Vinyl dye / paint experience ?

I had a pair of sweats that were too dark of burgundy. It was such that I was about to donate them when I tried bleaching them. They came out this perfect looking vintage color and are now my favorite sweats.

 

In your case you might end up with a really nice shade of grey - and with the movie coming out may garner some really good attention!

I should have phrased that colour change better. I'd be aiming to go from black to a medium shade of brown...like tan, dark beige etc.

I've heard good reports of people staining leather/vinyl darker; knowing what I do about paint and stain (I'm a painter in construction and have finished a lot of woodwork over the years), I'm going to guess that going lighter is much more difficult...

I used the stuff all over my interior. Trying to match up several close shades of tan. The driver's seat's got some fade on the seat--could use a re-coat. Rest is just fine.

 

Two years since done but really only one season since last year was a bust.

 

Duplicolor and the other one both were used at different times dependiong on what was available. Did not notice much difference in adherance, spray pattern, etc., between them.

Had a chance to get some quick practice and do a test. I found a few cans of Plasti-kote one of my Son's messed with at least ten years ago on some car vinyl seats. Here's a small example and so far I'm fairly impressed.

 

I had some old vinyl laying around left over from me doing shifter and parking brake boots. It is a fairly light beige colour. I cleaned it well with a quality automotive degreaser that you would use for paint prep work, then gave the vinyl a couple of light coats of the burgundy Plasti-kote. It could use another coat or two. Yes, I know I went from light to dark but it was so easy, I'm thinking you could go from dark to lighter with enough prep and coats. The whole process took about five minutes and the coated vinyl remains supple and fresh looking.

David, you might want to look at this site... http://www.leatheriquecanada.com

they do leather dying from what I can see here. Ray 

David:

 

Is the vinyl retaining its suppleness after the plastikote.

Thanks for that link, Ray. I'll be down in the Niagara region on business later this month and will look them up.

 

Yes, Bob...still totally supple and slightly "stretchy" too. It's just inexpensive vinyl I bought at a local fabric store. It's fairly thin, has a " leather look " ( a bit grainy ) to it with a rubber backing. The Plastikote did not change the characteristics at all.

Great. Thanks for the response.

From my experience trying to dye/paint black upholstery to lighter shades such as tan or burgundy you will find it will not turn out well, the black is just to hard to lighten up. I used Dupli-color on the seat inserts on a black bucket seat to test if I could get the seat and backrest to a burgundy color, followed all the instructions to the letter and the color was more of a dark reddish blotchy black rather than the burgundy. Tried using a tan on the seatback and it was worse the color came out more of blotchy lt brown rather than the tan, even after three coats. I finally bit the bullet and had the inserts replaced by an upholstery shop in Burgundy...

 

The Dupli-cotor did not not turn the vinyl stiff or anything though.

 

I believe most companies that offer vinyl/leather re-coloring state that it is not recommended to try to lighten dark colors as it tends not to work.

 

 

My friends 16 yr old son redid his seats and seatback inserts in his '76 Nova. He and his Dad had been fixing it up on a budget for his first car. The original interior was all black, he bought a Dk Graphite carpet replacement kit for his Nova for cheap at a swap meet and he used a Dupli-color Dk. Graphite on the seat inserts and it came out quite well and has held up for about 2 years now, though the drivers seat is showing some wear-off. 

 

maybe spray white and then go with your final color over that.

I ordered some SEM 15173 Camel paint today. Not much selection in town. The Bride donated a couple of old purses for testing...nice, eh ? The white idea makes sense too. We'll see.

The SEM paint was *very* durable once dried. I had it on the top of a golfcart I used for the Rod and Gun club. I Rhino lined the top for durability and then coated the top with the SEM paint. I drove it under tree branches and it held up very well. 

 

I actually sprayed the SEM Palomino over black plastic/rhino liner. My biggest complaint was that the Palomino color came out looking more like the color of Flesh. I'm not sure if that's just the 'color' or if the black base caused the color shift.  I think the Camel will be a better color choice. I only hope it's not too orange.

 

Best of luck!
Ted

Good choice going with the SEM. I've tried a few different products over the years and they don't look as nice or hold up nearly as well as the SEM coat has for me. I went from Tan to Black and that transition was great. Usually you can't easily go from dark to light, but I agree with the suggestion above in laying down a white base coat would make a world of difference. They way that SEM laid down for me I don't think you'll have a problem with a generous coat or two of your Camel color though. Be prepared for it not to go as far as you think, but the nice part is if you run out halfway through a seat you won't get any weird lines or textures that show up.

Did a small test today with the SEM vinyl spray paint and it has no trouble covering black material. Very easy to use. One problem is that the finished product is much lighter than what is shown on the colour chart so some experimentation will be in order.

 

Your comment is interesting, Ted. Looking over the colour chart, My 15173 Camel paint actually came out just about bang on with the colour charts 15232 Palomino.

My guess is that it is a colour issue and not related to the black it is covering. I'm going straight to 15483 Bluebird brown next week and see what we get.

Nice man purse. Is it one of your favorites?

Covers well. The color shift as it dries will take some trial and error. Will the seams require extra care / attention? Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Two tone is all the rage

Ha, Ha Lads....Did some testing yesterday with a new colour selection from SEM and it is 15483 Bluebird Brown. It seems that the SEM paints all come out a fair bit lighter when applied than what is shown on the colour chart. The colour chart seems to be about correct on my computer screen via the SEM website.

 

The first pic is an old school briefcase ( I have no more purses...) with the Camel on one side and the BB brown on the other. Both lighter than the colour charts. Both look nice but the Bride reminded me that the car used to be Ivory coloured but now is 1968 VW Savannah Beige which is darker. So we went with the Bluebird Brown.

 

At this point I highly recommend the SEM product. Per the instructions, I just washed the surface with soap and water, dried it, applied 38343 SEM vinyl prep, let everything dry and then hit the part with three light coats of paint. It got into the edge seams and cracks just fine. There is a bit of a "leatherette pattern" in the surface so I used as little of the paint as possible so as not to fill in the pattern.

 

The second pic has the original coloured trim strip ( kind of a mahogany colour ? )beside the Bluebird brown drivers door side panel. I like the SEM product. And again, no problem covering dark colours to go lighter and the stuff is dead easy to use.

Thanks for all your research, David. I need to do my dash pad the same color as the the camel. I don't need to change the color, I only need to cover up some sun faded areas. Did you find the SEM locally or buy on line?

Hi, Al. I bought the SEM from a local auto body paint supplier. I always try to buy local if I can and they often give free expertise. I paid $19.95 per can CAD or about $15. US. No shipping costs for me and a nice " pub " right near by.

 

If you really want to check the colour to match your dash, I could cut off a part of my purse and mail it to you. :-)   

When I used SEM, I picked it up from the local 'Finish Master' auto paint supply house. I think I paid like 14.00 a can. Primer was about the same.

 

Ted

I built a specialty Chevy pick up years ago and used the SEM grey dye on the dash and door panels, looked factory when done.

Thanks, guys.  David, I wouldn't want you to cut up your favorite purse.

Just don't let us catch you playing around in her high heels... 

You guys are a riot ! :-)

 

Here's a pic on my tonneau that I coloured today. This paint is fantastic and a bargain to boot. Three cans of the stuff is enough for two door panels, two seats, the tonneau, the dash, 1/2 a briefcase and yes...1/2 of my purse. The door and seats in the pic are not painted yet.