Im with Dugald, just my opinion but I did alot of reasearch on this topic before deciding to use Leatherique for my interal refurb. The difference between leatherique and "paints" is black and white.
Leatherique is a total rejuvenation of the leather itself prior to dyeing. It transformed my 35 yr old seats from being a hard vinyl like feel back to a soft leather feel. It cant perform miracles on dried out cardboard like leather but I was surprised with the overall result.
Leather being a natural product over time looses all of its natural "oils" and becomes hard, harsh chemicals will only cause the leather to dry further. Adding a layer of paint over the top only effectively seals the surface and stops any subsequent treatments penetrating into the leather and IMO most painted finishes turn the seats into a vinyl like appearanceand feel and destroy seeing the grain in the leather.
I had new side bolsters replaced on one seat, cream leather was the only leather they could find that "matched" the existing grain.
Had no problem changing colour. The dye itself is like water, I used a small peice of micro fibre cloth to apply several very thin coats. Upon finishing I can still use my thumb and forefinger and pinch a bit of the leather and roll it around without any fracturing of the dye. I dont think you would have a problem with going from black to dark brown.
The whole cleaning and rejuvenation process is quite involved but well worth it.
Found their pristine clean product to be the best vinyl cleaner I've ever used as well,
used it on my headlining and A & C pillars.
Also used the dye to redo my centre console, sun visors and rear parcel shelf carpet.
Two years on, there is slight dulling of the drivers seat, but with this stuff its easy to give a quick "retouch" best of all being water based has an infinite shelf life.
I use their rejuvenator oil once a year to keep my seats nice and soft.
I spose the only criticism is that when first doing this the appearance is a little "shiny" but does tone down, with a coat of bees wax does give a more "mattish" appearance"
check out their website:
Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products
According to them the original dye was nitro cellulose based which over time degrades and causes all of the hazing and cracking associated with this type of process.
The Australian branch was in Sydney, i sent a swatch of my colour even though they had all the interior colours on file, plus one of my sunvisors which was sunburnt to match this colour exactly.
All of the above sounds like a company sponsored endorsement, its not, this is just one of those products where i was so happy with the results I would happily recommend to others. Will post some pics when I get home.
The lurker
