Thought i'd give an insight in to what i found in this experience just incase others want to have a go.
I brought a sports interior for the zed but the leather had been water marked something i found you can not remove, so if your leather gets wet try and dry it asap as the mark can be irreversible.
Theres are lots of companies supplying various dye kits and they come with their own methods, all along the same lines but prep and finish the main difference.
A few links.....
http://www.liquidleather.com/en/
http://www.bespokeleathering.com/
http://www.theleatherclinic.co.uk/
http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/
All these sites provide information and products to carry out any repair you have in mind big or small.
I found alot of great video's and tuturiols on alot of the sites and spoke to a few that are extremely helpful with free advise on and through the process.
I decided to use Gliptones product Scuff Master a few reasons why.....
1, The product is an all in one dye and sealer this makes it easy to use . Unlike the others that require a bonder and then a sealer.
2, The process .. it requires a clean surface obtained by their own deep cleaner at about £8 followed by the conditioner if you find your leather a little stiff. Again these products don't contain harsh chemicals to strip the original colour /finish hense drying out the leather and possible damage to stitching. The bonder mentioned above was then to be applied but having spoke to bespoke leathering they advised no extra bonders are needed and said there was no need with the scuff master kit.
3, The finish..this as said is an all in one dye and sealer it comes in matt finish but most leathers new are matt the go shiney with use. You can add a shine to your final coat but are advised to be careful as it will go shiney even more so with use.
The other processes required a finish to be mixed and sprayed on top of the dye ok not a biggy but not good to have all your work messed up in the top coat. For me the ease of use was number 1 on the list its daunting enough!!!.
So started with these...
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The water damage on the base of the passenger seat the dark marking.
And wanted this......
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The process.
First you clean i used the Gliptone heavy duty cleaner a gell like product.
To start wipe the leather with a damp cloth not wet as you don't want to wet the leather , followed by the cleaner i used a small nail brush to agitate the leather you don't need to scrub just light motion.
You then remove and residue with again the damp cloth you can see the difference the leather dulls off and looks more natural and when it came to masking the tape stuck to the prepped leather fine.
At this point you condition the leather to add back its softness like most balms you apply with a soft cloth leave a few moments on the leather then buff off. They then recommend another light clean to remove any residue from the conditioner.
At this point you repair the leather creases wear etc. Flexible filler is used here i applied this with a putty knife and found that applying the filler an using the flat edge of the blade and drawring it across the filled area worked great.The filler stayed in the recesses and removed everywhere else so i didn't need to sand it as it was ok, but if dealing with a tear and refill sanding would be needed afterwards.
Dying
Now being a numpty i have photos half way through the process as was that ingrossed forgot to take them from the start but the process is simple.
Tools
Dye
Sponges ( i used the kitchen type 99p for ten)
A fine brush (needed for two tone but if you spent a few more days at it you could remask, i feared pulling the dye coat off as it has a dry period)
An airbrush ( Not essential but very time saving and the dye goes along way using this method) special thanks
@yocky z3 2.0 for loaning me this.
An hair dryer (makes life really easy as this stuff can dry quick with a little heat.)
I dyed the body of the seats by hand i masked the darker colour and sponge dyed the centres the pictures show the second darker colour being applied before and after pictures.
First colour applied and pictures showing un dyed areas
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Appying the dye
Did this via sponge I first painted the joining edges with a fine brush only thing here is to not leave a build up of dye you just paint it out other wise it leaves ridges in the dryed finish.
When the edge is done the main panel can be dyed light dabbing motions are used trying to avoid creating lots of bubbles , i found just reworking any areas resolved this. You get bubbles and they dry out but you want to keep them to a minimum and small.
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You can see the edge i brush painted as its drying again the stipple of the sponge but this is fine.
Fully applied
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Then hair dryer dried in a few moments
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The other panels where treated the same as below..
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The finish is great it requires 3 to 5 coats most of mine had three the first very light don't try to cover in one go ! Time and patience its forgiving stuff you can touch in repaint etc and it just blends so mistakes can be corrected.
The door cards i masked and airbrushed its very quick took longer to mask than paint but again 3 coats drying throughly inbetween gave these results.
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The product is great a professional finish for a diy'er.
Just thought id share hope it helps anyone contemplating the plunge
Finished car here.....
https://zroadster.org/threads/finished-and-back-together.10091/
