Remember the days when a full leather interior was an expensive factory fitted option ? Nowadays, it is unusual for a car to have anything but a leather interior. Notwithstanding most now will have vinyl sides to reduce cost, (see how few cars actually advertise ‘Full Leather interior) they will have leather facings.

The leather in your car was once a living skin, just the same as your own.  Now its wrapped around sponge and foam, but once there was probably a cow wrapped in it ! This ‘skin’ protected the cow from all that the elements could throw at it. Sun, Rain, Heat, Cold, etc, but the skin never dried out, cracked or faded. Why ? Because the cow maintained it’s own skin from the inside out.

Do you look after your own skin ? Probably, although I’m not suggesting a quick trip to the Clarins department if you don’t. But do you look after your seats skin ? Probably not. Like most people, you will probably get in and out without a moments thought. And rather than move the seat back and forward to make it easier to get in and out, you’ll slide across the side bolster. Then wriggle around to get comfortable. All of which accelerate wear. And without proper maintenance, your leather interior will suffer the consequences.

Generally the first you notice is when the surface looks like it’s starting to crack. Maybe the side bolster starts to lose it’s colour through wear or UV exposure, and the original leather colour starts to show through. Because of the way that leather is produced for car seats (and most domestic furnishings) it’s unlikely that it’s the surface that’s starting to crack, that only happens in extremis. No, what will be cracking is the pigments (or paint) that the seat was coloured with. You didn’t realise your seats were painted ? Have you seen many Red or Blue cows recently ? It won’t have been painted with your average Superstore emulsion, rather it will have been spray painted with specialised pigments, that are flexible, hard wearing and will withstand many years of use, if properly maintained. Maintenance will be covered in another article, but what to do if you start to get cracking or colour fade out.

You could phone your friendly BMW / Mercedes / Ford etc dealer to get a quote for several hundred pounds (if you’re lucky) to replace the cover on your seat. And it won’t match your other seats as they will be worn or weathered. One brand new seat and 3 or 4 old ones.  So, a new full interior ? A few thousand pounds !

Or you could use one of us from here. This is the process I follow when doing a repair. Don’t try this at home !

Firstly, the current colour of the seat needs to be matched. Why not get the manufacturer to supply a small quantity of the original colour ? Unless the car is less than 12 months old, the drivers seat especially as this will get the most wear won’t be the original colour any more due to wear and tear.  Once this is matched, and I use Water Based pigments as they are ozone friendly, the original colour can be stripped off with very strong solvents, and the ‘cracks’ will disappear. (Any wear or ‘character’ lines will remain, as these are part of the natural ageing process for leather) At this stage, any small nicks or tears can be repaired using specialised flexible fillers. Some air dry, some need to be heat sealed. Any graining to match the existing area can also be applied at this stage. The repair is then sealed and treated with a flexible binding coat to help the new colour to adhere properly.

Once this is dry, the new pigment colour can be applied to the repaired area with a specialised spray gun (not a Badger Air Brush) and blended into the existing seat to match in several light coats, drying each coat before applying another. By using a special spray gun, it will replicate the OE finish from the factory. Once dry, after 24 hours I treat the seat with a leather conditioner product, to provide protection from UV rays, and to help maintain the leather. Don’t forget, the cow can’t help with this any more.

The results ? This is the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of a seat base from a lovely 1964 Rolls Royce. A fairly extreme case, but by no means unusual.

This job actually entailed completely re-finishing both front seats, the back seats, armrests, the door cards and a couple of small tears. The car retained it’s originality and it’s patina of age. But the seats looked ‘as good as new’ but they were still over 45 years old. And the cost ? Much less than a full re-trim. In fact, not much more than one new seat ! Which would you rather see in your car ?

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