HobieMarty

Hello all, I had something weird happen today. I was cleaning the interior of my 2000 RX300, was only using some Armour All Detail spray, nothing harsh. So, anyway, I noticed some black marks on the passenger side air bag cover and thought that it was grease so I started rubbing on the marks and they got bigger and bigger and I realized that the brown color was actually rubbing off of the air bag cover!!!! Has anyone ever had this happen before and if so, what sort of dye can be used to "paint" the cover back to brown/tan???
As a side note, is it possible to just replace the cover? I don't know how it attaches and I dang sure don't want to set off an airbag. Thanks for any help with this matter.

Margate330

I don't know but thank you for the heads up- I will be carefull scrubbing on mine now.

Edit- may be possible to use the same leather dye(spray) I used to redo my seats but not sure how it would look or match.

HobieMarty

I think I would like to just replace the cover. If anyone knows how to remove it and replace with a new one, please let me know.

Margate330

I am not 100% sure maybe someone knows more but I think the cover is part of the airbag.

To be sure I would have to dig thru the manual and try to find some info hopefully someone knows for sure.

HobieMarty

You may be right. I have looked on ebay and all the covers that I have found all have the airbag included so...
Anyone have a good suggestion on what sort of dye I may use to possibly fix this thing?

Fit1too

It’s weird that it’s dark underneath; I always figured the various panels and coverings as solid colored. You could create a paint mix and paint over it. Walmart and Hobby Lobby carry craft paints that are amazing for just about anything. They are small 2-ounce bottles with flip tops (important—you want the indoor/outdoor version). I think the brand name is Apple Barrel, not positive—the next time I’m in one of those stores I’ll double check.

You will have to experiment with mixing the colors to get a correct match. My wife is an artist and mixes them for me. I asked her tonight what colors I would need to match our dash (Ivory), she said she would look at it in the morning (in good lighting) and give me some ideas. It’s weird—she’ll probably say something like one part green/grey and two parts mustard yellow—no kidding. I’ve watched her use some odd colors to create incredible matches. She matched my dark blue leather seats in 92 Buick Riviera and I would have challenged anyone to point out where I touched up the driver’s seat. I use them all the time for detailing and they wear like iron.

Here is how to do it:

Wipe over the area to be painted with alcohol

Mix up a small batch of paint

Have a damp rag at the ready

Using a small sponge brush, dab a little on the area to spot test

If it is way off color-wise, quickly wipe it away with the damp cloth and try again.

Of course, the color will probably dry a little darker/lighter and an exact match may be impossible. If I remember correctly, ours looks a little different than the rest of the dash. No matter—anything will look better than dark spots. Just take your time and be patient with the mixing part of the job.

In the past I’ve used products from Leather Magic, but could not find them online anymore. I found a company that sells exact match colors, but they are pricey and may or may not be an exact match. Just Google “leather repair”.