Dying fabric and leather, info and expertise needed

W

W.S.

New member
- I am planning on purchasing a used rear parcel shelf to dy black to see if I want to do the whole headliner. The shelf is covered in this cottonesque material I was planning on following these instructions: $20 well spent, rehabbed my purple rear decks back to black



I am also planning on leatheriquing my leather interior. I suspect the interior really needs to be re-dyed and after talking to a fellow BMW owner who dyed his entire interior I have a few questions:

- Is leatherique a better dye system than color plus?



- Can I get seats that are a different colur leather and dye them to match my interior (i.e. grey -> beige or black-> beige)?



Wade
 
Some others might but I don't re-dye cloth (except carpets) and I'm in the biz. They tend to come out pretty stiff and the end result "can" look cheap. Black can be a little more forgiving however. Re-dyeing leather, on the other hand, to its original color or very similiar color like one shade darker is a no brainer. But the problem with severe color changes is getting into all the nooks and crannies, getting a good even complete coverage without missing any spots or having any spots stick to each other. Usually you need a catalyst in the paint and a clear topcoat. A headliner is something I never want to mess with. Stopped doing anything major to them over 20 yrs ago
 
jayjacque said:
Some others might but I don't re-dye cloth (except carpets) and I'm in the biz. They tend to come out pretty stiff and the end result "can" look cheap. Black can be a little more forgiving however. Re-dyeing leather, on the other hand, to its original color or very similiar color like one shade darker is a no brainer. But the problem with severe color changes is getting into all the nooks and crannies, getting a good even complete coverage without missing any spots or having any spots stick to each other. Usually you need a catalyst in the paint and a clear topcoat. A headliner is something I never want to mess with. Stopped doing anything major to them over 20 yrs ago
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It's okay if it gets stiff, no one will be touching it, so that is okay. If I don't dye the headliner, what can I use to clean it up?



Thanks,

Wade
 
Headliners can surprise sometimes at cleaning up. Use a good spot remover for the stains or obvious spots like Spot Shot (the one I've been using lately)or Folex which can be obtained OTC. People say Magic Eraser Xstrong, though I haven't tried it yet, also OTC. Then just general washing the rest of it with a mild to medium strength cleanser, and only if it needs it.
 
I don't like to dye fabric either. You can try Rit dye to keep it soft. I have used it in the past with some success.



As for the leather, I wouldn't go with either of the two brands you mentioned. Neither of them are OEM suppliers to the leather industry. I know just about every supplier in the industry and the one I would use in your situation is LRT. Their products are OEM spec and are used on some of the leather used in autos. They have a full range of OEM colors to get you close for a color match. Give them a call at 267-228-5682. Unfortunately they don't have a website at this time.
 
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