Here is the general structure of leather refinishing recommended as follows; see if you can follow before we go into details of supplies; and assuming that it’s semi-aniline (reverse side is colored closed to that of the front) and both seat and back cushion are zipped (check it out to confirm, will you?).
1] Wet Prep.
This leather-safe system does not depend on solvent to strip the existing finishes commonly used by others.
Solvent besides its high flammability, it’s also hazardous to both the user’s health and the environment; when used directly on the leather; it dries up the fatliquor causing the leather to dry stiffer; and when deteriorated finish is partially removed; becomes a weak foundation for the new finish; that makes peeling an issue.
This leather-safe system uses waterbased odorless Prep-7.7 to penetrate, lubricate and suspense foreign contamination down to its original finish; with the help of overnight dwell-time; effective even up to three days for a very thorough prep to be thereafter extract with terry towel. The remaining sticky residue would be removed using Cleaner-3.8 with help of leather Eraser-4; follows by Rinse-3.0. Unwanted finishes would be removed with Razor-60 in conjunction with wet sanding using 1000 sanding grit; extracting with towel and rinsing with Rinse-3.0. In this wet stage the leather becomes stronger with corresponding weakness to the finish for easy removal than when the leather is dry.
2] Hydrating
While the leather is still damp from Rinse-3.0; Hydrator-3.3 is introduced to hydrate the thickness of the leather; do it easier from the reverse suede side especially on zipped cushion. The optimum level of structure hydration is checking for moisture oozing out of the leather pores between finger and thumb. It is recommended that the leather structure be hydrated overnight to relax it; cover-up with see thru plastic sheet to reduce evaporation. Those seat cushions that are overstretched thin with crease ripples will be taut-up; dimensionally shrunk with increase structure thickness; and the overnight softness allows better manipulation to reduce unwanted creased. This process can be repeated for another overnight dwell to redistribute the dyestuff back to the surface (if it’s semi-aniline) to reduce the color difference between the leather crust and the finish; thus less color coating necessary. Any unwanted finishing can still be removed at this stage either with Razor-60 or by wet sanding.
3] Fatliquoring
When hydrating accomplished its performance to satisfaction; let it air for another 4 hours – 6 hours before fatliquoring; this process is repeated similar to hydrating above; to saturate the leather structure until it ooze out between thumb and finger. Covering it up and letting it dwell overnight is recommended for even distribution within the leather structure. Manipulating with stretching or flexing to further work on creases is encouraged; bear in mind that unwanted finish removal is still possible at this stage; in fact much easier while the leather is so much stronger with the extra fat and oil while the finish become relative weaker and easier to removed.
4] Drying
Slow natural drying after fatliquoring is preferred, as the moisture evaporates in the wicking process; foreign soil particulates if any will rise to the surface; to be extracted with absorbent towel at intervals or erase with leather Eraser-4 when crispy dry.
5] Dry Prep
Dry prep is to use 1200 sanding grit (hand sanding speed or at the lowest possible speed if used an oscillating speed control sander) for better control not to over sand the grain for increase porousness.
6] Impregnation
Impregnator-26 a protein compact resin blend impregnator is introduced to the worn and micro cracks crust; to tighten loose grain and impart a settle and smooth appearance to the surface; otherwise the colorcoat will sink into these porous surfaces resulting in uneven thickness and subject to easy cracking when stretch, compress or flex in these areas.
7] Adhesion Coat
Adhesor-73 a compact resin adhesion promoter is to ensure proper adhesion prior to color coating.
Its application is best by padding to ensure better anchorage into the leather pores.
It is best to have a cushion done to the topcoat stage to have it gone through a “scotch-tape” test for adhesion.
This is done with a 3M 2” width scotch-tape; pressed firmly onto the cushion like we normally tape secured a carton and flip peel it to see it the scotch-tape is clean, to pass the test; otherwise check at which layer is the problem and rework from there prior completing the whole project.
8] Color Coat
Pigment Micro-54 is an aqueous soft compact resin blend high performance micro-pigment color; strong against UV light; recommended for semi-aniline leathers to produce a softer feel to the leather than standard pigment. Thickener-48, a thickening agent is recommended to stabilize color during spraying and to adjust the flow of color to improve hold-up especially on vertical panels. It is recommended to have a few light coats than a heavy coat during the spraying process and 1500 sanding grit is recommended for in between sanding when necessary.
9] Top Coat
Topcoat Micro-72S (satin) is recommended to complement the colorcoat. It’s a soft polyurethane leather topcoat that is lightfast and non-yellowing; with excellent flow and leveling properties; recoatable and forms a flexible film coat; that gives good performance results when used for fine semi-aniline effects.
10] Feel Coat
Leather Scent-B is recommended as the feel coat; with its soft natural buttery-feel with a classic leather scent.
This is a non-film forming, non-stick rub-resistant protector to impart a non-stick breathable barrier essentially to shield the detrimental effects of sticky soiling including the nasty ballpoint ink.
And for helping to release those tenacious dye-transfers stains especially on light colored leathers easily without resorting to unnecessary color refinishing.
Its natural buttery-feel protection increases the leather resistance to wet and dry rubs, thus reduce stretch, scuff and abrasion.
And it reduces friction squeaks that wear the finishes when leather is rubbed against during movement.
Roger Koh
[email protected]