I have purchased a few leather dye products and they are really just paints. When I think of a dye I think of something that soaks into the product and changes its color, like wood stain or hair coloring. The dye that everyone sells for leather seems to go over the product like a paint.

The last product I purchased was from seat doctor claiming to be a dye but is a paint.

 

Leather seats have been painted vs. dyed for many years now. If you truly want to dye your leather, you will have to remove all of the paint first and then scuff the surface somewhat in order to receive and absorb the dye. You may not be happy with the results. I would consult a well-established auto interior shop first....

 

The OEM stuff is not dyed. When I "repainted" my seats I first cleaned them with denatured alcohol. That OEM dye comes right off on the rag.

When I described the process of restoring the seats I used the term colorant to describe what I applied. Made me feel better about it.

 

Per my email exchange with seat doctor: (BTW they are very good at communications https://www.seatdoctors.com/ )

Good morning -- you're not doing anything wrong - -
This is the same formula that's applied from the factory --- leather dye is a water-based polyurethane topcoat, closer to a super thin super flexible paint than what you think of when you hear the word "dye."
there are a few manufacturers that do aniline or semi-aniline dyed leather interiors, but it's pretty rare. traditional aniline dyed leather, similar to how saddles or high-end furniture are dyed, is beautiful and has that traditional patina finish, but is typically not durable and is especially susceptible to water damage. That why the vast majority of automotive leather you'll see in vehicles, even in luxury vehicles, is going to be the polyurethane topcoat you see in your Jaguar.

On Fri, Apr 15, 2022 at 8:46 AM Squarespace <form-submission@squarespace.info> wrote:Sent via form submission from Seat Doctors



Subject: dye vs paint

Message: i just purchased your product but it seems to act as a paint not a dye. it goes over the leather and has created a colored coat over the seat, it does not soak in and change the color like a dye. Am i doing something wrong?

 

This is a pretty good article that helped me understand the process. Industry incorrectly uses words which added to my confusion.

https://leatherhero.com.au/uncategor...ain-and-paint/

 

I can’t the really blame the industry for assigning a new meaning to a well established word. “Painted seats “ just doesn’t sound as good as they look. So the usage is understandable.

It’s our own rigid view of how “paint” should look which has given rise to alternate uses of “dyed”.

BTW, as an amateur student of etymology I’ve learned that words and their meanings have a very fluid relationship, changing all the time. Completely normal.