How To Restore Worn Out & Cracked Leather Seats For Under $100! 2 DIY Methods Anyone Can Do At Home!

[@LegitStreetCars]

What DIY project are you working on right now? Use Code LEGIT20 for an extra 20% off Clyde's leather balm and their entire site! You can combine this code with other sales too! clydesleathercompany.com/prod...

[@thecriticalaccountant]

Fixing squeaky front tie rod bushing. Don't want to replace the tie rod.

[@24bics]

What's your recommendation for using Clyde's on perforated leather seats?

[@markopolo945]

1998 Northstar V8 engine Headbolts.

[@max_edits_stuff]

@@24bics a toothpick and a lot of patience...

[@GregariousGiant]

Exquisite timing! My wife's 2012 Lexus RX 350 is up for sale and the only bad thing about is is the two front seats! Needs reconditioned and restored! Thank you!

[@Samcrac]

There's a spray product for interior vinyl trims, it's not really meant for leather, but it looks like that's what they might've used on those light colored seats. That stuff looked really bad from the start, now that car looks mint! Great score.

[@GearHead4Lyfe]

Yeah SEM makes some great plastic paints and interior paints. But for seats the way Alex did it is the right way. Hard parts the SEM stuff works great.

[@lukebird6412]

Keep your nose out Sam, this is a real car repair channel!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍

[@flatbedder]

Wouldn't you have just used coke to clean these?

[@longjohn77]

Sam knows how to hack, he probably uses left over house paint.

[@lukebird6412]

It was probably Sam’s car first!! 🤣🤣

[@awh3399]

These “little” projects are great to watch as well as complete builds

[@MichaelSPalmer]

1. Wow, very promising stuff! 2. Also… Whoever buys your flips is going to be super lucky. Like any used cars, they won’t be perfect, but each one will come with a multi-hour documentary of what you did / didn’t do. Loving this series!

[@TheCoolDave]

Yea, if I was in the area, looking for a car... I would keep an eye on his shop....No question...

[@theBoomerDoomer]

What an amazing transformation for just $100 and a few days' labor... this could easily be a weekend transformation for most people with old leather seats. Great work, Alex!

[@dragineeztoo61]

If you "pay" yourself normal labor rates - you didn't really save any money. This works well for someone that can spend 20 labor hours on it and have it count as zero dollars. For the rest of us, that's a month's work. And you have done NOTHING on the rest of the car. Not criticizing you or Legit - but it's false math. Your time has value. Anything that counts your time at zero value is false math.

[@Saavvvv]

@@dragineeztoo61 it's just KZbin dude, don't worry about it.

[@theBoomerDoomer]

So, I should start paying myself for doing work on my house or may car, even if it's something I like to do on my days off? Yeah, okay... Not sure where that math checks out, either, but to each his own I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@jaredshaffer3901]

@@theBoomerDoomer No but it does actually have a term. It's called opportunity cost. By using your time to clean seats, you miss out on the opportunity of making money elsewhere. Compare how much you would have made if you used that time to work versus how much it would have cost to just have someone else do it. If you don't make a lot of money or can't find work, it makes sense to do it yourself. It also makes sense to do it yourself if you enjoy doing it.

[@notsoeloquent]

​​​​​@@jaredshaffer3901The next thing you should learn about is marginal utility. No one wants to work 7 days a week but many people will derive utility from a weekend project like this one. It's like calculating whether a multi-billionaire should pick up a $100 bill off the ground, given that their wealth generates more than that every 30 seconds. The satisfaction they derive from the act of finding a $100 bill would be similar to the satisfaction a car owner will derive from fixing something on the cheap in their spare time.

[@PawnshopmikeATL]

I’ve been watching Alex for a few years!! & dude has a killer ass honest energy The type of guy to sell you a car with hidden/sneaky issue & HE’d TELL YOU EVERY SINGLE THING WRONG WITH THE CAR!! Super good human being !!

[@jenniferlauter5523]

Came here to figure out how to make my seats look better, but I can’t stop watching! I love your excitement and how detailed you are. Very satisfying to watch!!!

[@chibu3972]

This really is a straight-up legit flip. Haven't come across a more accurate name for something lol.

