RSWiser

I want to change the color of my interior.
I have blue right now and I am going black. Have new seat covers going on next week. I need to change the color of the door panels and rear seats.

I presume that those are both vinyl rather than leather. What is the best way dye them. I saw something at the auto parts store that looked like paint for vinyl. This isn't really what I want is it?

What have you used.

Rob
1980 911 SC

wildcat077

Rob,

Check out a company called Leatherique.
They are well regarded as far as leather care products go,i ordered from them their leather interior rejuvenator and cleaning products for my 89 Carrera,i think they have leather dyes as well ...
Seems to be good stuff so far !

Cheers !
Phil

pu911rsr

Rob,
do a search on this and you will find that that what you think is dye is really paint for leather, I am not sure about vinyl but i would assume that that is pigmented somehow. I have a set of blue leather sport seats I am going to redo to black as soon as I find a little extra time.
Phil

Todd951968

I had a tan interior that I changed to black. I actually bought a full black leather hide on ebay and made leather door panels and the rear speaker deck from it. I also covered the armrests, door panel & rear side panel caps, and dash with alcantara (faux seude) I am still in the finishing stages but it looks pretty good- a whole lot better than before.

The vinyl spray paint works OK on non wear surfaces but make sure you clean and degrease before applying. If you spray too many surfaces inside your car, it will smell like spray paint for a while so its best to limit what you spray.

theiceman

i have been thinking about this and although not an opinion in any way i would like to hear from people who have done it .

Doesn't painting anything that is flexible high risk ? as the paint I don't think can soak in to vinyl it will sit on top. any cracks scratches or wear and tear will look horible if the original colour comes through ?
Blue and black I could see maybe .. but tan and black would stick out like a sore thumb. ( wait a minute isn't that a beer ? )

Todd951968

Iceman: the vinyl paint works OK on plastic and vinyl but scratches can come through. Still its fairly durable. I tried using it on some old worn leather seats that I was throwing out and it didn't stick to the leather all that well. So, anything that flexes alot will cause it to crack. Way back in the day, I had painted vinyl seats in my vega and I just has to touch them up every few months. LOL.

Ed Hughes

I'd look at a company called SEM. I know a bunch of people who have used in on Leather, me included. I think some I know did some vinyl too. It is super high quality, and typically sold thru commercial auto paint stores.

theiceman

I think the trick might be to buy seat covers and paint everything else..

RSWiser

I have new seat covers being installed this week and then I will start dyeing the rest.

Rob

aron in toronto

I've used Surflex from Color-Plus with good results.

I dyed a brown steering wheel black and it still looks great after 3 years. At the same time I also dyed the shift boot and it has not held up quite as well. I attribute these results to my prep on the steering wheel and lack of prep on the boot as well as the boot seeing more flexing.

As others have mentioned the dye is a surface treatment similar to paint and does not actually absorb deeply into the leather. This is similar to most (not all) factory automotive leather coloring that is only at the surface.

If you do a search for "leather dye" or "dye my seats" or something similar you'll find several examples from members who had had good success changing the color of their interiors with dye.

Regards,
Aron