Leather Seat Refinishing

Subsea

Subsea

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Feb 27, 2015
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Subsea
Is there anything prohibiting having someone refinish my leather seats? If not, have you guys had success with any companies offering the service? Mine are fading a little, and have a few cracks on the surface.
 
You can have ANYONE redo your seats.

I'd find the local hot rod shop and talk to them, aviation upholstery is top end of on the expensive scale and bottom end of the quality scale when compared to hot rod seats.

If you replace the leather you'll need a burn cert, no big deal, there is a company in Canada that you just send a piece of the material into and they send you back the cert if it passes (which it most probably will).
 
If they're not completely toast, you can often bring them back yourself. Saddle soap (found at larger pet supply stores) can really clean them up, followed up by Connolly Hide Food which is a cream that swells even cracked leather back to health. This is the formula used on a bunch of classic cars, and it works.
 
Subsea said:
Is there anything prohibiting having someone refinish my leather seats? If not, have you guys had success with any companies offering the service? Mine are fading a little, and have a few cracks on the surface.
Click to expand...

Leather is reconditioned are re-dyed all the time with pretty amazing results.
 
ettsn said:
... Connolly Hide Food ...
Click to expand...
Sad to say, Hide Food is no more. Connolly went out of business over 10 years ago and a succession of trademark owners and licensees followed. There is a product available now called "Connolly Hide Care" which ever-reliable internet reviewers seem to think is at least similar. I have not tried it, as I still have a little of the original stuff left.
 
James331 said:
You can have ANYONE redo your seats.

I'd find the local hot rod shop and talk to them, aviation upholstery is top end of on the expensive scale and bottom end of the quality scale when compared to hot rod seats.

If you replace the leather you'll need a burn cert, no big deal, there is a company in Canada that you just send a piece of the material into and they send you back the cert if it passes (which it most probably will).
Click to expand...
When you pull old leather from a Cessna, and replace with new leather there is no requirements to have any certs.

As far as it goes, pull any old interior out and replace with leather you are in fact returning the aircraft to its original condition and no paper is required, other than what maintenance was completed.
 
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Ah yes, forgot about Leatherique -- great stuff! A buddy of mine restored the seats of his '59 Austin Healy from basically dead to looking pretty darned good for being a half century old.
 
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