!
So Out There in fact, that I might just try it.
(';')

 

Another thought/tip. Most of the older seats with "paint" on them are solvent based paints. And usually if you're this deep in you're planning on a color restore of the seat anyway. Remove the color (or lots of it) with lacquer thinner which is far better than sanding as it both preserves the leather grain and keys the surface to accept new - usually- acrylic coloring. At this point with the paint thinnned or removed, you can condition the seats through the top side - though to do this right it would take a number of applications, heat, and time.

~Paul K.

 

That is an excellent tip! The only seat on my 92 XJS that requires color is the drivers and I discovered exactly what you describe in an initial test removing the finish.

 

Defo a little unhinged