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Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:49 pm
by Richie
... sort of.
But a start has finally been made.

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:08 pm
by Fishyboy
Hi Richie,
Is the darker areas where you have removed the finish or the new colour. Looks similar to the leather I found under all the finish on my seats. Ive just finished feeding the leather after removing the finish and hope to start to apply colour latter this week. What is the new colour going to be . Whose products are you using. Are you going to apply the colour with a airbrush?

Phil

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:34 am
by Richie
Hi Fishy.
The dark colour is the leather under the beige... which was removed with an abrasive sponge, thinners and lots of rags.
I have "The Furniture Clinics" kit to go to black. In the kit is a mini compressor etc (£25 + £100 deposit hire) to spray on the dye. I'll see how I get on with it when the time comes...
Lots of beige to remove first...
Good luck with yours

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:39 am
by garyc
Hello Richie
Don't rub too hard with abrasive sponge if you using thinners and I have found you don't have to really soak the leather in thinners just put some on cloth then wipe.

Any cracks or tough bits then the abrasive sponge

Are you using scotchbrite pads or the kitchen sponge ones with green on the back

It's a good idea to wear gloves I've only done black interiors so far and using the thinners to strip colour off stained my hands badly for quite a few days :D

It's looking like you got nice leather there but if you rub too hard you will end up with a suede finish which won't be smooth when you colour it

Nice colour underneath

A wise little bearded man once said to me you dont get red cows gaz all the leathers dyed
I obviously new this but humoured him anyway :D :D

But seriously that does look nice leather must have been a good cow :D

GaryC

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:22 am
by Grant
garyc wrote: A wise little bearded man once said to me you dont get red cows gaz all the leathers dyed
I obviously new this but humoured him anyway :D GaryC
Image

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:39 am
by Fishyboy
Hi Richie,
Couple of points that might help.

1) I use a small spray bottle containing the solvent (I use Ethyl Acetate from Ebay at £20 for 5L!) to spray onto the leather and then agitate with Scotchbrite green pads (worth the extra money). I then use a rags to remove the dye.

2) Once all done clean with alcohol cleaner.

3) Any rough areas can be rubbed smooth using 1200 wet and dry.

4) Apply the first coat of colorant by hand (I use one of those small sponge-pad applicators (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-Waxing-Bu ... :rk:1:pf:1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

5) When applying the Leather Finish (sealant) after the colouring is complete (I use 50/50 mix of Gloss and Matt to produce a Satin finish) you may get a slightly milky appearance (only happens with black for some reason). To prevent this I would add a little black colourant to the mix (as suggested by the Furniture Clinic guys).

Hope these help.

Phil

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:13 am
by Richie
Thanks all.
the encouragement is appreciated -especially as i've never attempted anything like this before

the approach I've taken is...

- dip a scotchbrite pad into the thinners
- rub it over the dye - but no need to press hard.
- as the dye 'melts', wipe it away with a rag - i can see lots of rags being needed!

all while wearing thick rubber gloves.

i hope to have this part of the rear seat stripped of colour tonight.

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:33 am
by garyc
That's how I do it Richie just take your time it's not a quick process.

Phil I would be careful spraying it as you don't need it to soak in the leather it's only the surface colour you are removing.
Also you really want to avoid getting the thinners on the threads/ stitching that holds the leather seats together like in the pleated area and around the edges of the seats

I've found you can control it more with a cloth or pad and it is surprising how little you need to remove the colour

As always there's more than one way to do something so if its working for you then that's fine.

Good luck with both your seat restos
GaryC

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:58 pm
by Richie
"Also you really want to avoid getting the thinners on the threads/ stitching that holds the leather seats together like in the pleated area and around the edges of the seats"

ooops

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:25 pm
by Fishyboy
Hi Gary
I have used both the folded Scotchbrite with cotton wool in the middle and the spray bottle method (suggested by Furniture Clinic).

In my experience the "Scotchbrite" method works well for removing just the surface finish (i.e. waxes, protectorants and finishes, which would prevent the colourant taking) ahead of applying the colorant, assuming no change in color is required.

Where a color change is required (or in my gas removing a overly thick color layer) the "spray bottle" method (out of the two shown below the old Dettol seems to work best) seems to work best. The spray pattern can be easily controlled from a mist to a heavy spray and the area covered controlled by distance from the surface. Never had any problem with the stitching, but well worth you pointing out. Who knows what will happen in the after 12 months!

As you say there are many ways to skin a cat or indeed remove leather finish.

Phil

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:10 pm
by Richie
Tonight's progress... not as far as I'd hoped owing to the sheer quantity of beige dye here that needed to come off but on we go...

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:32 pm
by Fishyboy
Hi Richie
Great job so far. What are you using to remove the finish?
Phil

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:27 pm
by Richie
Hi Phil
I'm using thinners. I hoped to finish all of that tonight but... there was so much dye to remove that the scotch pads became saturated. And, although I propped the door wide open, after being in my fume filled shed for an hour and a bit, I'd kinda had enough. I guess this is the easy bit but so far so good. I think. Hopefully.

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:51 pm
by Grant
Richie wrote: I guess this is the easy bit but so far so good. I think. Hopefully.
Well done for your hard efforts Richie.. it looks great and I know it can be so over powering that stink of thinners, .. but, Richie in my opinion this is the hard bit.. so well done that man!!

Re: Interior Colour Change Begins

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 11:39 am
by Fishyboy
Richie,
Grant is right - this is the hard bit. Get the prep right and everything else that follows should go well.
Are you planning to "feed" the leather ahead of applying the colour?
Phil