[Steve Chapman]

Have finally cleaned and re-dyed this suite today, took me 5 hours  but i did take my time and really didn't know what to expect, plus the guy stood and watched me the whole time, he was nice enough but you really dont need it on your first aniline suite.

Anyhow i was fairly pleased with the result, it had 3 coats and 4 on the cushions, kept feeling i should keep going though but felt knackered so have said i will check back in the week to see if it needs anymore.

He was over the moon with it, charged £180 which i was happy with as he knew it was first re-dye and i was happy with the pratice to be honest.

It looked pretty good when i had finished, but wondered whether after a day or two it will lighten a lot, as he was really happy with it being dark?

two observations i gained from this session was, the cleaning hardly made any noticeable difference at all

And the when apply the dye you have to go pretty fast on the first coat otherwise it ends up being really patchy ! The suite at first was drinking it like water, 2nd and 3rd coat not too bad and easier to apply.

To be honest the pictures i took dont really do it justice and some of the light patches are the flash on the camera.

Thought i would post the results anyhow for any who are interested,
Also did'nt realy realize how long it would take, but would say its a difficult job once i get the hang of it,  need a few more to do now tho


regards
steve

P.S.   Thanks judy for the crash course it served me well - cheers

[davep]

Good job!  Cant wait to get my hands on one..  Do you think it would be quicker next time or is 5 hrs about right?

[Joe H]

Steve

Was the 4 hours for the one 2-seater, or was there another?

Just wanting to know so to get the feel for time.

Looks good, many times better then before.

[sherco]

Well done mate, that looks really good.

[Steve Chapman]

sorry should of said the 5 hours was for both sofas, think i would've cracked if it was for one

to be honest i think it will be quicker next time as i was going a bit gingerly at first as the guy was watching, plus he was really chatty, then there was the coffee's and food  

so it wasn't all bad  

The difficult part was knowing when to call it a day, i was tempted to keep going, but this really was a bad suite, some of it was nearly white in places from where it had faded so badly, think he had it in the sun alot, also some places were not so faded and it took a while to try and blend it so it looked uniform

a great learning experience all round

steve

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Although we stoppped for some dinner and cuppas and the suite we did was more faded it took 5 hours when me and Mike Halliday did one, but just looking at the picture I would have said the one we had was a better quility leather so infact we were slacking as the cheaper ones actually take longer because they keep absorbing.

Shaun

[carlton care]

i would reckon replacing the inserts would be well worth while if you can find a reasonably cheap supplier.

It would also make the restoration much easier, with firm rather than saggy cushions. Obviously it would have to be cost effective.

robert m

[Kev Loomes]

Well done Steve, compared to the wreck that they were in I think you have done a good job. Your right about being quick with the dye and going patchy, I think it helps having the sponge or cloth with a lot of product simply so you dont run out and you can do a whole panel.

The next one will be easier

[LTT Leathercare]

Steve

Well done it looks like a good job done!!  Now you have one under your belt you will feel much more confident about doing it again.  5 hours is quite a respectable time on your own and with added guidance from the customer!!!!!!

The blending is difficult when there are very faded areas but can sometimes be done more effectively with a tinted finish which will aslo give a more robust top surface and add a little more colour to the leather.  You always need to stop as soon as the leather stops absorbing product as otherwise it can dry on the surface which could  then come off on clothing (a finish will also prevent this from happening).
We would normally not recommend more than 3 coats of product but stop as soon as you see it 'swimming' on the surface.
The first coat is always the hardest to apply and is why we recommend a clean before you start.  Although it will not have much cleaning effect it will introduce moisture which will stop the leather 'grabbing' the dye so quickly.  We have found that even if the first coat seems to go on patchy it generally dries out fairly evenly and does not afect the overall colour at the end so do not 'panic' too much!!! but you do have to work fairly quickly and always keep a lot of product on your cloth ( we only use one small piece of cloth for the whole job keeping it well stocked with product) and there is a particular way to hold the cloth which makes the application a lot easier it but this is a bit tricky to explain on here!!!!!

Shaun
I think these were much more faded than the ones we did in the workshop but yes I think the ones in the workshop  were of better quality however, the absorption of product is not always to  do with the quality of the leather but can be many factors including type of finish and how dry they are.  As with any leather job each one is different and will react in a slightly different way.

You can see why these jobs give great customer satisfaction and a certain wow factor.  The great thing is that they are failsafe as there will be no peeling or finish problems. 

Steve there will be no problem with immediate fading and they will stay dark for a long time.  Adding a finish will help and the use of Ultra Protect will also slow down the ongoing fading process (which will always happen again with this style of leather)  The trick is not to let is get so bad and if you sell your customer some of the dye he can also add some more if he feels that fading is happening. (especially now he has watched you do it so carefully!!!!!) which will probably be the case after about another year to 18 months.

[Steve Chapman]

Am going back in couple of days to do the ultra protect, wasn't sure whether i could it straight away, but on the bottle its says leave for 24 hours, but will also give me opportunity to asses if anything needs touching up,  when you're looking at a suite for 5 hours its hard to get the right perspective on it.

Hes already said he will have it done again in 12 months time so must of done something right.

cheers
steve

[LTT Leathercare]

Hi Steve
You can apply the Ultra Protect straight away as soon as the dye has dried.  When you apply the Ultra Protect you will generally get some colour transfer to your cloth, this is entirely normal so don't worry.  It does not mean that the dye is loose enough to come off on clothes so is still perfectly safe.

Cheers
Judy