[@fdegeorge2000]

I used Clyde’s on a 1985 325 e in the mid 1990,s then again in 2015 one year before I sold the car for $5,000.00 with about 206,000 miles on it. The buyer was so impressed by this method he came to my house and helped me with another car just to learn how.

[@charliel2967]

Alex, so close to 700k. Can’t wait to see a million subs. C’mon people let’s get him there. Keep up the good work Alex we’re all proud of you

[@LegitStreetCars]

Thanks Charlie! Appreciate that!

[@charlie1832]

@@LegitStreetCars you’re welcome

[@robertmorin1454]

I was absolutely shocked at how well they turned out! Huge change and well worth the effort ! 👍🇨🇦

[@theodor12]

Great work man. I love this project. But aren't you supposed to use some top coat on top of the leather dye?

[@georgeharleydavidsonrider156]

Amazing. I have a 1996 mustang cobra, saddle, leather interior. Minor cracks. Can’t wait to try it on my car

[@joshparks269]

I have to say, you’re definitely in my top 10 favorite KZbinrs, especially when it comes to detail and DIYs. I’ve followed a lot of your instructional stuff and really appreciate all you do. I’ve been wanting to restore my moms driver side leather seat in her 06 Daytona Edition Charger so this is definitely going to help with getting it done. Thank you for all you do!

[@LegitStreetCars]

Thanks Josh. That means a lot.

[@TheRealTomLauda]

Amazing results ! Especially considering the conditions these seats were in.

[@scottc78]

I love when hard work pays off in such a big way. I know this is a "Legit Flip" but I have a feeling you're gonna have a tough time parting ways with this car when you're finished.

[@longjohn77]

Can't keep 'em all, as tempting as it may be.

[@scottc78]

@@longjohn77 I just hope he keeps the CL65. Always been a dream car of mine, but I never bought one for all the reasons we've seen in the videos.

[@longjohn77]

@@scottc78 agreed, a fully sorted one is definitely a keeper

[@accestos]

Easy to put together, easy to adjust- took a few minutes to figure out and used online videos for help. Very secure and sturdy. Granddaughter loves it, especially the two cup holders for her things. Recommend it highly.

[@kerrylewis2581]

Incredible progress made. I cant wait to see the interior once it's done.

[@roaminx]

Holy Maximum! I can't believe how well they came out. The black interior and the light interior. Maximum restoration short of very expensive other options. I have a 2005 Honda Accord. Spectacular condition. But the black leather seats are wearing despite 18 years of being parked indoors. THIS IS EXACTLY what I have been looking for. I will use the Clyde's products you used, etc. So easy to use. Seats don't have to come out. Wow. Thank you. I didn't know where to turn to to find such an excellent solution. Aces bud, keep up the great work!

[@kevinc31]

What a transformation. Great job Alex. Thanks for the info.

[@dattisha27]

i used an airbrush from HF hooked up to my little compressor to spray my dye saved me alot of time

[@wkeithtexas]

I’ve always been interested in leather repair for auto interiors. Thanks for a great teaching demo. That old, dirty, and abused leather now looks really good. Almost to good.

[@markbennett6658]

Leather is an incredible material. We have a three piece suite in our house which is made from full analine leather (not the thin stuff where the hide is broken down into strips and then dyed and sprayed with a transparent protective clear coat). Whatever it’s coloured treated and oiled with is incredible. You can scratch it fairly easily and any spillages sink in and make a mark but using some Scandinavian leather cleaner and conditioner the stains always come out and any scratches seem to self heal. Amazing and we’ve had the set for more than 10 years now and it still looks great!

[@Sidewinder1999]

Loving this E39 project. I'm not even a Euro car guy, but I've always liked E39 5 Series. This one's coming up real nice, and this interior transformation is gonna be crazy. Good stuff.

[@ndg49]

Alex, this reminds me of a former neighbor of ours many years ago. He wanted to paint his Corvair convertible and a VW bus. So, he went to the store, bought some red paint (I believe it was automotive paint, but knowing him, it could have been from a hardware store) and proceeded to use a brush to repaint his cars. We lived in an upscale neighborhood at the time and he was definitely the talk of the town, so to speak. Smart guy, though (worked for the DoD), but was definitely cheap in some respects. I liked the guy as he had a great sense of humor. No idea what became of him as they moved (again) to an undisclosed location. So, lots of people out there who do some unusual things with and to their cars. I'll finish watching your video in a moment. Makes me wish I had known of the products a long time ago when I was working on a cream beige leather on our 86 300SDL sedan. Keep up the great work!!!! Keep the shiny side up!

