Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[carlow]

have just bought a good set of seats for my p5.has anyone any advice about the best method and/or materials to bring back to good condition?
I have not encountered this problem before and any help would be much appreciatd

[Uncle Joe]

Are the seats damaged, or do they just need cleaning and oiling in?

[carlow]

the seats are in pretty good condition,i.e. none of the seams are split and there are no tears. they just are very grubby and rather scuffed in places. I had a p5 in the seventies and remember it being like sitting in a gentleman's club rather than a car.Would love to be able to experience that again!

[Rick]

I think first off you'd want to give them a gentle cleaning (soapy water is fine for this, but don't let it get tooooooo wet), following by several applications of hide food to re-introduce suppleness to the material. There are re-colouring kits available too, depending on whether you want to go for the nearly-new look, or would rather stick with a look of patina etc.

Rick.

[Uncle Joe]

I dont like advertising, but a couple of years ago, I found a product called Leathermaster. They do a kit for cleaning and feeding. The cleaner is good, but I prefer to use a proper hide food afterwards.

Big problem with this product is that the instructions must be followed to the letter.

[Rick]

And with any of these products, always try it on a patch of leather out of sight, just in case it affects the colour in some way!!

Rick

[carlow]

Thanks to all for the replies.if anyone else can personally recommend any products I would be very grateful.Don't suppose anyone knows a method not requiring elbow grease though.

[buzzy bee]

You can use Sadle Soap from a sadlers shop, that is special soap designed to clean and keep leather supple.

[xkjaguar]

sorry for such a late post but have just joined
i refurbished a set of leather in a wolseley 16/60 using a kit from woolies
they advertise in the back of practical classics
it wasnt too labour intensive

if you just want to recolour i have used an aerosol colour from a firm called

usautomotive.co.uk
they do various colours and its a lot like vinylkote which is difficult to get now seemed to work well on my m/b 450 slc leather

[buzzy bee]

Welcome, the kit sounds good, how much was it?

What cars do you own/ owned?

Cheers

Dave

[admin]

Hi xkjaguar, welcome along

Is Vinylkote getting tricky to find now? not that I've ever used it, I remember it being advertised a lot years ago (it changed the colour of leather if I remember right, rather than just painting a new colour on top of the surface) but hadn't realised that it was getting hard to find. Interesting.

Be interested to hear about your motors

cheers
Rick.

[Cranki]

Gliptone is the products that you need. Over the years I have tried just about every leather cleaner/restorer/feeder there is and this product is miles ahead. Heres a link : www.liquidleather.co.uk

I have no connection with this product or business.

[xkjaguar]

I tried all over to get vinylkote, i had used it before to colur a farina 16/60 wolseley seat (grey to blue if you,re interested) and it worked quite well
they have a website www.vinylkote.co.uk strangely enough but appear to be the most ignorant company in the world at getting back to you
the stuff I got I was told about at hants pageant of motoring at romsey
it worked out at 10 quid a tin with p&p which I thought was n't bad

so far i've used it to recolour the door cards of my merc 450 slc and it took 1 tin to do all 4 and only one coat

it says you can use it on carpets too but I think i'll buy a new set
the interior was an olive green before
just got to do the dash etc now

the car was an ebay steal mind you dangerous place to go when youve had a few!!
i paid a bit under 1600 quid for it and it had got new wings and sills and been resprayed etc, just needs the interior refitting

other cars:- XK120 replica (aristocat) with a 4.2 xj6 engine in -- very practical as it has fly screens and no weather gear, had it about 5 years and much to my chagrin have done about 2000miles in that time in fact its been sorned for 2years+

daily driver saab 9000 2.3t 35000 miles a year and as reliable as the sunrise

also have a suzuki vz800 bike and her indoors drives a hilux surf which is handy for towing when i need too