Two days ago I stopped at the local hardware store for a gallon of paint. I got in the drivers side, planning to set the gallon on the passenger side floor for the half mile drive home. As I was lifting the can over, I found out that they had not pounded the lid back on and the paint dumped on my lap, the seat, the console, and spattered on the door panel and sills. Everyone, except the guy who made the error, was apologetic and the manager at least indicated that they would take full responsibility. That was before he saw the estimate - $8,000. The upholstery place said that the paint will not come off the leather or plastic without damage, and the bid is to replace the affected parts. There was a spatter on the passenger seat that I rubbed with Lexol leather cleaner and it eventually came off. I think by the time I rubbed off the paint on the driver's seat the paint may be gone, but the seat would be worn out. (This is a pristine full leather 2010 C2S with sport seats.)

I'm wondering if anyone knows a good system to remove paint from the leather or the plastic without collateral damage. I wonder for two reasons - first, if I can get it off I'm not going to push an $8,000 claim, the second reason is that if the seat is replaced, I'd like to try to clean it and resell it. Anyone want black leather sport seats with taupe accents?

 

I can't help you but omfg I feel for you man

 

Would your comprehensive insurance coverage help with this?

 

Oops. That's all I can type. That's like hammering in a nail, looking at your thumb, thinking ... don't hit that. Then you hit your thumb. $%@%#@$%%
I had a two door truck. It was full of stuff. Unloaded it at the cottage. Scooting along the highway, I noticed the passenger seat was not fully clicked back. I gave it a good push from the driver seat. My oops. A extra large can of lemon oven cleaner had fallen out of a grocery bag and had rolled under the passenger seat. Well the razor sharp sharp bar under the seat punctured the can and it went flying all over the interior of my leather truck.
I too have "should have..." moments. I feel your pain.

 

Yeah. I have $1,000 deductible, but the guy who gave me the bid said that I should submit a claim just so my insurance has to deal with the hardware store insurance rather than me. He said that they are going to balk at every turn, so better to let my company deal with them. My insurance company had me go to a body shop for a bid and they thought they would replace the seat then "allow some time for clean-up". I explained that I was told the paint could not be cleaned off, so I don't know what they're going to come up with.

 

Can't just the leather seat covers be replaced?

 

I would try a steamer.

 

holy crap man. good luck with THAT.

 

Yes this. I removed some spilled paint on a leather couch in the past. A hairdryer will also work. Heat up the paint, then try to lift a corner of the latex, then slowly start to peel it up.
If you already rubbed the paint around and it's too thin to peel that's a different story. In that case try some cheesecloth and a good leather cleaner.

 

It has been wiped up to the point that there's really nothing to peel - it's just a white stain. I may try steaming it a bit and rubbing it with leather cleaner.

 

Really sorry to hear this. Have you tried KrudKutter? It claims to be able to clean up latex paint, it might be enough to get the white stain out, perhaps use a soft toothbrush? I don't know how the leather would react, but you've got nothing to lose it seems. You are due some good karma! I hope things work out well for you!

 

I mean I think they should but can't imagine that they would. It doesn't strike me as something you can go after them for but who knows. Good luck.

Will the paint not peal off? Big box store paint seems to peel off of everything else, I'd be surprised if it didn't come off once cured. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

Mental note: paint all rooms the same color as the interior of the car you use to transport paint.

 

Not laughing at the OP's misfortune, but this made me chuckle. Just don't let the wife choose the color of your car's interior first (honey, we should go with the taupe interior on the new car...)

 

I just did a seach on leatherseats.com and came up with a price of 629 per seat in full leather, black with taupe inserts. To me 8000k seems kinda high. They have videos on youtube and the quality looks good. Hope you get it back to pristine.

 

I will try Krudcutter -like you say there's nothing to lose. The $8K price tag isn't just the seats, it's parts of the console, door panel, sill, etc.

As far as liability, I sure think they're liable and the manager at least initially thought so too. Who knows if it will change when it gets to the point of payment. I wouldn't consider them liable if they mentioned that they left the lid cracked a little so the paint could breathe for a bit.