How to Restore Car Leather

Restore leather car items if they become worn or damaged.

In a car interior, leather is exposed to many detrimental factors such as sunlight and high summertime heat, cold winter temperatures, and abrasion and wear, especially in the driver's seat. As a result, colors may fade or change, cracks and splits can form, and the top layer of leather may wear down. With work and proper tools and products, leather can be restored.

Things You'll Need

• Whisk broom
• Vacuum with crevice tool
• Drop cloth or plastic sheet (optional)
• Cleaning cloths
• Rubber gloves
• Sponge
• Leather cleaner
• Water
• Mild detergent
• Soft scrub brush
• Leather prepping agent or lacquer thinner
• Fine-grit sandpaper, 240, 400, 600, 1000 weights
• Scrubbing pad
• Paper towels
• Leather cleaning product
• Pieces of canvas or leather if hole repair is needed
• Crack filler product
• Flat spatula
• Leather colorant
• Soft bristle brushes
• Leather conditioner

Instructions

Cleaning

1. Put down plastic drop cloths to protect the car interior or item to be restored. You can also remove the item from the car if desired.

2. Turn off the car interior lights if restoration will take place inside the car.

3. Clean the leather item, using a whisk broom and vacuum with a crevice tool to get dirt out from deep within folds, cracks and crevices.

4. Wear protective gloves. Wash the leather with a leather cleaner and water or with heated water and a mild detergent. Use soft cloths. For cracked areas, use a soft scrub brush for deep cleaning. Allow to dry.

Remove Old Finish

1. Wear protective gloves. If the car is older than 1992, use lacquer thinner to remove the old lacquer-based colorant. Since 1992, water-based dyes were used, so use a leather-prepping compound to remove the old finish.

2. Moisten a scrubbing pad or 400-grit sandpaper for a lacquer-based finish or 600-grit sandpaper for a water-based finish. Apply either lacquer thinner or a leather prepping compound, rubbing lightly a section at a time. Remove the old color frequently with paper towels or soft cloths.

3. Sand the leather with moistened 600-grit sandpaper for a lacquer-based finish or 1000-grit sandpaper for a water-based finish. Use a light touch. Remove any residue with soft cloths.

Repairing Cracks and Damaged Areas

1. Put a scrap of canvas or leather beneath holes in the leather and glue in place to the underside of the leather with tacky craft glue. Allow to dry before proceeding.

2. Apply a crack-filling leather product to damaged leather areas, using a flat spatula.

3. Let it dry and sand the filled areas with 1000-grit sandpaper. Repeat if necessary. Let it dry overnight. Wipe clean with a cloth.

Apply Colorant

1. Wear protective gloves. Apply colorant to the leather with a sponge or soft-bristled brush, following the manufacturer's instructions.

2. Work colorant into folds, creases and seams with small, soft-bristled brush. Let it dry.

3. Apply colorant to larger areas. Allow to dry. Apply subsequent coats if needed. Let dry for a couple days and then rub down with soft cloths.

4. Protect the new finish with a leather protectant, especially where abrasion is likely.

Tips & Warnings

• All the old finish and colorant needs to be removed before applying a new colorant.

• To assure a good color match, snip off a piece of the original leather from underneath the seat to compare to colorant products or to send to colorant manufacturer.

• In the wet sanding process, don't oversand so that texture becomes rough. The finish should be smooth and clean, not fuzzy.

References

• Furniture Clinic: How to Restore a Leather Car Interior
• Leatherique Restoration Products: How to Prepare Leather