Can you paint a seat??

[slikside]

Just had a thought, has anyone ever painted a vinyl seat?? I know they make paint for vinyl, but i've never used it, and don't know how well it would hold up with all the bend'n and flex'n involved.

My beautiful original seat was stolen out of my truck many years ago while backpacking (they knew what they were lookn at those rats!). Drove 8hrs home on my backpack and sleeping bag!

Anyway, the replacement is still bolted in my truck...standard bench, but it's tan, and my interior is red-orange paint (like exterior) and black door panels w/ scroll, black dashpad. The tan is out of place. I've had a saddle blanket cover on it, but would like to ditch it.

Any suggestions or advice appreciated.

[heeroyue2002]

ive used dye with bonding agent on dashes. door panels and seats. it tends to wear on seats and can rub off. dash is ok because its usually doesnt get much traffic.

[special-K]

On a vinyl seat the vinyl dye works fine. It wears surprisingly well and when it ever does show wear you just spray it again.

[big_al_71]

yes you can. We do it to alot of our used vehicle when we recondition them including leather interiors. We have a company that comes once a week and does it. Excelletn work..

[mdaven@aol.com]

http://www.tcpglobal.com/
This company handles vinyl paint/dye products with special cleaners. I used their product to paint my dash, steering wheel, seat vinyl portion, seat belts, arm rests, and other vinyl parts in the cab. Very pleased with results.

[prostreetC-10]

My experience is that your cab will smell for some time. That was using Marhide though....other products might work better.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by heeroyue2002

ive used dye with bonding agent on dashes. door panels and seats. it tends to wear on seats and can rub off. dash is ok because its usually doesnt get much traffic.

Originally Posted by special-K

On a vinyl seat the vinyl dye works fine. It wears surprisingly well and when it ever does show wear you just spray it again.

OK, so it is a dye. I didn't realize that. Never looked at any of it up close. Just thought if it came in a spray can it must be paint.

Thanks for the info guys!

[slikside]

Originally Posted by big_al_71

yes you can. We do it to alot of our used vehicle when we recondition them including leather interiors. We have a company that comes once a week and does it. Excelletn work..

Any idea what products they use? Any special techniques??

Originally Posted by mdaven@aol.com

http://www.tcpglobal.com/
This company handles vinyl paint/dye products with special cleaners. I used their product to paint my dash, steering wheel, seat vinyl portion, seat belts, arm rests, and other vinyl parts in the cab. Very pleased with results.

Thanks for the heads up, I will check them out. They are right here in San Diego County.

Did you do anything special, or just follow the directions??

Thanks for the responses!

[slikside]

Originally Posted by prostreetC-10

My experience is that your cab will smell for some time. That was using Marhide though....other products might work better.

Hadn't thought of that, makes sense though. Might need to leave it out of the cab for a while just to air it out some. Thanks for the heads up.

[big_al_71]

I will find out for you any info I can...

[slikside]

Originally Posted by big_al_71

I will find out for you any info I can...

Hey thanks, big al!!

[Longhorn Man]

Don't cheap out. Use quality stuff. I've used cheap stuff on arm rests, and it flaked off in a matter of 6 months or so. I've also used some more expensive spray (I wish I could remember the brand) and it has held up for 6 years and counting.

[prostreetC-10]

I also think the quality of the product has greatly increased just like anything else.....or at least the bonding process.

[Longhorn Man]

You are probably right.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

Don't cheap out. Use quality stuff. I've used cheap stuff on arm rests, and it flaked off in a matter of 6 months or so. I've also used some more expensive spray (I wish I could remember the brand) and it has held up for 6 years and counting.

More great advise! Thanks Longhorn Man. 6 years is a pretty good run I'd say.

This won't be happening right away, but it's all good info for the memory bank!

[slikside]

BTW, feel free to post any pics you might have of seats you have done.

I'd love to see some before and after shots.

Thanks guys!

[special-K]

This seat was blue and in my Sierra. It was a replacement cover and that truck will have a saddle interior eventually. This tow truck came with a later seat that was in rough shape. So I dyed this one and swapped a blue Custom Deluxe seat into the Sierra for now.

[slikside]

From that pic, there is NO WAY I would have known that seat had been blue before....prolly never would have even occurred to me that it could have been another color. It looks right at home in there!!

Thanks for posting it, Special-k!

[special-K]

I used a low gloss. I can't imagine what the gloss would look like...not good. I also died the door panels and arm rests. I think the panels and one arm rest were already black,but tired,and one arm rest was a color change. The cover was one of those economy covers from LMC,100% pure junk. It fit poorly after a heck of a time installing and the material appears to be very cheap compared to other covers. I did it a few years ago. I don't really drive it but have tooled around some and hop in and out to work on it. It still looks like I just did it.

[Eddie H.]

You can paint anything. When I was a kid, I even painted my dad's old hound dog. ( big mistake) It was worth the whupping I got, just to see the expression on the mail man's face when that green dog ran out to chase him.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by special-K

I used a low gloss. I can't imagine what the gloss would look like...not good. I also died the door panels and arm rests. I think the panels and one arm rest were already black,but tired,and one arm rest was a color change. The cover was one of those economy covers from LMC,100% pure junk. It fit poorly after a heck of a time installing and the material appears to be very cheap compared to other covers. I did it a few years ago. I don't really drive it but have tooled around some and hop in and out to work on it. It still looks like I just did it.

Yet another point I hadn't considered. Thanks for the heads up. Do you remember the product that you had used Special-k??

Originally Posted by Eddie H.

You can paint anything. When I was a kid, I even painted my dad's old hound dog. ( big mistake) It was worth the whupping I got, just to see the expression on the mail man's face when that green dog ran out to chase him.

Now that there is funny!!

I guess you can paint anything you want....never considered the dog though!! Thanks for the laugh, Eddie!