Leather Care & Repair Specialists

Leather Car Interior Restoration Guide

The photo shows a cream interior from a Maserati Biturbo Zagato. It is very badly worn on the driver’s seat and the colour in general needs restoring.

Preparing The Leather As Instructed Can Reduce Crease & Cracks

The first step is preparing the leather ready for applications of colour. We do this to remove any waxes, oils or silicones that may be present on the leather, not removing these could cause adhesion problems. Prepping the leather also removes the manufactured finish. If the leather is very dirty, clean it first with the leather ultra clean, or warm soapy water.

BEFORE PREPARATION

AFTER PREPARATION

Prepping the leather (as instructed below) will remove any creased and cracked areas on the leather. So it not only makes the leather ready for colouring but it greatly improves its appearance. The two above photos are of another seat, but are still used to illustrate just how effective the product is.

It is crucial to prep the leather thoroughly and the below instructions will explain how to do so properly.

1. Using the leather prep spray some onto the leather and then rub the surface with an abrasive pad. This process will remove the manufactured finish and also some of the colour, which you can see in the photo. After rubbing a small area, wipe it down with a cotton cloth to remove any excess colour from the leather. The leather is correctly prepped when you start to see colour transfer from the leather onto the abrasive pad or cloth. This indicates that the finish has been removed exposing the colour beneath.

2. The above process will have removed the manufacturers finish and any silicones that are soluble in solvents. There are however some silicones like spray on polish and waxes that aren't soluble in solvents, and so to remove these we need to use the alcohol cleaner. After using the leather prep wipe the leather down with a cloth dampened in the alcohol cleaner and for ease of use you could also spray the alcohol cleaner directly onto the leather. Now wait 30 minutes for the cleaners to evaporate.

BEFORE PREPARATION

AFTER PREPARATION

You can see that the preparation stages have lightened the leather and also reduced some creases and cracks that were on the surface. At this stage, any serious cracks can be sanded down with fine sandpaper (600+) to reduce how drastic they are.

Filling in scuffs, scratches & cracks

To smooth over the bad cracking on the driver’s side bolster the leather repair compound is applied using a palette knife and wiped on in a thin layer so that it only goes into the cracks.

Applying the Colourant

Shake the bottle of colourant for about 3 minutes to make sure it is well mixed. Pour a small amount onto a sponge and rub into the leather. The idea is to sponge on a thin coat of colour working it into any gaps, creases and hard to reach areas. Apply light pressure here to work the colourant into the grain. If you apply too much pressure you may get a foam of colour on the surface, this is not a problem, just wipe it away with the sponge (gently).

Also notice the on the photo above, after applying the colourant by sponge, we have applied another coat of repair compound. Sometimes your repair looks perfect until you put the colour on, and then it shows the cracks very lightly. So, if this happens, just re-fill and apply the colour again. There is no need to take the colour off; both products work perfectly with each other.

The colour is then applied by sponge to the whole seat giving quite a nice finish. The idea of the sponge coat is to work the colour into the crease and cracks; we do not aim for a perfect finish.

Wait 30 minutes for the colourant to thoroughly dry and then proceed to spray the leather.
Set up your spray gun or airbrush and then spray the leather at a comfortable distance, not to over apply the colour. It is best to practice a bit on a piece of paper to get the hang of spraying first.

Spray the colourant on in thin layers. This avoids runs and so makes for a nicer finish.
Because the colourant we're using is water based it takes a few minutes to dry. We therefore advise you to spray one area and then dry it using a hair drier. Doing it this way reduces the chance of runs. If you do see a run, just wipe it off with a cloth or sponge and then re-spray the area.

There is no right number of coats that should be applied to the leather. Spray on one coat and dry it off, then just keep spraying on a coat at a time until you are happy with the finish.
After spraying the colour onto the leather wait 30 minutes and then wipe the leather down with a soft cloth to remove any excess colour. Now proceed to spray the finish onto the leather in the same way as the colourant was. We recommend spraying 2 coats of sealant (glossy) onto the leather followed by 2 coats of finish for thorough protection.

The colour has been sprayed onto the leather and then finished off with a matt finish for a natural look.

Colour Charts pre-mixed colours for furniture & car interior