Surflex Leather Dye, anyone use this?

I have some tan leather items that I want to dye black. It sounds like the Surflex products are a good choice. Anyone every use this and if so what type of success?

What's involved in prepping the leather?

I did exactly what you're thinking of doing--dyed my tan leather black with Surflex. One thing to be aware of is that "dye" is a misnomer. The stuff is actually a kind of paint. You laboroiusly prep the leather by scraping and sanding off as much of the "paint" that's already on there--leather "dye" turns out to essentially be on the surface of the leather and really doesn't penetrate much, the way you'd think a dye would. You use lacquer thinner to somewhat soften the existing "dye," and you literally do sand the stuff off; it won't just dissolve and wipe off. The sanding--use steel wool, or Scotchbrite, or even actual sandpaper--is not as destructive as it might sound, as long as you don't get too extreme about it, and in fact you should roughen up the surface slightly to give the Surflex something to grip. You'll end up getting about 80 percent of the original color off, if you work at it, and the leather will be a lot softer when you're done; the old dye is what gives it a lot of its stiffness. You might also need to feed the leather somewhat, if it's dry.

The best advice I think I can give you is to not paint the surflex on with a brush, which is the easy way to do it. No matter how soft a brush you use and how carefully you do it, you'll end up with some visible brushmarks. Spray it on, just as you would if you were doing bodywork. I brushed mine on and it looks very good--maybe a nine out of 10--but for the amount of work it took to prepare the leather, I'd spray it if I had it to do again. Oh, and this is not a job you want to do with the leather in place, in the car. Best you take the panels, seats, whatever out.

Stephan Wilkinson

Everything I've heard leads me to believe dyeing leather is just not worth the effort. I went to an auto upholster in town and purchased a couple hides of black leather for 200 bucks. Im redoing the interior now. One thing to think about is if the dye job doesn't come out ok your left with a piece that you cant use.
Craig

I would agree 100% with stephan, on the application of the stuff. I used a foam brush and in some places there are traces of brush marks. If I were you I would do all the cracks and tight areas with a foam brush, then spray it. If you don't have access to a spray gun I would have no hesistation using a foam brush. Good Luck

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Dante Oliverio
86 Turbo-Look Cab

Asked Larry at CCA about using Surflex to recolor interior leather - he advised against it, and warned of the kind of problems mentioned in the posts above. The Surflex works really well to freshen up the existing leather color. My blue leather was in reasonable shape, but looked shabby in the high wear areas. Suflex fixed that nicely.

I saw a white interior done with that stuff and it was gorgeous! Originally white to white. Looked and felt original !!!!!!! I am debating wether to use black or white on my white 85 930 interior which sat in a body shop for 2 years!

Dan

[This message has been edited by diverdan (edited 01-31-2001).]