gmck
01-30-2012, 01:52 AM
The following is the procedure I employed to remove an unknown sticky substance from the lumbar panel of the leather of driver’s seat of a Subaru Liberty.
This vehicle had been detailed back in November last year, and part of the detail included cleaning the leather of both front seats. The seats were particularly dirty for a 2 year old car, so the full treatment of Leatherique Rejuvenator and Leatherique Pristine Clean was used to restore both seats to new condition.
The owner again contacted me again recently concerning a small patch in the lumbar panel which was sticky to touch. The patch was about 2” square and when lightly rubbed with a finger would gradually produce a tiny pill of material, the colour of the leather. At this point there had been no discolouration of the leather, it just felt sticky to touch. The owner had no recollection of how the substance had got onto the leather. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the original damage, but even if I did, I doubt it would be visible in a photo as whatever the substance was it was translucent.
The first step was to try and remove the substance with a damp MF. The following image shows the result.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMAG0080.jpg
Figure 1 - After a light wipe with damp MF
Quite obviously the substance has loosened the dye so that the MF just wiped the dye away.
I contacted the local distributor of Leatherique and after viewing the photo, he suggested cleaning with GP thinners, followed by sanding with 600/1200 paper and their Prepping agent and finally dyeing the panel. We shipped the headrest of the seat to the distributor so that he could colour match the dye.
While waiting for the materials, I cleaned down the panel with GP Thinners to remove the substance. The following image shows the result of this step.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMAG0082.jpg
Figure 2 - Cleaned with GP thinners
As you can see the thinners removed far more material than the original damage. We were expecting this sort of reaction as you only have to look at the case studies on the Leatherique website to realize that in fixing leather problems, things often appear to get worse before they get better.
The seat was then left to dry for approximately 2 days. I then sanded with 600 and then 1200 paper after soaking the paper in the prepping agent much as you would do when wet sanding paint. Leather is reasonable tough so you can sand quite aggressively if required, but not so aggressively that you would turn the leather to suede. The idea of the sanding is to one remove the old dye and two to key the leather so that it will accept the new dye. Since we weren’t changing the colour of the leather it wasn’t necessary to remove all the dye. The next image shows the result after the sanding and waiting overnight for it to dry.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMAG0086.jpg
Figure 3 -After sanding and drying - ready for dyeing
The next step was the dyeing process. It is important to thoroughly mix the dye as the dye contains various size pigments. The bottle contains a marble so shake the bottle for at least a few minutes. It is also important not to use the dye directly from the bottle. The dye should be poured in a container and regularly stirred if attempting to cover larger areas. It is also important to realize that we are not painting the leather, but applying the dye in multiple thin coats. I used what Leatherique term as the “wet wipe technique”.
Take a good quality paper towel and tear off say three sheets. Then crunch the towel up into the shape of a powder puff. Dip the powder puff into some water and then wring dry. Then lightly dip the paper into the dye in the container allowing the paper to absorb some dye. Then lightly apply to the leather in a circular motion just as you would if applying wax to a vehicle. Just like with waxing, don’t attempt to apply a heavy coat. Don’t be concerned if the first coat doesn’t completely cover and leave a uniform finish. This will be corrected with the second and third coats. Allow approximately one hour between coats.
The final step after leaving the leather untouched for 48 hours is to lightly buff with an MF.
The following image shows the completed repair. A perfect colour match and repair, the repaired panel matching all the other panels of the seat.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMG_0107.jpg
Figure 4 - Finished result
This vehicle had been detailed back in November last year, and part of the detail included cleaning the leather of both front seats. The seats were particularly dirty for a 2 year old car, so the full treatment of Leatherique Rejuvenator and Leatherique Pristine Clean was used to restore both seats to new condition.
The owner again contacted me again recently concerning a small patch in the lumbar panel which was sticky to touch. The patch was about 2” square and when lightly rubbed with a finger would gradually produce a tiny pill of material, the colour of the leather. At this point there had been no discolouration of the leather, it just felt sticky to touch. The owner had no recollection of how the substance had got onto the leather. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the original damage, but even if I did, I doubt it would be visible in a photo as whatever the substance was it was translucent.
The first step was to try and remove the substance with a damp MF. The following image shows the result.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMAG0080.jpg
Figure 1 - After a light wipe with damp MF
Quite obviously the substance has loosened the dye so that the MF just wiped the dye away.
I contacted the local distributor of Leatherique and after viewing the photo, he suggested cleaning with GP thinners, followed by sanding with 600/1200 paper and their Prepping agent and finally dyeing the panel. We shipped the headrest of the seat to the distributor so that he could colour match the dye.
While waiting for the materials, I cleaned down the panel with GP Thinners to remove the substance. The following image shows the result of this step.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMAG0082.jpg
Figure 2 - Cleaned with GP thinners
As you can see the thinners removed far more material than the original damage. We were expecting this sort of reaction as you only have to look at the case studies on the Leatherique website to realize that in fixing leather problems, things often appear to get worse before they get better.
The seat was then left to dry for approximately 2 days. I then sanded with 600 and then 1200 paper after soaking the paper in the prepping agent much as you would do when wet sanding paint. Leather is reasonable tough so you can sand quite aggressively if required, but not so aggressively that you would turn the leather to suede. The idea of the sanding is to one remove the old dye and two to key the leather so that it will accept the new dye. Since we weren’t changing the colour of the leather it wasn’t necessary to remove all the dye. The next image shows the result after the sanding and waiting overnight for it to dry.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMAG0086.jpg
Figure 3 -After sanding and drying - ready for dyeing
The next step was the dyeing process. It is important to thoroughly mix the dye as the dye contains various size pigments. The bottle contains a marble so shake the bottle for at least a few minutes. It is also important not to use the dye directly from the bottle. The dye should be poured in a container and regularly stirred if attempting to cover larger areas. It is also important to realize that we are not painting the leather, but applying the dye in multiple thin coats. I used what Leatherique term as the “wet wipe technique”.
Take a good quality paper towel and tear off say three sheets. Then crunch the towel up into the shape of a powder puff. Dip the powder puff into some water and then wring dry. Then lightly dip the paper into the dye in the container allowing the paper to absorb some dye. Then lightly apply to the leather in a circular motion just as you would if applying wax to a vehicle. Just like with waxing, don’t attempt to apply a heavy coat. Don’t be concerned if the first coat doesn’t completely cover and leave a uniform finish. This will be corrected with the second and third coats. Allow approximately one hour between coats.
The final step after leaving the leather untouched for 48 hours is to lightly buff with an MF.
The following image shows the completed repair. A perfect colour match and repair, the repaired panel matching all the other panels of the seat.
http://www.glmsoftware.com/images/IMG_0107.jpg
Figure 4 - Finished result