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teeboo_gw

need help with leather chair

teeboo
10 years ago

Bought an inexpensive leather chair last year in cranberry. This year we are removing the wall between kitchen and living room to make the small rental roomier and allow views of the water from the kitchen.

I want to change the color of the leather from cranberry to dark green. I feel like it can be done as I changed the color of another faux leather chair 5 years ago from white to buttery cream by using mimwax stain. That chair has held up well and still looks good. Have not had to touch up the stain and it is sat in almost every night. However mimwax will not work on this color palette.

Any suggestions???? Thanks, Jenn

Comments (8)

  • maggiepie11
    10 years ago

    i think they make spray paint specifically for leather and vinyl mostly in the automotive industry. no experience there, but even if you can get your hands on it i'm not sure it'll come in green. :)

    however, the blog i'm linking should help! again, no personal experience, but it's on my list to experiment with!

    this blog post is several years old, and she said the chair still looks great. she built up to about 20 light coats of just regular spray paint wiping off the excess between coats. pretty cool! here's what her chair looked like (done in silver)

    the other thing i was wondering is what the emerald green rub n'buff color looks like in person. rub 'n buff has a great rep for working nicely on leather. :)

    you've got plenty of options. any chance the chair came with an accent pillow in the same leather you could test on first?

    Here is a link that might be useful: Redoux Blog

  • yayagal
    10 years ago

    Here's a video on how to do it with leather spray.

    Here is a link that might be useful: how to video

  • daki
    10 years ago

    I re-dyed our faded leather sofa (to same original color) with a dye kit from Leather Magic. I was a little dubious about the name, since it sounded a little infomercially, but was recommended on another site's furniture forum. I'm very happy with my results.

    Edit: my sofa is dark green

    Here is a link that might be useful: Leather magic

    This post was edited by daki on Wed, Jan 1, 14 at 13:56

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    daki,
    how long have you had your re-dyed leather sofa?

  • daki
    10 years ago

    I just finished up recoloring the cushions last weekend so I cannot attest to the durability, but my gut feeling is that should hold up. My sofa is 17 years old and the leather was aniline dyed, so it had really faded. I had it in our library, pretty much unused for the past 7 years. We finally decided that the tthis sofa was way more comfortable so switched them out. While trying to find a sofa brand similar to our faded one I somehow ended up with the idea of trying to re-dye it.

    I sent the company a scrap of leather from under the cushions and ordered aniline recoloring dye (2 kits) along with a description of the sofa's condition. They ended up sending me the normal recoloring kit, but I figured they knew more about re-dying than I did (nothing) and that is what I used. My sofa's leather really soaked up the dye. The kit came with a sprayer thingie, but I just used a foam brush and spread and rubbed the dye around with a paper towel so it wouldn't look streaky. Most of the sofa took two to three thin coats. The dye is water based. According to the instructions, after about 48 hours, the dye is pretty much set. I did clean up a couple of small spots with rubbing alcohol about 24 hours later, and the coloring did come off that way. I rubbed and buffed with the conditioner after about 4 days and did not have any coloring come off. I have not spilled anything on it yet :) although water does bead up on it now rather than soaking in. The leather is still quite soft and while it feels different, it does not feel like it is stiff or coated, if that makes any sense.

    This photo is an in progress picture...the arm has been colored, the cushions have not

  • daki
    10 years ago

    An after...it may not be the latest style, but the cushions are firm and very comfortable.

  • daki
    10 years ago

    And a close up of the cushions after coloring them

  • teeboo
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you so much for this information. Will go to the site's this weekend and do my research. Hope to be able to send in a follow up once the chair is finished. What a great idea.

    Also remember if you have a white leather and want to make it buttery/cream color, all you need is mimwax and a soft cloth. Rub on thin layers with a soft cloth, let dry and spread another until you get the color you want. This chair has been in use for 5 years and sat in daily. Jenn