My seats were trashed when I bought the car (I know, HUGE surprise) so I went and pulled great seats from an Acura CL type S (MUCH better seats) but I wanted the color to be a lighter tan. So I bought SEM classic coat and went to work on changing the color of the seats. It looked great for about 5 days and then the chipping and pealing started. I didn't just buy the color, I bought both of the preps as well, I used the soap, then I used the leather prep as intrructed and put on several coats of color and still it starts to chip and peal after several days (I've reapplied twice). My question to any SEM/leather experts out there is, is there some kind of hard but flexable sealant, like the SEM paint itself, I can apply to lock the paint down with. I bought a wax based sealant already and it didn't help at all.

 

I'm not an expert, but a lot of modern cars have a coating on the leather surfaces. Maybe the SEM didn't bond with the top surface of the new seats? They may have needed to be sanded first, then prepped with the products.

 

yeah you're supposed to clean with the sem soap, use a 600-800 grit sand paper, use the prep spray and then a few light coats of classic coat.

you have to get every bit of conditioner thats ever been applied over the years off and the sanding opens it up so to speak.

 

Thank You for the tips. Sounds like good advice. I'll be stripping down and recoloring next month.

 

SEM is not a proper leather dye , it will never last

you need to purchase a real leather dye from a reputable company if you want to refinish your seats.

Leatherique is one of them.

 

SEM does last actually, plenty of people here have it last over a few years going from tan to completely black.

 

First thing I did was go to a professional leather shop and they told me that leather dye is ONLY for "blank" leather. If it's been dyed already, trying to use leather dye is pointless.

 

I have to totally disagree. My seats and all my interior has been holding up very well. Over four years now and still going strong. It is also my DD.

 

Like mentioned before, prep is key. Sand the residual left over flaky stuff off, and use 600-800 grit sandpaper to make the SEM stick to something. Light coats are key to a long lasting SEM final product. I sprayed maybe five coats on my seats.

 

I'm just going to pull the seats and strip the entire seat, just start from scratch.

 

that is bad info he told you , leather restoration and refinishing is a very big industry, it works.

You have to sand and use thinners to remove a good amount of the old finish, but not all, just enough to allow the new dye to penetrate into the leather itself.

SEM is just a spray that sits on top of the old finish, it doesn't penetrate into the leather.