fbekholden.com

Hey there,

Has anyone had any experience with vinyl dye? My seats are pretty good condition, they're just dirty and a tad faded. I've tried cleaning them but nothing seems to work. Been tossing up just using VHT vinyl dye to freshen them up.

Ideally I would like to get them reupholstered but on my current uni student wage ($0) I can't really afford it at the moment.

Hints/Tips/Suggestions??


Cheers

The VHT Vinyl spray works ok but does wear off and has a very different finish to a normal vinyl. I did a headling many years ago and I wasn't that impressed with the stuff. A mate just recently sprayed the seat in his roadster and it was far from successful, didn't even dry properly! Not sure what he did wrong

Best bet is to go to Spotlight grab some cheap material and get creative making some seat covers to suit. We used the large falza blankets from Kustom Ink. Not cheap but nearly four years on they are still holding up well. Once my girls are out of their kid seats I'll get a retrim.

Got to agree about the poor quality finish you'll end up with VHT vinyl spray, I used it on the roof lining on my HR. After several coats it still looked patchy and yes I followed the instructions as I thought it would save me replacing the rooflining (It didn't )
I ended up buying a new rooflining and popping the front and back screens, take Devilrods hint and grab a couple of indian blankets or a couple of seatcovers until you can afford a retrim or watch out for replacement seats/interiors for sale they occasionaly turnup

I use White Spirits to clean vinyl usually with good results, there is a thread on the FE/FC forum about cleaning old vinyl, some good results too.

I used vht vinyl dye on my seats and was pretty happy with them, but I wouldn't consider it a permanent fix. The vinyl wasn't original stuff - more like the stuff you see in spotlight and it was almost brand new. I slid around on them for about six months and didnt leave a mark.
Having said that someone had used some vinyl dye on the headlining before i got it and it looked crap and didnt stick too well.
I tried flat black, flat grey and gloss black with only the gloss looking any good- if you decide to use this stuff spend some time cleaning first. When it looks clean-clean it again! Then apply a couple of thin coats until you just get the colour your after- if you cake the stuff on it will just flake off.

My current car has original vinyl seats that are a bit tired and I preffered to go for mexican blankets rather then dye 40 yo vinyl. I expect I will get better milage out of the blankets. I spent around 80 bucks on vht vinyl dye to just do the inserts on my seats which is good for at least 6 mths, vs 120 bucks on a pair of blankets which should last ????????.

It'll tidy them up, but it'll look cheap and shitty. try scrubbing really well before you ruin them with vinyl dye

theres a few threads on this

http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5764
http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2593
http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9104

I've used sunlight soap and water.

Also check out woolies or coles for a product called magic eraser - 3M product? maybe - looks like a white cube.

whatever you use do a small test somewhere not too obvious.

Stewart

thanks heaps for that guys, we'll see how it goes!

Dont be scared to use degreaser and a small nail brush on your vinyl you will be surprised how well it works.
And no it doesn't rot your stiching.
Cheers
Wag62
Mick