CincyScott

Been a while since I posted, mostly just busy with work, and pouring money into my house like we're the Rockefellers. I decided to take on fixing my "crackly" seats in my 1997 993 Turbo finally.

Here's a before of them in the car:



and the process started today with the first sanding. I was somewhat skeptical that sanding the seats would remove the crackled look in the seats, but I was pleasantly surprised. George at Leatherique recommended that I sand them with 400 grit with straight isopropyl alcohol. Then, treat the seats with Rejuvenator and start the process.

Here's a before:



Here's the same insert after:



And a picture of the driver's side next to a similarly crappy looking passenger side:



Lots of sanding to be done, and boy does sanding off the old finish make a HUGE mess. I'll be doing this over the evenings during the week, so I'll take more progress pics as I go.

got*ki

Great job! Shows a noticeable difference in the comparable side-by-side pic.

I think I'll go reverse the car out and leatherique my car now...

SuperUser

Wow, that's amazing!

NC TRACKRAT

George knows his stuff. We've been using their products since back when his dad was running the business. In addition to all our leather automobile seats, the Rejuvinator Oil goes on our leather furniture as well.

jhummel68

It looks good! I need to do the same thing to my seats. How do you get the inserts out? Can they be removed from the bottom of the seat as well as the back? How are you going to re-dye the seats? Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks,
John

Terry Adams

Leatherique is the first thing that goes on my seats shortly after I take delivery of each new Porsche. I have never had to do the sanding fandango, but I have no doubt yours will turn out looking almost like new.

jnicol

+1
Thanks for posting. Please continue, I'll be watching with great interest.

SPD YLO

I don't like the smell of this stuff, so I'll stick with Lexol.

CincyScott

On the hardback sport seats, the inserts pop right out in the back. Check the standard seats and see if they are stitched in, or if you can pull them back? I'd like to know anyway if anyone has time at lunch

Stealth 993

How much did you sand? That is a BIG difference! Can't wait to see them after a re-dye.

H.H.Chinn

I need to know, why are you guys sanding down the leather? Does it really need it? Leather is much like our own skin it will wrinkle with character. I suppose they offer derma abrasion for cosmetic purposes but our skin grows back. When you sand down the leather on your seats, it only gets thinner. From the before photographs is appears that the leather wrinkles simply need some hydration and worse case, a bit of leather dye.

nile13

We also don;t pain our skin, generally speaking. And if we do, we don't expect a 170 lb+ gorilla to sit on us every day and for teh paint not to wear off

The reason for sending is that the old uneven paint is gone and new paint can adhere to leather well.

Think of it this way. If you are painting wood, you wouldn't paint over 10 year old chipped paint, right?

H.H.Chinn

This is from Wikipedia:

Leather types
In general, leather is sold in four forms:

Full-grain leather refers to the leather which has not had the upper "top grain" and "split" layers seperated. The upper section of a hide that previously contained the epidermis and hair, but were removed from the hide/skin. Full-grain refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed, or snuffed (as opposed to top-grain or corrected leather) to remove imperfections (or natural marks) on the surface of the hide. The grain remains in its natural state allowing the best fiber strength and durability. The natural grain also has natural breathability, resulting in less moisture from prolonged contact. Rather than wearing out, it will develop a natural patina over time, with some cracking and splitting. The finest leather furniture and footwear are made from full-grain leather. For these reasons, only the best raw hide is used to create full-grain leather. One way to test if leather is full-grain is to lightly scratch its surface with your nail. If it leaves a lighter-colored streak, it's full-grain. Full-grain leathers are typically available in two finish types: aniline and semi-aniline.

Top-grain leather is a misnomer: it gives the false impression that it is "top" quality. In fact, full-grain is the highest quality. Top-grain leather is the second-highest quality and has had the "split" layer seperated away, making it thinner and more pliable than full grain. Its surface has been sanded and a finish coat added to the surface; a result, it has a colder, plastic feel, less breathability, and will not develop a natural patina. However, it does have 2 advantages over full-grain leather: it is typically less expensive, and has greater resistance to stains so long as the finish remains unbroken.


Corrected-grain leather is any leather that has had an artificial grain applied to its surface. The hides used to create corrected leather are of inferior quality that do not meet the high standards for use in creating vegetable-tanned or aniline leather. The imperfections are corrected or sanded off and an artificial grain impressed into the surface and dressed with stain or dyes. Most corrected-grain leather is used to make pigmented leather as the solid pigment helps hide the corrections or imperfections. Corrected grain leathers can mainly be bought as two finish types: semi-aniline and pigmented.


Split leather is leather created from the fibrous part of the hide left once the top-grain of the rawhide has been separated from the hide. During the splitting operation, the top grain and drop split are separated. The drop split can be further split (thickness allowing) into a middle split and a flesh split. In very thick hides, the middle split can be separated into multiple layers until the thickness prevents further splitting. Split leather then has an artificial layer applied to the surface of the split and is embossed with a leather grain (Bycast leather). Splits are also used to create suede. The strongest suedes are usually made from grain splits (that have the grain completely removed) or from the flesh split that has been shaved to the correct thickness. Suede is "fuzzy" on both sides. Manufacturers use a variety of techniques to make suede from full-grain. For example, in one operation, leather finish is applied to one side of the suede, which is then pressed through rollers; these flatten and even out one side of the material, giving it the smooth appearance of full-grain. Latigo is one of the trade names for this product. A reversed suede is a grained leather that has been designed into the leather article with the grain facing away from the visible surface. It is not a true form of suede.

I believe the factory uses select Full Grain Leather in the production of our car interiors and seats. Wouldn't sanding down the leather surface reduce its inherit quality? The wood analogy isn't a very strong one, just ask the military especially the Navy they paint over chipped wood all the time.

CincyScott

You'd be amazed at what gets sanded off. There is goop just like paint that comes off in the process. I was not even close to sanding the actual leather itself, just the coating.

It was also interesting to note that the cracks I had were *full* of the dye, and the uncracked parts were much easier to sand clean.

Arena993

I've got a CLK that needs some lovin'. Can't wait to see the finished product. Looks great.

Mike