Leatherique

[Clarksonvalley]

Has anyone used Leatherique products for refinishing their leather seats & interiors?

Tom

[shogun]

Hi Tom, I am using a similar product from Germany, which is famous for that. You will be surprised about the difference such products make for your leather. I have restored my 24 years old E32 seats, the leather had cracks, I used liquid leather to fill the cracks, let is dry, applied again and then used the colour stuff. Even completely torn leather I repaired, I took the leather off the seat, glued from the backside with leather glue a piece of leather, and then applied again liquid leather to fill the crack and then used the colour.
Leatherique calls the liquid leather crack filler.
http://www.leatherique.com/do_it_you...r_application/
Lots of instructions in here Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products

In Germany most famous brand is Willkommen | Lederzentrum - Spezialist für Lederpflege, Lederreparatur, Beratung
see the videos, language is of course German, but that does not matter, especially the one with Fluessigleder = liquid leather = crack filler
Die Reparatur von Farbschäden bei Autoledern | Lederzentrum - Spezialist für Lederpflege, Lederreparatur, Beratung
Risse und Löcher in Glattleder mit Flüssigleder reparieren | Lederzentrum - Spezialist für Lederpflege, Lederreparatur, Beratung

[Clarksonvalley]

Shogun,

Thats for the reply. I plan on starting with the back panels of the front seats. I'll try to post pictures of my progress.

Tom

[Tiger]

I have used Leatherique for about 17 years. It is the best. If your leather is untreated as in never been colored or sealed by aftermerket product, it works wonder.

The process is long but easy... best done in spring summer or fall when it is hot enough outside. The heat helps open up the pores of the leather and the Rejuvenator will bring out dirts to the surface. The longer you keep it that way, the cleaner your leather will be... so plan on applying in morning and wiping off at night.

Prestine Kleen is wonderful stuff... takes out the Rejubenator and cleans your interior very well. It works great on vinyl too. Again, if you got a stubborn stain... leave prestine Kleen on for a while... let it soack in... and it will come out. If it still doesn't most likely you got some sort of petroleum or oily stain... try mineral spirit to remove it and then follow Leatherique instruction.

I don't use it every year... because the leather is like new after you are done with it... you don't notice the dirt until a couple of years later... lol.

[Clarksonvalley]

Attached is a photo is the left front door panel from my 1995 540i. The color of the panel above the wood trim is slightly darker and below the wood trim. This is most obvious at the upper right corner of the photo where the two colors meet. I don't think this color difference is a result of aging. Does anyone else's panels have this color difference?

Tom

[genphreak]

Yes, the top of the card matches the dash colour, not the rest of the card. The dash is two tone, browner on top than down below as it presents less reflection / reduces glare on the windscreen in daytime.

I've used Leatherique on the seats to great effect- excellent results but not cheap stuff.

The only piece of the card to use Leatherique on is the middle piece, if it is leather (not so on all). There must be some cleaners around that work on the door cards better than acetone, chloroform, petrol or turps (and don't destroy it) but I'm yet to find 'em... grrr.

[Clarksonvalley]

Below are photos of the rear vinyl panels from both front seats. The one of the left has been refinished, the one on the right has not. The right one shows some of the old scuff marks and is darker with age. I'm using a Devilbiss DAGR air brush and have been experimenting with the thinning the Leatherique ink. Looks like adding 50% distilled water by weight works best with the airbrush, any thicker (40% and lower) and the airbrush nozzle tends to clog up.

[Clarksonvalley]

The interior of the 540i is two-tone Parchment. Leatherique has a color Code 0453 for the darker Parchment color and a color Code 0525 for the lighter Parchment color. You can see on my 02-07-2013 posting above the different colors.

[Tiger]

that's great... by the way... soaking the leather with Rejuvenator Oil for a day or so and then follow up with Prestine Kleen will also lighten up the seat color by many shades. Best done in the summer when it is really hot out... will opens up the leather pores and release dirt.

If the leather has been treated with coloring repair, I find it changes color much less... but it will get the seat very clean.

[Clarksonvalley]

I sprayed the 2nd seat back and find that I don't ilke using the airbrush to apply the Leatherique leather dye. The spray pattern out of the airbrush to just too small - you almost can't see it. It's like painting a house with a 1/4" wide paint brush. I've got an HVLP gun, but I think that would be overkill, so I've ordered a 'detail' HVLP gun (smaller orifice and needle than the full size HVLP gun) and will give that a try. More later.

Tom