Dye-ing seats

[Dino11]

No my seat isnt dead. I have 02 tahoe buckets and console that i will eventually get dyed black.

Are there lasting dyes that you can apply yourself? Has anyone done this? Whats the quality and level of difficulty vs price ? How much would it cost if i had it done professionaly?

Any tips and experience is appreciated

[cdowns]

leather vinyal or fabric???

[turp mcspray]

Check your local paint store for SEM products made specifically for this.
Many moons ago I dyed a silver dash pad and arm rests on a 67 pickup black with VHT vinyl dye in a spray can. I cleaned the parts well and set them out in the sun to warm up,expand, and open the pores. After 2 years of sitting outside and being a daily driver I had zero problems.

[Mordachai]

^ SEM makes the best product for home use, ie, aerosol cans- no spray equipment required.
As long as your prep is done right, it will last for quite a long time. make sure you get the sem vinyl cleaner/prep, and something like bulldog flex adhesion spray. If you ask them at your supply house they should have everything you need.
I've done a number of cars with SEM dyes, they give a great result for the price.
in the upholstery shop, we had a bench seat that we did in thirds for demo, the left seat was untouched, the center bump was dyed, but not properly prepped, and the right seat was thoroughly prepped.
Some people thought the center was dyed and the right was re-sewn with new vinyl. Those people would be surprised when we told them, nah just prepped right before it was dyed. you could scratch it with your nail, the center section would scrape up, the right side wouldn't.... SEM rules...

[ChevLoRay]

I Googled dyes a couple years ago and ended up talking to some place in L.A. I asked about a dye and he told me that I wasn't using the right term. He said it is a colorant that is applied to the surface, whether vinyl or leather. He said the process is to first clean the leather (in my case) with acetone before proceeding with the color. What I'm gonna color is a 2nd row seat from a '98 Tahoe, to go into my '69. This stuff doesn't spray on, so a 2nd color is possible for an accent, which is also what I'd like to do. I'll see if I can locate them, again. In my case, enough color to do my seat would run about $100. A lotta money compared to spray cans, I guess.

[Dino11]

Thats sum nice info... But my seats are FABRIC with the vinyl and plastic lower trim. I also may get sum door panels that need to b dyed. Would the same product work for both FABRIC and VINYL?

Thanks guys

[mclairmo]

I used SEM and believe that it is only for vinyl. Maybe they make a fabric spray, too? I would personally have the seat reupholstered since I don't think a fabric spray would cover too well and may rub off.

[Dino11]

Well the reason i asked is i was on the s10 forum a while back and a guy dyed his fabric bench from RED to BLACK. So i was curious... His turned out okay, but if u looked close u could c red just at certain angles...

I am on very limited budget and was tryin to figure out prices, and i assumed that reupholstering would cost alot more

[cdowns]

duplicolor make a spray for fabric,i've never used it but on tv last weekend "horsepower tv" they did some seats they seemed to look good// you need to mask off the vinyl and do each sepertly like any dye job the secret is cleaning and prep a number of light coats is the way to get it even
GOOD LUCK with the project and maybe post before and after pics

[Mordachai]

I have no idea if there are any 'good' fabric dyes that would allow you to dye just that section. ( I'm think of RIT hot dyes, but I don't know how well it would work.)
You might want to give your local crafts/fabric store, and ask them about dying or painting fabric. They're out there, I've just never used one.

[1971ChevyTruck]

Did you end up trying this?

[mudmizer]

I used a spray paint/dye on my son's fabric bench. We got a tan Bronco seat with fold down arm/cup holders and changed it to dark blue. We put it in his 69 chevy. I believe it was SEM products. Got it at the PPG paint store in town. I think it was about $14.00 a spray can, used 4-5 if I remember right. You may not need so many if your color change is not so drastic. It worked really well, dried fast had has lasted for a year now. It made the fabric stiff and rough feeling when it dried. We then used a brush like you might use scrubbing a floor or your tires and ran it all over, making many passes and it came back to nice and soft. Took awhile to brush soft again, but seemed OK to me if your on somewhat of a budget and your seats are otherwise in good shape.

[Dino11]

nice... thanks for all the info.

no i havent tried this yet... i have hardly touched my project for the cold weather and the no heat in my shop...

but now i have some extra cash and am getting back to her. going to look at some parts here in about 30 mins!

[1971ChevyTruck]

I just finished coloring half of the front seat for my Dad's truck. We used Dupli-Color fabric and vinyl dye--gloss black. It went on pretty easy and almost dried instantly. The little seat used two cans and I estimate the bigger one to use three cans. In between each coat we rubbed it out with a brush and amazingly the fabric is still nice and soft.