How to achieve a gloss appearance to a soft matte finish leather car seat?

I’m in the process of replacing seats in a vehicle with reproduction seats of the same style to preserve the originals for the owner. The request was to treat the new seats to achieve a worn “gloss” appearance of the originals blend with the similar aged/worn leather of the door panels/pulls and other trim bits that share the same appearance of the seats.

I’ve attached a photo of the new seat (on right) next to the original (left) to hopefully explain this better than I can put into words. As you can see from the photo, the new seats have a soft matte finish while the originals have a gloss appearance from 50 years of wear.

Would there be an appropriate topcoat or treatment to achieve this worn aesthetic to the new seats that you might sell?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Attachment 2477

>>> The request was to treat the new seats to achieve a worn “gloss” appearance of the originals blend with the similar aged/worn leather of the door panels/pulls and other trim bits that share the same appearance of the seats.


A “gloss” appearance is achievable by refinishing it with Anline-76 (black) transparent “coating” dyestuff. This application will transform it to an aniline look with a beauty of depth.

To narrow the “worn” look between the new and old, the old leathers could be rejuvenated to plumps the leather structure to reduce creases and wrinkles with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system. Thereafter the Aniline-76 refinishing system will blend the old and new having the same look, while creases and wrinkles can be worked into the new seat to even out the difference in appearance as well.

Let me know what you think?


Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
www.LeatherDoctor.com


Product information:


Attachment 2478
Leather Doctor Kit A7.cl – Aniline Leather Dye Refinishing Kit
Leather Doctor® Kit A7.cl, aniline leather dye refinishing kit is designed for dyestuff and topcoat refinishing from the simple sunlight fading to the severely sweat damages from body oil and grease. Most severely penetrated, prolonged and neglected stains show a darkening effect with a sticky feel have its topcoat and dyestuff probably deteriorated by the sweat. When the stain feels sticky, it is a sign of leather denaturing and reverting to rawhide from breaking of bonds with the tanning agent. When sign of color is transfer to a white towel, it indicates that the dyestuff has also break bonds with the protein fiber. When leather is stiff or show signs of whitish residue migrating, it shows that the fatliquor is breaking bonds as well with the protein fiber. The main component of the leather protein fiber is amphoteric while the other constituents are not; shifting of the pH mainly caused from sweat to alkalinity affects the pH imbalance. To revert from denaturing into rawhide prior to topcoat refinishing, contaminated alkaline soiling is removed with Degreaser-2.2, a waterbased (pH 2.2) multifunctional degreaser that emulsifies greasy contamination besides controlling dye bleeding and charging the protein fiber ionic positive for strengthening the attraction between the ionic negative tanning agent, dyestuff and fatliquor. Deflocculated and suspended soiling is towel extracted, thereafter rinse and pH balanced with Acidifier-2.0 to prevent the leather from reverting to rawhide. When leather feels sticky or slimy it is a sign of leather denaturing, a squeaky feel when wet is a sign of a healthy leather. Hydrator-3.3 relaxes stiff leathers and removes surface tension free from surface blotchiness prior to fat and oil replenishing. Fat and oil is replenished with Fatliquor-5.0 to rejuvenate the leather for the desired suppleness when dry. Custom redyeing commences prior to topcoat refinishing. Protector-B+ imparts a non-stick rub-resistant protection with a buttery-feel that shield against sticky soiling and reduce friction noises. Note that the mentioned product suffix number denotes its pH value in this holistic leather-safe aniline leathers dyestuff and topcoat refinishing system.
Email [email protected] for a color matching services.
Please email [email protected] with your choice of color available from:
Antique-Brown, Black, Yellow, Orange, Red, Red-Brown, Rubine, Blue, Dark-Brown.
And choice of topcoat luster,
Gloss or Satin

>>> A “gloss” appearance is achievable by refinishing it with Anline-76 (black) transparent “coating” dyestuff. This application will transform it to an aniline look with a beauty of depth.

The sequence of process to achieve a long lasting finishing with easy of application practice is as follows:

1- Wet Preparation:
Degreaser-2.2 is to remove potential contamination above the original topcoat that may interfere with adhesion.
Rinse-3.0 is to rinse off suspended contamination and residue from Degreaser-2.2.
Tools used are horsehair Brush-1 to work into recessed seams and groves, and Eraser-4 for better surface traction.
The wet preparation process is left to dry for visual inspection and proceed to dry Preparation.

2- Dry Preparation:
Sandpaper 2000grit helps to reduce the existing topcoating and etching the surface for better further coating.

3- Adhesion Coating:
Adhesor-73 is pad with lint-free towel or foam brush as the foundation coating for further coating.

4- Aniline Transparent Coating:
Aniline-76 is recommended to coat over existing topcoat impossible with traditional staining dyestuff.
To control flow from vertical section a 10% Thickener-48 is incorporated in the Aniline-73.
Professional result is achieved by fine airbrushing a section at a time with clean air pressure between 80 to 100psi to produce a fine spray.
Drips and streaks if any is blot with lint-free towel or sponge.
Additional application is done in between dried coating.

5- Aniline Top Coating:
AnilineTop-76 seals the dyestuff from crocking, bleeding and cleaning.
Gross is typical used, satin is used to adjust the desired sheen.

6- Finish Protection:
Protector-B+ a buttery-feel, non-stick, rub-resistant finishes protector reduces the wear to the finishes with a classic leather scent.

It is wiser to think twice and act once, and practice prior to the actual application for the first timer for it is easier to apply then to remove mistakes with Stripper-2.3.

Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
www.LeatherDoctor.com

>>> To narrow the “worn” look between the new and old, the old leathers could be rejuvenated to plumps the leather structure to reduce creases and wrinkles with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system. Thereafter the Aniline-76 refinishing system will blend the old and new having the same look, while creases and wrinkles can be worked into the new seat to even out the difference in appearance as well.

The tired look from 50 years of wear could be rejuvenated with the Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system.
Creases and wrinkles indicate diminishing fatliquor (fat, oil and water). This is done first by hydrating to relax the leather structure, plumping and stretching off the creases and wrinkles. In order to effective hydrating the leather structure a stretchable paper is used with the help of a horsehair Brush-1. This paper towel becomes a reservoir for the Hydrator-3.3 repeat spraying process until the leather is fully hydrated without dripping. A fully hydrated leather is achieve when moisture ooze out when press between finger and thumb. At this stage the leather is cling wrapped loosely without creating unnecessary creases and let dwell up to 72 hours. In between daily inspection
Hydrator-3.3 is top-up to keep with the moisture level without letting the paper dry out. After the dwelling period the plastic and the paper towel are removed and the creases are worked out with stretching crosswise and manipulated with extra Hydrator-3.3 application to achieve the best result.
It is at this stage of satisfaction that fatliquor replenishing commences as the water content evaporates until the leather is saturated. Another 2 to 3 cycle of application may follow.
The fatliquor-replenished leather is let to natural slow drying for extra softness.

This leather rejuvenating process is slot in the above sequence as

1a – Leather Rejuvenating:
Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0

Tips:
What mentioned is just basic; knowing how to put to use makes the difference.


Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
www.LeatherDoctor.com