Leather experts advice needed

[stomachmonkey]

The back of my house has an Eastern exposure.

I have a lot of big windows.



The TX sun is killing my couches.

A friend recommended Chemspec to protect it.

My question is, is their a way to restore the color before applying a protectant.

Re dye it?

[Zeke]

First of all, do you have LowE in those windows? You should actually have LowE II, or LowE "squared."

Maybe you can call Leatherique and see if they will make up the dye you need. It can't be more than blending what they already have. A light dye job on the faded parts should look very good.

Do consider that the dye process is somewhat drying to the leather. You don't want to take one step forward and two back. I'd get the whole treatment kit from one source or another.

[stomachmonkey]

The couches are/were distressed leather to begin with, two kids and four cats, we figured it would mask a lot of the wear they'd inflict.

So I think the dye job would work as it does not need to be perfect, in fact imperfect is preferred.

House is only 2 years old. Glass is LowE.

Damage to the couches was done is under two years.

TX sun is ungodly strong.

This morning I went outside around 7:45.

Was standing in driveway and after a couple of minutes my ass felt like it was on fire. Yes I was dressed. Put my hand on my pants and it was hot to the touch. The source was the sun bouncing of a neighbors 2nd floor window 40 ft away.

[Scuba Steve]

Have you thought about tinting the windows? It helped out loads for a room with direct southern exposure at my house in San Antonio. Before tinting the room was regularly 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the floor, now it's the same temperature and sunlight hitting the floor doesn't make it hot like it used to.

[masraum]

Or some REALLY long white shears?

[masraum]

Or some REALLY long white shears?

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

Have you thought about tinting the windows? It helped out loads for a room with direct southern exposure at my house in San Antonio. Before tinting the room was regularly 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the floor, now it's the same temperature and sunlight hitting the floor doesn't make it hot like it used to.

Window tint will help a lot, carpet won't fade as fast too.

[stomachmonkey]

Wife looked into window tint a bit ago and the issue is it voids the window manufacturers warranty. The tint vendor does supply a replacement warranty but who knows how reliable that is. Currently if I have issues I just call the builder and they deal with it for me.

We've discussed doing the same blinds up top but that's $1,000 without installation. I did the bottom install myself. Don't think I want to deal with doing the top install since it's about 25-30 ft up and I have a rule that I don't like to fall more than 10 ft or so.

[Zeke]

Window tint and dual panes don't go together so well. It wouldn't be so bad if you could put the tint on the outside. But, you don't and there is a heat build up when you do it on the inside.

Not saying you couldn't get away with it, that's just the reason given.

Window tint may have come a long way in the last few years, I don't know. If it has, there would almost certainly be an auto grade and an architectural grade. Sputtered tints may offer some UV protection nowadays. Used to be that they didn't. Just a darker interior.

I don't believe tint (the film, not tinted glass) offers much by the way of infrared filtering either. Basically I only know tinted film to reduce brightness and not even glare reduction at that. I see that there are several films that claim to filter UV rays.

But, if the windows in monkey's home are already LowE. not much more he can do /wo upgrading the windows or adding shades, blinds, etc.

[s_morrison57]

leatherique is the answer

[enzo1]

stomach"monkey" : yea, over 10'= not good.... YouTube - Guy falls off ladder

[Robert Adams]

First, I would get solar shades for the windows. I believe justblinds.com or the local blind chain will carry/make them to order. They are considerably cheaper than they used to be and will not void a warranty.
Next, dying the couch contact Joanne at colorplus.

Color-Plus : Interior Leather Care, Coloring, Repair and Restoration for the Auto Enthusiast

She can match to sample or pick one of her ready to go dyes. The cost for the dye is around $150 w/freight or less depending on the quantity and color you need. She has a pricing schedule on her web. Very reliable and usually gets to about a 99.99 % match. She provides dyes to most of the vehicle leather projects I know about around here through a variety of restoration folks and PCA concours types. She is also a wealth of info when restoring leather. That sofa is at half life once you dye it and condition it. The dye results are amazing! It will look brand new, but with the wrinkles, those you really can't do much about although she sells a filler for the really awful cracks.

Good luck

[Scuba Steve]

I forgot about the dual pane tint restrictions... how about solar shades? That will sit in front of the window and won't cause any warranty problems.

[MT930]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

I forgot about the dual pane tint restrictions... how about solar shades? That will sit in front of the window and won't cause any warranty problems.

Yep
Have the same problem with lowE , shades go down every morning.