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Red leather seats stained - advice to correct please?

Jason1145

Active Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Messages
236
Location
Uxbridge
Car
2012 C207 E250 Petrol CGI
Hello troops, got this stain on my red leather (faux?) passenger seat caused by sanitising hand gel during Covid.
This is a new to me car and the previous owner only ever tried standard leather wipes to no effect.
It’s not a big deal but if there’s a way to attempt improving this I’m game for it.
 

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Has it brought out the dye ??

If so , eBay sell small tubes of repair creams , I use the black on my glc seats , to great effect , red may prove to be a shading issue , but possibly be masked ??Screenshot_20250317-065802.png
 
Might be worth asking an upholsterer for a quote, might be an easy fix for for them..
Amen. It’s bread and butter for them.

Roll into freshening both front seats and it’s £100 well spent, with a real impact on resale value
 
As your seats are red they will be leather, not the faux Artico Leather. I have no personal experience of them but have heard good reports from several classic car owners who have used Furniture Clinic products on their leather seats, if you wanted to do it yourself:


It would probably be best to speak with them direct, and if possible send a small sample, perhaps from under a seat, for a colour match.
 
I’ve ordered a red dye diy kit off EBay for what looks like a colour match but with screen variations it may be a shade or two off. Will update the results once fudged 👍
 
And the results are in… fudged 🤣
 

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I can't even tell :D

I'd contact furniture clinic and see if they can get you matched dye for your seats based on the interior color. You can also try Leatherique in the US.

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Ask these boys, or a local equivalent for a quote.

It’s justifiable on the resale value alone

 
Buy some felt tip pens and go for it . 👍
 
I use these . Not to hide anything, just nicer on the bum . 😬Screenshot_20250321-085722.png
 
To be fair i think the seats could do with some tlc all over try a specialist, Whats the worst that can happen? at least they will be all the same colour.

Thanks Tony.
 
As your seats are red they will be leather, not the faux Artico Leather. I have no personal experience of them but have heard good reports from several classic car owners who have used Furniture Clinic products on their leather seats, if you wanted to do it yourself:


It would probably be best to speak with them direct, and if possible send a small sample, perhaps from under a seat, for a colour match.
I’ve used this and can vouch that it’s very good. I bought a kit from the classic and restoration show last year.
 
And the results are in… fudged 🤣

1745878363971.png

Okay so granted not a huge improvement but I would say still better all the same, and to my eye the blemish doesn't stick out quite so badly as a sore thumb.

The thing is when you talk about car seats and being leather, things are not quite as straight forward as you might think, and you have already got an inkling when you query yours possibly being faux leather or not. So starting at that point, faux leather to me would mean, and I will add here that I mean no offence by using the term, just making things simple to avoid confusion, but for arguments sake I will call faux leather 'plastic'.

But for those that like a more accurate description faux leather is made from synthetic materials that in general simulate real leather and are typically a fabric backing covered by e.g. one of the following then treated giving the benefit of improved longevity, durability and stain resistance.
Polyurethane (PU) Leather – A softer, more flexible material that offers a leather-like texture while being more breathable.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Leather – A more durable and water-resistant option, though it can feel less natural and may not be as comfortable.
Leatherette – A general term for synthetic leather, often used in car interiors for its affordability and ease of maintenance.
Some would also see the value in these faux leathers having an advantage of being more eco-friendly and reducing the environmental impact when compared to how real leather is produced.
Another one to look out for is Alcantara or Alcantara leather, which is in fact a synthetic material made from polyester and polyurethane developed in the 1970s as an alternative to suede and leather.

Putting the plastic leather aside, there are two other types of real leather that is used in car seats:
1) real leather as would be found say in my Dolores (Bentley) i.e. high end vehicles.
2) real leather film coated as found in most modern cars that are stated as having leather seats.

How you clean and treat these is different and so too then would be the dying of a stained patch as with your red seat. Rather than me waffling on any more and risk you nodding off, I think these two videos might do the job of explaining far better than I could.

Furniture Clinic is my go to product for my Bentley and Jaguar XJ X351 (when not letting Steve the detailer loose on them) as well as my leather jackets and shoes.



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