Dying my Vaders
 

I applied the Leatherique rejuvinator and cleaner earlier this week. When I opened the dye bottle yesterday, the color looked identical to the present color of my Vaders. I was concerned, but pressed on with the process.

As I applied the dye, it did seem to be a different shade than the grey seats currently were. I looked at the seats this morning before work, and they looked just like the original grey color.

I'm not saying the dye doesn't work, it definitely dyed over the cracks and wear marks, the seat looks new. The problem is it looks the same color as when I started.

I'm trying to get in touch with the company who sold me the dye now. I did send them a small clipping of the leather, so it should be correct. It' seems like a real coincidence that the final appearance is identical to the original color. That is unless the dye did nothing to cover the original color. It definitely did fill the worn spots, so that makes me believe the dye did soak in the seat.

The leather feels supple and soft, the dye doesn't make the seat stiff. Maybe I need to send them another sample. I've got the #'s off the dye bottle for them to double check they sent me the proper mixture.

When I get home, I will photograph one seat pre dyed, and the one I just dyed, you be the judge.

I'm confused- did you want the same color as original or a new color?

The Vaders are grey, my stock 318ti seats are beige or some other shade of grey. I want the Vaders to be the color of my stock 318ti seats.

The first pic is the vader, the second is my 318ti.

Since I already applied two coats of this grey stuff, on my grey seats, I now need "prepping agent" to remove the dye and start with a new color dye.

Leatherique said to send in another swatch of leather to rematch the proper color. I knew this process was gonna be a pain in the ass.

L8,
i want to do the same...kinda. my vaders are already black (which is what i want). do you think i need to seed them a swatch to color match or will their black be just fine? do ya know what i meen? i guess i dont really need to dye them. i want to fix the spider veins. what products do i get and how much? is 8oz enough for the vaders? what cha think? pics of the vaders are in the gallery
thanks

I don't recall the size bottle I bought, I know I didn't use very much of the stuff.
To be sure he matches the color, do what I did. Throw your rear head rest in a box and mail it to them. Then they have a large enough swatch to guarantee color match. It got rid of the veins in my leather, and I can always reapply if they start to show again.

I think you need a "primer" color to work with first, since you're actually going lighter in color.

To whom are you referring to?:confused:

I usually refer to the thread starter, unless it's been hijacked. If it's somebody else, I use their username. So, that's you L8.

"Rejuvinator" seems to sound like it will only refresh the color, not change it. For that, you'd have to use a dye.


I remember reading some guy that redid the seats in his Ferrari. I'll see if I can look it up in class and see what he had to do.

Mine are already dyed and installed in my car, they came out great:biggrin:

I thought you were trying to match your gray vaders to your sand-gray interior?

Here's the link:
http://www.ferrariclub.com/faq/leatherdye.html

My seats are the black leather with red checkered and black spot cloth..

i want to dye my seats to restore the look but i have red stitching, any ideas?

I did the job, just needed to use the cleaner and then dye them. They came out fine.

I should have checked the date on the original post. Oops.

I'm glad you brought this up, because I wanted to address this issue about seats. I bought Vaders, not because I wanted the "VADER" look. I really preferred the M3 all leather seats. These seats are like the M-tech seats in the sport model 318ti cars, but ALL leather. The down side to the M-tech seats is the cloth center area. The good thing is that all three have the same exact adjustments, just different coverings, and or headrests.

As far as red stitching, maybe you should just dye over them black.

do i need to dye them to get rid of the veins? i want to keep them black. i just wanna make it look new. i know they sell the dye, prepping agent, rejuvinator, and crack filler. what do i need to make the veins go away?

btw, i jacked this tread, i just didnt feel like starting a new one we we could just continue this one:wink: