Gator Skin Leather to Suede

[smeres]

I recently got my seat upholstered with this purple embossed gator leather. I took it home and put it on the bike and it looked silly. I decided to Dremel off/sand the plastic paint Gator Finish off. To my advantage, it looks rather decent. It turned to a dark grey and feels and looks like suede. I was wondering on how I can get the suede to look more shiny. Any ideas?

 

[pig pen]

How about a pic?

 

[seatmaker]

Sounds like an expensive lesson learned. Can't wait to see the pic

 

[wyatt580]

Yeah every time you try and save money it cost a shit load to fix shit.like shopping at harbor freight.hope it works out.

 

[Gas Man]

Yeah pic...

BUt for what its worth... Seatmaker could recover it for probably cheaper than you think.

 

[KaptinAmerika]

You should have painted your old seat purple first then you woul have known if you liked it or not before forking out all that cash.

Use a stiff metal polising wheel and some mink oil polish. That will buff the leather back down to a smooth finish. I used that process on a pair of boots I had once and it worked really well.

:flag:

 

[WARHORSE]

uh oh....

Unfortunately, it may look and feel like suede, but what you have done is exposed the under fibers. This will not last long unless you treat this immediately. Please do yourself a favor and apply a generous coat of Lexol. Let this set for at least 24 hours, then make a pass with Fiebings Tan Kote. Wait another 24 hours then give it one more coat of tan coat and wait...you guessed it 24 hours. Leather is skin, when you compromise the outer layer it's like when you get a blister and peel it off exposing the skin beneath. Tan Kote will give you a good protective finish without over shine and also produce a nice protected layer from the elements.