[@davidwatsonbr]

Finally you’re back on this beauty E39, Alex! Amazing job with these seats. Unbelievable what you did… You should send all the seat belts safety restore (company that restores seat belts) just to change the “fabric”. Also, just if it’s not that pricy, you can change the buckle which is attached to the side of the driver and passenger seats as well. Have an amazing weekend, Alex. Great job! 🖤

[@EBK_iN_MY_DNA]

Yea get a different color as well

[@robnation2475]

10:50 Mid-summer 1990, my buddy stopped by with an old '78 Monte Carlo he had just picked up for next to nothing. He was really happy about it ...except for the "crispy", cracking, grayish-blue, vinyl, Landau top. He asked me "What could I do here?" I grinned, turned around and grabbed a partial, 1-gallon can of grayish-blue Sears "WEATHERBEATER" house paint off the shelf. After 30 minutes of continuous laughter and a 4" paint brush, the results were amazing!😄😃

[@mganzer]

Thanks for the Clyde's code. Going to try it on some leather furniture too. I think the original seat paint must be a relative of the old JC Whitney light bulb paint...

[@TASBullit66]

The BEST most comprehensive historical video on the history of the 67 GT500. As always, completely knocked it out of the park. I am a huge Shelby fan, but learned loads of small details. Great video, keep it up!

[@LegitStreetCars]

You're welcome? I lts been a while but I think I just restored some seats in this one.

[@TASBullit66]

@@LegitStreetCars lol, Thanks Alex! I have no idea why it commented this on your video, I was simultaneously watching some shelby history. However, this did just help me tremendously with learning how to die seats. Love your videos!

[@jorgeirizarry5971]

This was so amazing. I got pumped to do this to my car. You always teach us the good stuff lol. I like when you try things for the first time and you learn as you go. It feels like we are all learning at the same time.

[@dahl2101]

This series has been great. Shows what you can accomplice for just a small amount of money. Cleaning a redying the seats was a miracle. Now I know how I can restore seats in the future. Legit has become one of my favorites!!!

[@henrymatthews9365]

Tuff scuff works very well on headliners. You can literally see it pulling the stains out.

[@chuckmarch5552]

Back in the 90's I redied the door panels and dashboard in a 1978 Malibu. Bought a set of seats for $100 from Fans auto wreckers in Tennessee . I used Sem dye and it came out a perfect match. Those were the days .

[@MrRichcop426]

This was an epic video and really appreciate the time and effort you went to to document everything! The results were outstanding. It answers many questions I also had. Keep on keeping on…

[@Schwertman57]

The before and after pictures are unbelievable!! Absolutely amazing!

[@ariebastiaanse3423]

It's amazing Mike. If you pay by creditcard, you get the second bottle for free!

[@Pete_Finch]

I really appreciate you advertising the great products you actually use regularly Alex. I've been looking for an inexpensive but effective leather restorer just like this for my older GM vehicles (with super cheap leather that tends not to hold up) and wouldn't have known about Clyde's without this vid.

[@Thatbodyguy73]

My gs 350 seats are literally shredded, I was hoping this would help lol.

[@hqs9585]

Amazing! Thanks for the effort to put this video together and share it . A solid 10!

[@afhostie]

I've heard of using steam to get wrinkles out of leather seats but haven't tried it myself

[@AB-C1]

Excellent job! Best leather diy repair tutorial (of sorts/worts n all) video ive seen.. real world real time and real information and results.. great stuff! Cheers from London England 👍😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@davej6335]

What a transformation! This will inspire many to give their interior a go! Great job 👍🏻

[@Ankeneering]

This video is two plus years old but it’s better than popping shipping bubble wrap. Nice, satisfying work.

[@NavelkarGarage]

This is truly a labor of love! Honestly pretty surprised how easy colourlock is to work with after all the prep work. Keeping an eye on this one 👀

[@jflyg2652]

I’ve repaired steering wheels with Color lock Great product. The color sprits is mineral sprits.

