Lvangundy

Is the leather dyed or sprayed? Do different years have different processes?

Guitarman

I wish we had a leather industry expert on here to say for certain just what lexus buys from their suppliers, but the best insight into this I can find on this is general automotive leather facts contained in these links. Scroll down to the paragraph on "pigmented "leathers, as it's suggested the type used in the auto industry.

http://www.leathercare.com.au/clc_leather.htm

This page speaks to pigmented spray coloring and that dye isn't applicable to automotive leathers.
I have read that older US and european leathers were vat dyed years ago, but today the Japanese leathers and many US makes contain pigmented sprayed leather coloring and surface topcoats of a clear vinyl poly to protect it. The funny part is, most oem leathers aren't actually really leather on the surface (underneath they are of course) so applying leather conditioning oils is futile for the most part. You can clean and treat it as vinyl. Here's more on that;

http://www.discountautoparts.net/how...20030901LC.htm


People don't want to hear that their leather is actually vinyl coated and that their conditioner can't really soften it because it's not porous. I (and others) have echoed this for years since it was brought to my attention, but most seem to scoff it off and keep buying the leather conditioners anyway. Hey, don't shoot the messenger!

Here is more interesting info;

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache...n&ie=UTF-8</a>

And finally, this again shows the types of leather and their particular makeup and uses.

http://www.stainsafe.com/ssafe/faq.asp

Note this paragraph; Until i can find a more difinitive answer pertaining to what Lexus grade and type Lexus uses, from this we would have to assume it's sprayed. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because according to the data the automotive leathers get pigmented leather because of the harsh abuse it gets-it's about the most durable process available. I can tell you that Lexus buys better grades of leather than Hundai does. That sure helps me at least.

Cheers.

squarehat

Isn't aniline leather (which I'm assuming is vat-dyed), an option on the top tiers of the LS430, which has 3 grades of leather for '04? If so, I'm guessing that is the only Lexus with aniline leather.

Edit. I know this German company supplies leather for the SC430, not sure of other models : http://www.bader-leather.de/

Guitarman

It may just be Squarehat, any other info you can find on that would be helpful if possible. For all I know, it may true of the GS leather (and others?) as well, I just can't find any firsthand info on it at the moment, only general oem stuff.

LXOGOOD

I just had my front seats re-dyed last week at the dealership. A mobile van called "DR. VINYL" does touch up jobs there. To my knowledge, it is sprayed on... Seats look brand new again however I was told that some aftermarket seat conditioner creams may react with the aftermarket dye therefore I have to see the guy again so he can apply a special oil on the seats. This is the same oil that is used on exotic car seats. I will have more info next week when I take my car in and talk to the guy.

Note: Make sure that all leather seats are stripped of oil's and conditioners before having the dye put on. The dye will not soak into the leather if that step is not done..

VI Rep

I also had my seats dyed by the lexus dealership. My seats were fine but the drivers seat was not as new looking as the other seats in the car. I brought it to the dealership and they dyed it and it was almost back to new. I was shocked at what the dealership could do with the dying of the seats.

parula

Dyed or painted, mine absorb the Lexol I used to put on them pretty fast, the Leatherique I just got is next, will see see if that is soaked up.