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As I have said in previous posts, we were fortunate to have found a car with only 11,800 miles last July. However, here in Ohio, unless a vehicle is kept in a climate controlled environment, the interior can trap moisture if it sits too long. The folks that we got it from left it sit too long.
As a consequence, the seats got mildewed and were stained. I have contacted a company that has a franchise local to me.
Any one use them before ? Assuming we come to terms and I use them, I will give my opinions on how it worked out.
Here are some pics of the seat bottoms with mildew specs. The rest of the interior is perfect. I scrubbed the carpet and used a product called Ozmium that kills any orders. It will even kill wet dog, the smell of cigarettes, etc.
I tried the trick that "Wheeler Dealers" used of putting leather cleaner on the seat, putting it in a black plastic bag, and setting in the sun. It didn't lift the stain out, but the cleaner/conditioner sure was sucked into the leather !!!
I just missed a set of new leather covers that were down by my brother's place in Raliegh, NC. The guy had bought and never installed them. He had them on Craigslist for $225.00.
That probably would be good for old nasty seats but I wonder about the longevity of the underlying leather. Rustoleum is an oil based paint. Granted the lacquer thinner cuts it down, but it is still oil based.
Other than the mildew spots, my seats look like seats (wearwise) that have only 14,000 miles on them. The foam is not broken down, etc. The plan is to re-dye the leather in the correct GM dye color and then reclear them. They will look new, as does the rest of the interior.
We are also making padded covers for the EM harness bar I installed. We found some upholstery vinyl that matches the 1996 red perfectly. Pictures will follow when we get them done. We actually tried velcro first and it worked great but the glue didn't hold. We are going to sew in zippers.
Thanks for sharing though, other folks will find it useful to extend seats that are otherwise nearing the end of life.
I know nothing about this so you are obviously making a huge mistake listening to me, and your car will probably blow up as a direct result. (Won't you feel stupid?)
But I did dye everything but the seats with a dye (They called it a dye?) I got from Keen's in Miamitown Ohio. I think It was Corvette America brand.
I did hard plastics. Vinyl.. So far, it looks great.
Rather than Rustoleum, maybe that would work better? It is marketed as a "dye" and it is color matched to your car by year. It works really good and I was impressed with it.
I too have done vinyl/plastics with a special purpose dye. It held up quite well. In fact, lots of factory repair panels are shipped to the repair shop and then dyed to match the interior.
A couple of the major Corvette suppliers have dye kits for leather. However, for approximately $125.00 per seat (top and bottom) it is worth it to me to have someone who makes a living at restoring leather do my seats so that they are in as good a shape as the rest of the car.
I am going to try and show it at the Summit Racing Power and Piston show next year and want to have it as pristine as possible. If not next year, then it will be done for the year thereafter.
I will never be able to afford to out and out buy another Corvette, but I can afford to piecemeal this one into a really nice ride.
You might try Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner first. I know it sounds crazy, but it cleans dirty leather seats like nothing I have ever tried. Just make sure to condition them after.
You might try Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner first. I know it sounds crazy, but it cleans dirty leather seats like nothing I have ever tried. Just make sure to condition them after.
That probably would be good for old nasty seats but I wonder about the longevity of the underlying leather. Rustoleum is an oil based paint. Granted the lacquer thinner cuts it down, but it is still oil based.
Other than the mildew spots, my seats look like seats (wearwise) that have only 14,000 miles on them. The foam is not broken down, etc. The plan is to re-dye the leather in the correct GM dye color and then reclear them. They will look new, as does the rest of the interior.
We are also making padded covers for the EM harness bar I installed. We found some upholstery vinyl that matches the 1996 red perfectly. Pictures will follow when we get them done. We actually tried velcro first and it worked great but the glue didn't hold. We are going to sew in zippers.
Thanks for sharing though, other folks will find it useful to extend seats that are otherwise nearing the end of life.
I kinda wonder about that. The foam is that old. Anyway, lets say you can pull the covers and do what you want to do for cheap (usually comes at a cost later), are you sure you want to be in that car with mildew inside? Sure, it sucks to spend more money but if it were my car, NFW would I want to ride in it after I know the seats have mildew any more than I would want a house with mildew in the walls unless it is properly treated and removed.
I kinda wonder about that. The foam is that old. Anyway, lets say you can pull the covers and do what you want to do for cheap (usually comes at a cost later), are you sure you want to be in that car with mildew inside? Sure, it sucks to spend more money but if it were my car, NFW would I want to ride in it after I know the seats have mildew any more than I would want a house with mildew in the walls unless it is properly treated and removed.
Just to be clear, I used the scrubbing bubbles technique on like new seats in my F150. I wouldn't do it on cracked old seats. Worked great, just need to put a leather conditioner back on when done. My link didn't work to Youtube (I am new to the forum and don't know how to do it) - here is the url
Just to be clear, I used the scrubbing bubbles technique on like new seats in my F150. I wouldn't do it on cracked old seats. Worked great, just need to put a leather conditioner back on when done. My link didn't work to Youtube (I am new to the forum and don't know how to do it) - here is the url
All mildew is gone. All that is left is the black stains it left. Or it could have been a cushion, or cloth seat covers. That I don't know. Everything is scrubbed out. No smell. Here in Ohio, if a car sits over winter without being opened up it will be musty smelling inside. It is not like black mold and it didn't go any further than just on the surface. If there was anything left, it would have smelled after sitting from late November to the beginning of April this year.
Yes we have a short Corvette season unless you are one of the folks that drive their Vettes in the salt. There are some that do.
All mildew is gone. All that is left is the black stains it left. Or it could have been a cushion, or cloth seat covers. That I don't know. Everything is scrubbed out. No smell. Here in Ohio, if a car sits over winter without being opened up it will be musty smelling inside. It is not like black mold and it didn't go any further than just on the surface. If there was anything left, it would have smelled after sitting from late November to the beginning of April this year.
Yes we have a short Corvette season unless you are one of the folks that drive their Vettes in the salt. There are some that do.
Is there an upholstry shop that will dye or paint or whatever they call it?
I drive it in the winter but not if there is snow on the ground but here they dump salt and more salt so there will be some leftover.
it is a franchise type business. the local franchisee is going to come to me and do the work in my driveway. there are examples of their work on the website
check them out and bookmark the site. you might need them some day. go in a check out some of the repair work they show
The seats were done today. We are satisfied with the results. There is just the slightest little bit that shows through if you know where to look. However, overall, the seats are great and I no longer cringe when someone looks inside.
They have to dry for 24 hours. The clear they use has to achieve its final molecular setup and then it will be as good as factory.
I will post pics the next sunny day we get after tomorrow before I put them back in the car. Who knows when that will be.
Here are pics of the finished product. As you can see, the seats look really nice. My phone doesn't filter as good as a camera, but the difference between the 1st pics (above) and these is readily apparent.
Rich did a really good job and I can recommend him to the folks that live in my area. For people in other areas, check out the other franchises. It is a viable alternative to buying new seats or living with ugly.
05-21-2017, 06:40 PM
Leather Re-dyeing
They look brand new, nice job sure was done!
