If you try to clean a leather seat with liquid cleaners (e. g. , soapy water and leather cleaner) before removing debris and vacuuming, you’ll just end up rubbing the dust and dirt into the leather.
As you clean the seat, you’ll notice that its color lightens by a shade. [4] X Research source
It’s okay to apply firm pressure when you’re scrubbing the seats clean. You’re not likely to damage the leather any more than it already is.
If you were to assess the color of the leather before cleaning it, you’d probably end up picking a paint or dye that’s darker than the actual seat color.
You can also use an old rag or other scrap of cotton cloth. Make sure it’s one that you can throw away once you’ve finished working on the seats.
If you have a very thin towel, try folding it over twice (i. e. fold it into quarters) so the paint doesn’t bleed through too easily.
If you were to apply paint to the seat without lacquer thinner, the 2 paint colors wouldn’t blend and the cracks in the material would still be very visible.
Using this technique, rub the towel across the entire cracked area of the leather seat. Avoid rubbing the towel around in circles unless you want permanently visible swirls on your leather seat.
It’s important that you apply the second layer while the first is still wet, so that the new paint mingles fully with the old coloring in the leather.
Most leather conditioners are sold in plastic spray bottles. If you happen to have bought a leather conditioner that’s not in a spray bottle, pour the liquid leather conditioner into an empty spray bottle.
Don’t use the paint- and lacquer-covered towel for this step, since it would likely smear more paint across the conditioned leather.
If a rip is longer than about 1 inch (2. 5 cm), it’s too large to be repaired with a leather repair kit. You can take it to an automotive repair shop and see if they can fix the torn seat.
The backing pad that you’ve inserted behind the leather will prevent the filler from soaking into the seat filling. Just use your fingers or a handy rag to wipe off any filler that leaks out from the rip.
Since the leather isn’t ripped through in the cracked locations, you don’t need to insert backing pad behind the leather. It’s okay if you get filler all over the seat; you’ll be coloring the entire seat anyway.
This will dry the filler and help it to set quickly. Don’t attempt to dye the leather until after the filler is completely dry.
600-grit is an extremely fine sandpaper. This will smooth out the set and dried filler without cracking it or leaving large abrasions behind. If you applied an excessive amount of filler previously, the sand paper will even out those spots.
As before, let the leather filler set for 1 hour once you’ve finished applying it. Once the hour has passed, dry the second layer of filler with the heat gun for 5-6 minutes.
If the leather has an uncommon color, take a photo of the seat and bring the picture to the hobby shop with you when you go to select a paint or leather dye.
If you’re spraying paint on leather car seats, hold a piece of cardboard behind
