I have a question for anyone who knows more about automotive upholstery than me, which is to say for anyone who knows anything about automotive upholstery:
Are my seats worth saving? Can I restore the leather using Leatherique or some other product? Can I re-dye the worn areas?

I've attached pictures of my driver's seat and passenger seat, which I guess are just damaged from normal wear and neglect. The back seat is where the previous owner's dog apparently liked to scratch.

 

You can save them. Good cleaning with leather care and also can be redyed. See a local trim shop and see what they advise. Might be able to sell you some decent coloring.

 

Your seats can be saved. Good cleaning, soaking with the Letherique Rejuv oil and a re-dye - either Leatherique dye or dye sold by World Upholstery in California. I've used products from both outfits and give them both a "Thumbs Up".

 

They certainly look as if you could successfully revive those to an extremely high standard. I don't know if the shipping would cost too much (although modern shipping costs seem quite good) but in the uk, this company provide great kits and undertake seminars for the JEC. I have treated a number of seats very well with their kits. Have a look at their videos via website or via youtube.

Furniture Clinic - Leather Care Cleaner, Furniture Repair & Restoration

Paul

 

I bought the leather recolor kit for my interior and the results were fantastic. It took a fair bit of time - essentially you strip off the existing finish, dye the creases, spray on 2-3 coats of dye with an air brush provided then you seal it in and finish. I went with satin (mulberry interior). If you are handy and have patience then I can highly recommend this kit. I will dig up some photos if I get time.

 

Thank you for the responses! I'm going to try the Furniture Clinic products - they have a US store, so shipping is reasonable.

 

Thank you, Paul and Tyran!
I got the Car Restoration Interior Bundle How To Restore A Leather Car Interior from Furniture Clinic. I bought the large size, which was supposed to be enough to cover an entire interior, but I needed to get another ~$100 worth of supplies before I was done. Even then, I ran out of finish and airbrush propellant.

It was a lot of work. I'd estimate 15 hours total for the back seat and 10-12 hours for each of the front seats. The results look spectacular. The seats look brand new. If you look closely, you can see where the cracks and missing dye used to be, and there's still a small tear in a seam on the driver's seat. There's a smudge of grease on the driver's seat in the second picture, which was from re-installing the seat.

Overall, I'm very pleased.

 

Awesome result!! Worth the hours spent,and cheap as compared to other options. Thanks for taking the time to follow up with the pics, I'd be feeling pretty happy with that result.

That was really worth asking the question.

 

Well done. They look great
Another example that determination and labour = a great result and satisfaction of a job well done

 

I'm going to try the same restoration on my XJS seats. They are same as yours. Do you remember what color and finish you ordered from furniture clinic?

 

My color was Cream (NDR), but you should be able to find yours here:
Jaguar Leather Trim Color Chart

I used the semi-matte finish.

 

The seats do look lighter in color than the rest of the leather. I don't know if that's due to the age of the other leather or if the Furniture Clinic dye is a little too light.

 

+1 on the leatherique. Get the clear coating. I did not and after two years I need to redye. Not a big deal but the clear would avoid this extra maintainence. They really make amazing products. Slightly overpriced (by about 15%) but quality.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how some guys have the patience required to get these kinds of results. When I tried to do this I ended up loosing patience and ordering new leather seats. The one and only things that have come out "somewhat" decent are thd steering wheels in my cars with that Leatherique steering wheel kit.


Great job

 

EastRando,

Well done! The pics look good. I'm glad you found the Furniture Clinic products acceptable. They do lots of work with the JEC over here and many members have had great results. As you've found, take plenty of time and care and you can get good results. For those who may be concerned, I can vouch for the fact that their NDR (Cream) Dye is an extremely good match for the original colour.

Paul