Seat Bolster Repair / Scuffmaster Leather Refinishing Kit DIY Results

[scorp965]

I came across a product in the detailing forum, the 'Scuffmaster' leather refinishing kit, and applied it to my seats Today.

The car had typical Driver-side bolster wear, this is from last week:

So I ordered the 'Scuffmaster' product from their website, http://www.LiquidLeather.com, and was pleased to see it arrive from the UK after only about a week. The total was $27.93 USD, including International Shipping to California.

First step was to remove the seats, there are four bolts per seat, which are removed with a 14mm socket. Two of these are under a small plastic cap, which can be removed with a jeweler's screwdriver:

Then a microfiber is laid on the scuff plate to prevent scratching, and the seat gets propped up at an angle, allowing you to unbolt the seat belt, and disconnect the electrical connector on the bottom:

I took the opportunity to vacuum, carpet-clean, and then steam my carpets, since they were rather dirty:

I then took the seats inside, and cleaned them with leather cleaner. I used 'Pristine Clean', a leatherique product, and used a new wash cloth, cleaning the seats until I could rub them and the cloth would come off clean. There was not too much dirt on my seats, so this process only took a few minutes.

...

Next, I took a fine brush and poured a small amount of the scuffmaster product into the cap. I brushed this thick scuffmaster directly into all cracks on both seats, and let it dry for about ten minutes.

Then I rubbed the seats with a new wet washcloth, to remove any dye which had not soaked into the cracks. After about a half hour the water had evaporated, and I was ready to dye the entire seat.

I cut a dixie cup down, poured some scuffmaster into it, and added water - I used about a 70/30 mix of scuffmaster to water, so it applied smoothly, and used one of the included sponges to apply the dye.

I did the complete driver seat, the passenger seat, then went back to each seat in turn to apply a second full coat of watered down scuffmaster. I did the complete seat covering, including the backs of the covers. Since I am going to be installing aftermarket center pieces I did not bother dying the factory center cushions on the passenger seat.

The results are pretty amazing, the seat bolsters look minty:

 

[type-j]

wow nice job!

 

[Mac Attack]

The results look amazing! Great writeup - Thank you!

When you ordered your kit, do you remember if you'd specified "Old Black" as the color? For the NSX, they only list a red color

I think I will try their 250mL kit that contains the conditioner, cleaner, etc. That should contain enough dye to do all of my seats and the center console cover. I really don't have good leather cleaner or conditioners anyways.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[PHOEN$X]

Looks great! Thanks for taking the photos and describing the process. I'll save this for future reference.

 

[scorp965]

The results look amazing! Great writeup - Thank you!

When you ordered your kit, do you remember if you'd specified "Old Black" as the color? For the NSX, they only list a red color

I think I will try their 250mL kit that contains the conditioner, cleaner, etc. That should contain enough dye to do all of my seats and the center console cover. I really don't have good leather cleaner or conditioners anyways.

Thanks!

Dave

Dave,

I just wrote the car model and interior color in the notes section during checkout, eg 'Honda NSX, black leather'

I used about 1/3rd of the 65ml kit to do two complete color washes on both seats; less dye is better, to prevent streaking. You could probably do a dozen nsx's with a 250ml bottle.

I also didn't use the gloss enhancer, since I prefer the matte finish; I like the matte finish so much I went out of my way to find a matte conditioner, which is why I haven't yet reinstalled the seats. I ordered some "Blackfire High UV Leather Conditioner", which should get here by the weekend.


- John

 

[Mac Attack]

Thanks John, I'll go with the 65mL kit then and specify the color like you did.

Looking forward to the matte finish as well, but I'll probably have to put some gloss enhancer on them to match the rest of the interior.

Dave

 

[Nefarious]

Amazing results. My wifes '07 4Runner is starting to show some wear on the drivers seat. I might have to get some of this to repair it.

 

[Rob4092xx]

Very impressive! What type of durability do you expect?

Do they have other colors?

 

[Yawwn]

Beautiful job with the kit in refinishing your seats!

