Tire marks on leather..

W

WCM3

New member
Hey guys,



I'm looking at purchasing this M3 and the owner stated his brother left tires in the backseat and some of the tire's dye actually got into the seat. He tried a couple cleaners and feels like theres no way other than sanding and redying to get it back to normal. What do you guys suggest? Are there any other methods? I'm assuming he used just regular leather cleaner but I have a set of leatherique (Prestine clean & Rejuv Oil) I was planning to try if I purchased it. Any thoughts?



Thanks,

Mike



IMG00107-20110407-1210.jpeg




IMG00108-20110407-1210.jpeg
 
I would certainly think you could give Leatherique a try... failing that maybe Optimum Power Clean would be a better aggressive solution. Worst that can happen is you stain the leather further and end up going the re-dye route anyway, so you might as well experiment and see what you can do.
 
Why would someone put a dirty car tire on a leater seat? :twitch:



I like the color of that leather.
 
Yeah, the Leather Doctor system will safely remove that problem. That's the key. Lots of cleaners and equipment aren't designed to attack a problem like the LD kit. You risk damaging the surface.
 
Apply stain remover or leather conditioner on sponge. Rub the sponge on tire marks until it is removed and dry the leather with soft cloth or microfiber towel.
 
mbaoo said:
Why would someone put a dirty car tire on a leater seat? :twitch:



I like the color of that leather.
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A lot of people just don't think or care, I washed an 08 Boxster yesterday with 24k miles on it and I swear it had never been washed before, my associate said I was wrong, he washed it last year. Spend so much money on a beautiful car and never think of taking care of its looks, I will NEVER understand that. I wanted to ask her, "do you hate this car?"
 
pdsterns said:
A lot of people just don't think or care, I washed an 08 Boxster yesterday with 24k miles on it and I swear it had never been washed before, my associate said I was wrong, he washed it last year. Spend so much money on a beautiful car and never think of taking care of its looks, I will NEVER understand that. I wanted to ask her, "do you hate this car?"
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Haha, I have a Honda Insight that I bought new last month that lives outside and I've never washed it! But then again, it's about the ugliest car you can ever get and it's my beater!
 
I'm dealing with a situation right now that's much worse, Leather Master and Leatherique couldn't touch it. Hopefully they'll work for you. If not, go with everything Roger would tell you to do. He's walking me through things as we speak.
 
WCM3 said:
I plan to try some rejuv oil and prestine clean today.
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The product you mentioned turn “hope” into “nightmare” as seen in the below pictures; from the other forum.



The brightening effect of the color around the tire mark in your post #1 picture #2 is symptom of alkaline overexposure. This is the side effect when alkaline cleaning product is used. Check with tap water finger testing if tackiness or sliminess is detected; if it’s positive, it is highly recommended that it be acidified to a healthy squeaky feel to return the leather to its neutral pH value to 3-5[6] chemistry integrity before further attempt to removed the stain; otherwise you end up with pictures shown below.



#1

photo-1.jpg




#2

photo4.jpg




Roger Koh

info@leatherdoctor.com
 
WCM3 said:
Hey guys,



I'm looking at purchasing this M3 and the owner stated his brother left tires in the backseat and some of the tire's dye actually got into the seat. He tried a couple cleaners and feels like theres no way other than sanding and redying to get it back to normal. What do you guys suggest? Are there any other methods? I'm assuming he used just regular leather cleaner but I have a set of leatherique (Prestine clean & Rejuv Oil) I was planning to try if I purchased it. Any thoughts?



Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...







Tips:



1] To avoid color refinishing as color matching is unpredictable to have an exact match but maybe the last resort, anyhow the stain still has to be removed otherwise it will surely wick-up through the new coating; and you have to start all over again to try removing the stain.



2] Topcoat is damaged as you can see a dull reflection at the bottom right and is highly recommended to restore it.



3] The brightening effect around the tire marks is symptoms of alkaline overexposure and may improve with acidification treatment.



4] This brightening effect might also be the lost of the topcoat and may return closed to the surrounding luster to match-up once topcoat is applied after the removal of the stain.



5] If tap water finger testing shows sign of tackiness or sliminess than further chemical reaction of penetration and lubrication may further weaken the colorcoat and may be removed during the towel extraction process.



6] The alternative treatment is by “bleaching” it; with pH 10.3 creamy bleach to the stain to turn the stain colorless without affecting the pigment color; will be much safer than deteriorating the colorcoat by further chemical reaction of removing the stain.



The above tips acts as a guide and will depends on the outcome of each step before deciding what’s the next best step is thereafter.



So, what do you think... of taking up this challenge?



Roger Koh

info@leatherdoctor.com
 
Speaking for myself, Roger, I'm up for the challenge as my situation looks similar to but worse than photo #2 I'm very interested in tip #6--the bleach--maybe that can be both of our saving grace?
 
So I had the Leatherique rejuv oil sit for about a day. Around the 12 hour mark I applied some more and massaged it in. I went out this morning and cleaned it all up with pristine clean and nada. The leather still feels great, isn't tacky or slimy with the tap water test. I'd like to try anything I could before going the dying route. What do you think, Roger..
 
We're in the same boat just with different causes of the stain. Same results of the water test here too. The Leatherique only seems to help soften leather, and more so for older types of leather IME.
 
Bill, what type of car are you working with. I agree the leatherique made the leather nice and soft; however, did nothing for the stain.
 
It didn't do anything for my Audi leather, which is probably pretty similar to BMW. I really hope Roger can pull us out of this jam. The Leatherique twins are ok on old school leather like my 22 year old Cadillac's.
 
Bill D said:
Speaking for myself, Roger, I'm up for the challenge as my situation looks similar to but worse than photo #2 I'm very interested in tip #6--the bleach--maybe that can be both of our saving grace?
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Bill, you are still not convinced that your Audi platinum finish is gone with the removal you used…too aggressive…to be used on your original belt dye stains! You are still thinking that the removal have spread out the dye and make the stain bigger.



It is not! You have already touch base; the crust of the leather; that’s what you see is the color of the leather crust nothing more to be removed; except to entire panel…preparing for color refinishing.



You may want to post your pictures here in a new thread for a second opinion from viewers…and we can go from there.



Roger Koh

info@leatherdoctor.com
 
WCM3 said:
So I had the Leatherique rejuv oil sit for about a day. Around the 12 hour mark I applied some more and massaged it in. I went out this morning and cleaned it all up with pristine clean and nada. The leather still feels great, isn't tacky or slimy with the tap water test. I'd like to try anything I could before going the dying route. What do you think, Roger..
Click to expand...





You may want to post more pictures for a closer scrutiny…the existing situation may still have a good chance to restore the stain either by physical removal or by bleaching it. The whole idea is to retain the colorcoat without resorting to color refinishing. Color matching may not guarantee you a perfect match; that’s the only reason of avoiding it. However topcoat protection is highly recommended after the stain is gone; hopefully the colorcoat is still intact.



Since you think that the colorcoat is still in pretty good condition…you may like to proceed what David Fermani has recommended in Post#5.



Roger Koh

info@leatherdoctor.com
 
Roger,



Thanks for finally confirming what I originally thought. Please recommend me a product you sell so I can improve the damage. Thanks.
 
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