[@cbrettnewman]

I’m particular about dyes and leather conditioner. The colorlock stuff is amazing! I have a 99 528i sport with the same sand beige interior. I will try that. Amazing results!!! Love it!

[@mbritton1984]

Wow! Just another very helpful tutorial! VERY Satisfying! You are awesome!

[@jeremydiamond8824]

Tough Stuff is awesome I’ve been detailing for 30yrs and doing PDR professionally for 25yrs and yes that stuff rocks 😎👍🏻🇺🇸🦅

[@gs1100ed]

Tuff Stuff!

[@JackKarneval]

This was hands down the most satisfying video of yours I have ever watched! The transformation of those seats in the end is absolutely stunning!!

[@danesen]

Very satisfying. Love that you are diving into a full resto!

[@rustler08]

Don't go overkill on the "fluid leather" because it fills in the natural grain and makes repair spots very obvious, as you suddenly have a smooth texture around patterned leather. Same thing with the leather dye: you can do too many coats, as you'll eventually start filling the texture and it'll look off due to the lack of natural textures. As far as the discolored spots, I would try sanding them down a bit.

[@alexhofstee466]

He didn't use it but there is a "stamping patch" with the colorlock system to press the leather grain shape back into the liquid leather so you don't get flat spots. 🙂

[@rustler08]

@@alexhofstee466 Yup, you can get those with some kits and they work okay. Just do it before the dye so you can dye over any potential discoloration from the heat. However, they aren't great when you over-fill an entire seat's texture.

[@ezacher4634]

Amazing difference. Especially the driver seat.

[@andrewmattera6205]

i actually like that creamier tan color that they tried to die the seats with, i think it definitely looks better than the factory color

[@omphaloskeptic4989]

Bellissimo! I do not own a vehicle with leather interior, but this has to be one on the most satisfying DIY videos on leather detailing I've seen! I've not used Tuff Stuff before but I will definitely add this product to my cleaning arsenal. I do hope that the manufacturers sponsor your channel after the fact as you have clearly demonstrated the quality of their products for the home hobbyist! Well done! Ciao!

[@vonderdornburg]

Amazing results! Thanks for the Tuff Stuff tip!

[@AbcDef-iq4no]

One of the best products that I have found for bringing life back to leather and vinyl is mink oil paste. I find it at my local farm/feed store for around $3.99 for a small tub. It goes a long way. I also use this paste on rubber door and trunk gaskets that are dried out to condition them and help swell them back up so they seal again.

[@TwinVisioned]

extremely impressive results. Seeing those seats before, I would have never even considered they were salvageable. Thanks for sharing this content with us, something I've never seen on any of the other KZbinrs I follow.

[@matthewsequoyah2665]

This is by far THEE BEST video I’ve discovered for restoring auto seats leather ! 😃👍 I’m gonna try some of these.

[@joecutro7318]

Pretty amazing! Lots of elbow grease, but so satisfying. Wish there was more than 1 thumbs up to give on this. I had no idea so many of these products existed. Will get to work on my interior.

[@glennlambert5112]

I thought you were crazy to even try. but WOW . I am impressed. this and the Alpina paintwork. I was wrong twice. But never been so happy to be wrong.

[@gradient602]

I’m loving these DIY vids, you are motivating me to finish fixing my Jeep that was wrecked when my shoulder heals from my injury

[@kubajagieka9530]

One thing that I may add for anyone who wants to do something simillar. Add a top coat, a clear coat designed for leather. If you leave the dye exposed it ll get damaged over time. Colourlock tells customers to use their Leder Versiegelung, which is simillar to a polymer coating for leather, but its not a permament solution, you would need to re-apply it like every month on the driver seat, and 3-6 months of the rest. A good way to seal the deal is to use a clear dye from a company called Furniture Care, it can be applied by sponge, done it myself, all good.

[@raybutts9133]

Is there anything else that you should use over the top coat?

[@Ottonic6]

I've been using Tuff Stuff since way back in the 80's. That stuff is great. Smells nice too. Works great on the carpets also.

[@MrNotStock]

when your colour grading is natural, it looks amazing!

[@samrodian919]

Brilliant job Alex!! Three days of your labour time costs a fair deal as you are a pro, but for the average Joe it's just a weekend so I don't blame you for pricing it this way. Cheers from the UK!