Please correct me if I am wrong... for those of us who already have the leather cracked, I am assuming that this will not prevent it from further cracking, and eventually having the leather split. It doesn't "fill any of the cracks, but rather colors the cracks. Am I mistaken?
For the amount of wear I have, I'm not sure that this would help the appearance of my seat. I think yours is much more minimal, and thus this kit is appropriate for dyeing the space between the cracks.

 

[scorp965]

Beautiful job with the kit in refinishing your seats!

Please correct me if I am wrong... for those of us who already have the leather cracked, I am assuming that this will not prevent it from further cracking, and eventually having the leather split. It doesn't "fill any of the cracks, but rather colors the cracks. Am I mistaken?
For the amount of wear I have, I'm not sure that this would help the appearance of my seat. I think yours is much more minimal, and thus this kit is appropriate for dyeing the space between the cracks.

My bolster wear consisted of one moderate crack, and several spider-cracks, so I did not feel a crack-filler was necessary; scuffmaster is a gel-like product, which is advertised as a permenant dye.

Of course, if your wear is more severe, you may choose to use a crack filler. In this case, you would apply layers of crack filler, then dye over the top of the filler - you could still use the scuffmaster product, with the crack filler of your choice. One aspect of crack filler is that it is smooth (not textured like the surrounding material), so I would use the product sparingly.

If your leather has actually split, and there are holes in the material, you would need to find a high-strength adhesive to rebond the material, then use crack filler, then a dye product. Endurance would likely be compromised in such a situation, but perhaps not overly so.

 

[scorp965]

Very impressive! What type of durability do you expect?

According to another member in the detailing sub-forum thread on scuffmaster:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158356

I've used the Scuffmaster and also use their cleaner and conditioner. I applied the Scuffmaster about 2-years ago and it still looks fantastic with no noticable signs of wearing.

I think there is a high degree of potential for this repair to last for some time, assuming the seats are properly cared for. With a quality leather conditioner the danger of cracking will be reduced, and with a UV protectant the dye could be quite resilient.

The product I decided to try for this final step is "Blackfire High UV Leather Conditioner" - this product has a matte finish, and also advertises itself as having a high degree of UV resistance, so I am looking forward to trying it out. It's still en route, FedEx shows estimated delivery has been pushed back to 04/04/12.

 

[warrenw]

My bolster wear consisted of one moderate crack, and several spider-cracks, so I did not feel a crack-filler was necessary; scuffmaster is a gel-like product, which is advertised as a permenant dye.

Of course, if your wear is more severe, you may choose to use a crack filler. In this case, you would apply layers of crack filler, then dye over the top of the filler - you could still use the scuffmaster product, with the crack filler of your choice. One aspect of crack filler is that it is smooth (not textured like the surrounding material), so I would use the product sparingly.

If your leather has actually split, and there are holes in the material, you would need to find a high-strength adhesive to rebond the material, then use crack filler, then a dye product. Endurance would likely be compromised in such a situation, but perhaps not overly so.

I noticed the kit comes with 2 small die color toner bottles and the gloss enhancer.. Did you have to use the color toners to adjust the color? The Web site isn't very specific on how you adjust the color to match.

 

[Yawwn]

My bolster wear consisted of one moderate crack, and several spider-cracks, so I did not feel a crack-filler was necessary; scuffmaster is a gel-like product, which is advertised as a permenant dye.

Of course, if your wear is more severe, you may choose to use a crack filler. In this case, you would apply layers of crack filler, then dye over the top of the filler - you could still use the scuffmaster product, with the crack filler of your choice. One aspect of crack filler is that it is smooth (not textured like the surrounding material), so I would use the product sparingly.

If your leather has actually split, and there are holes in the material, you would need to find a high-strength adhesive to rebond the material, then use crack filler, then a dye product. Endurance would likely be compromised in such a situation, but perhaps not overly so.

Thanks for the thorough info Scorp.

 

[myclue]

great results!

 

[myw]

amazing + looks great.

 

[NSX GT]

Do you have to do the entire side bolster or does the blend in? Also, is it really necessary to remove the seats?

 

[itrsteve]

Holy hell, this came out amazing. Definitely a must project this summer. Thanks for the writeup!

 

[fyrnup]

Use KIWI shoe polish about 2 bucks and it looks great