uh, whoops. Sort of melted my leather grain?

S

sdat1333

New member
So, I found a steamer (just a small cheap one) sitting on a shelf, never used, so I thought I'd try it on my leather. I experimented on our leather couch and it did an awesome job of removing dirt with no bad effects, so I thought I should be good on the car leather too.



WRONG.



I ended up holding it on one section for two long and seem to have slightly melted the leather or coating or something to the point that the grain is a much more regular grid type pattern rather than the normal leather grain. This is on a seam right in the middle of the actual seat portion of the passenger seat.



Right now I'm waiting to see how noticeable it is in normal lighting conditions (aka not in the garage at 8pm), before I do anything. I have a feeling that in bright sun it will be really noticeable. Is there any way I can make something like this less noticeable? Any sort of product I can use to make the grain look a little more like it did before? I'm thinking that my only real option is to very carefully sand it so that it is completely smooth instead of the weird grid (will take pictures soon), and sort of fade between the smooth and the textured (right now its a sharp line).



I guess I can always try to find a seat from a junkyard and use the leater from that and pull off the old stuff and put on the new, but that has much more potential to mess up so I don't think I'll try that.



What do you guys suggest?
 
It's an 01 Volvo S60



From what I've read on different volvo forums, the side panels of the seat, and possibly the backs are vinyl, but the actual parts of the seat that you sit on are coated leather. This could of course be wrong, but I think it's correct. It certainly smells and feels like leather, and although the sides and actual seat look the same, you can feel a little bit of a difference, which would reinforce the whole 'vinyl sides' theory.



But I could just be imagining that last part.



EDIT: In any case, is there anything I could do? Perhaps a very thin layer of crack filler or something, imprinted with the leather grain and dyed to match?
 
sdat1333 said:
It's an 01 Volvo S60



From what I've read on different volvo forums, the side panels of the seat, and possibly the backs are vinyl, but the actual parts of the seat that you sit on are coated leather. This could of course be wrong, but I think it's correct. It certainly smells and feels like leather, and although the sides and actual seat look the same, you can feel a little bit of a difference, which would reinforce the whole 'vinyl sides' theory.



But I could just be imagining that last part.



EDIT: In any case, is there anything I could do? Perhaps a very thin layer of crack filler or something, imprinted with the leather grain and dyed to match?
Click to expand...





Not always but usually that's the other way around. The sides and stuff are the real leather and you sit on the vinyl. And if you actually melted it you might just have to replace it.
 
Jakerooni said:
Not always but usually that's the other way around. The sides and stuff are the real leather and you sit on the vinyl. And if you actually melted it you might just have to replace it.
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Every car I've owned has had leather and the seat area is real leather and the sides are the vinyl. MB, Jeep, Honda, Acura are all that way.
 
kompressornsc said:
Every car I've owned has had leather and the seat area is real leather and the sides are the vinyl. MB, Jeep, Honda, Acura are all that way.
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All GM vehicles are that way as well... in some cases (like the trucks) the rear bench seat is 100% "simulated leather" :grrr
 
Dylan06SS said:
All GM vehicles are that way as well... in some cases (like the trucks) the rear bench seat is 100% "simulated leather" :grrr
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I had a good friend of mine tell me the only real leather he has seen has been the king ranch f150. Most of the leathers we see (real or not) are coated in vinyl or a similar coating.
 
I may consider replacing just the actual cushion that is damaged if I can find it for not too much money, otherwise I will just try to make it a little less noticeable.
 
Jakerooni said:
Not always but usually that's the other way around. The sides and stuff are the real leather and you sit on the vinyl. And if you actually melted it you might just have to replace it.
Click to expand...





that does not sound correct to me

why would they do that?



what cars do you think have it like that?
 
sdat1333

Leather Master might have something for you. Leather care products - International - MULTIMASTER UNITERS Group



Very high end cars have uncoated leather. The big three (to my knowledge) all have coated with the exception of the King Ranch, as stated. That said, i have seen and read the King Ranch factory leather care product and it contains petroleum distillates. It might be even be a Leather Master product. Might be better than water based for uncoated leather?
 
yeah, i know my leather is coated. Like 99.9999% sure.



Salty: Thanks for the link, it appears that they have something that *might* help me. The grain copier. Maybe if I apply a very thin layer of the filler over the affected area, stamp the grain on, and dye, it will work. Or should I just leave it alone?
 
Ok, here's a couple pictures of the damage.
 

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Just like the others said, it is rare to find "all leather" seats in a car these days. Even the $60,000 Mercedes my mother just bought came with something called MB Tex instead of leather, which was more money.



Most of the time, if you look at the details of the vehicle, it will say something like "leather seating surfaces."
 
kompressornsc said:
Every car I've owned has had leather and the seat area is real leather and the sides are the vinyl. MB, Jeep, Honda, Acura are all that way.
Click to expand...



Man, there was a thread here (couple years ago maybe) that went all the way to argument status. The owner of a Lexus INSISTED that his car had full leather seats. It just doesn't happen anymore unless you're spending some really nice coin. $100k isn't enough coin either!
 
sdat it almost looks like you melted the leather coating, to reveal the real leather.



It doesn't look horrible, but is noticeable.
 
try the leathermagic dye kit



you would gently sand the panels effected then apply a few coats of dye, it doesnt lose the existing grain and looks like new when done
 
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