painting leather?
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Tuned
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 290
Likes: 44
painting leather?
hi all, my 2000 navigator has the center console with the lid wrapped in leather. the leather needs to be sanded and painted. i can do both but was wondering if the leather/vinyl paint from JC Whitney in a spray can will work just as well? it says it is a no crack, no fade, no peel paint.. thanks
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,101
Likes: 2
From: Malvern, Ohio
If its leather Id rather go with a Dye not paint. I know there is Vinyl paint out there but for prepping that you need to clean it damn good and use adhesion promoter. Leather you CLEAN and prep. NO SANDING UNLESS YOU WANT TO HAVE A SCUFFED UP LEATHER PIECE instead of having a shiny finish. YOu probably could use that stuff from JC Whitney but if you dont clean it enough it will probably peel eventually.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,828
Likes: 253
From: Piney Woods of East Texas
If its leather dye is best. There are 2 different bases, one oil, the other alcohol based. The alcohol base is the one you want. It cleans up easier than the oil base. The oil base if not smooth yo will never get the chalking out. Chalking is a dry residue left behind when the leather drys. Both can penetrate the leather deeply, with the oil base having the deeper penetration. I have been doing leather craft for 30+ yrs. When you sand leather it will end up as a suede finish and will not look natural. There is some special cleaner to use that does not require you to sand on it. Now I have seen leather that was only surfaced dyed, and thin (1/32"). And the good stuff is processed so its color is all the way through and 1/16" think.
Proceed with caution or you will ruin it.
Proceed with caution or you will ruin it.
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 294
Likes: 0
From: Near the racetrack, WA
If it's vinyl, the spray can paint (which you can get at NAPA) works great. I used black in my Scout II years ago to cover the puke green and it hasn't faded or peeled yet. Seats, dash, center console.