[@Werewolfmage]

Clyde's leather balm Is what the doctor ordered. My 09 bmw has some wear starting to happen . thank you for the demo!

[@aelaan12]

WOW!!!!! Quite the labor intense job, but the end product is amazing. That Beemer is coming back into itself.

[@poverty46]

This makes me feel bad for NOT redying my E46 coupe tannin red interior yet. Searching for a mint set of tan sport seats to dye to match everything else. Original seats were base model, found the whole interior at the chicago south lkq for $100! Great job man I’m gonna be taking a day to do this!

[@eurosonly]

Holy smokes, I was absolutely hopeless and pulling my hair out while trying to figure out how to fix the patina on the drjver leather seat in my lexus. The color is midnight blue and I feel like all I really need is that liquid leather thing to cover up the patina cracks. I've learned so much from this video.

[@DeusVolo]

After seeing this restoration, if I had leather seats, I'd use Clydes no doubt!

[@RubiconRebel1804]

What an amazing job you did on that interior, and thank you for the discount code for Clyde's products, and yes they honoured the code on top of the Father's Day specials they were offering.

[@landmanil]

I've used Tuff Stuff for beige leather seats that I got from the junkyard. The seats came out perfect. Took out all the moldy staining. Good video

[@danniecassidy5128]

Great video. Have restored a few e39 m5 leather seats over the years using a similar process. Isn’t it So satisfying to watch the dye dry evenly with the hairdryer treatment. That liquid leather looks the business.

[@windronner1]

This project has been one fantastic ride.The quality of your work. The attention to detail. And this BMW being one of the most successful manual 5-series. Just short of a V8 M-series. Has got to generate top dollar on a flip!! Hands down!! Terrific video. Great job..

[@dimitrig3739]

It’s wild how clean the leather was under the paint. Mercedes tan leather from late 90s early 00s never holds up this well! MB black, yes but never their tan Great Project Alex!

[@guccilyfe]

I had a water damaged car from Katrina many years ago and restored the seats and removed most of the mold and dirt with tough stuff and a couple dozen moisture bags, used it for 5 years before trading it

[@DueVolvi]

Wow, great job and same result as I had: last january I bought a very worn out beige leather interior for my S60. Cleaned and sanded it, used the Colourlock filler and Toscana Tan paint and it looks amazing, like new. Very satisfying job!

[@russjohnsoncayennesvideo1028]

I just ordered some Clydes Leather Products to fix a wear spot on my drivers seat. Thanks for the tip. I hope my seat turns out as well as yours have from the E39

[@HappyRescues]

The tough stuff is good. I use it on my headliner when the headliner gets dirty or gets handprints or stains from the sunroof on it.. it's fantastic.

[@gs1100ed]

Tuff Stuff!

[@artlayton1425]

Great job on the seats; plus you have identified some new products I could use. I discovered when I thought about removing my BMW seats that the bolts are "one-use" only. For me, that means 90 minutes driving round trip to the nearest dealer to get the bolts. And you have given us a great example of the law of diminishing returns by cleaning those seats. Now we know why some shops charge hundreds of dollars for similar work.

[@BH-fr1cy]

Alex you are my new Edd China :) he worked tirelessly at presenting and sharing information which is not easy to do, your efforts are appreciated. I work in TV but in children animation so I understand the work a video or show takes to create - clear video, audio and presentation well done keep it up!! Cheers my man.

[@LegitStreetCars]

Thanks for the comment. This means a lot coming from someone in the business.

[@faustp23]

Major reno on those seats!!!! Great outcome. will be giving it a go myself.

[@FordSony13]

That easily added several hundred dollars, possibly more, to the value of this old 5-series, kudos!

[@hungryhungryhummer]

You kept saying you can’t see the streaks disappear on camera, but you absolutely can! It was like magic!

[@rafipr6165]

That is a great job.Never seen a product work so good.I will keep this video for next time I need to do it to my car.Thank you as always.

[@stephenhuber1079]

AMAZING results!

[@dujevideka1230]

I just did the same thing on w211 seats in much worse condition, colourlock products are sooo easy to use. I also started with the sponge but then tried to put it in a paint gun. I had a 1.2 hvlp in my garage and man it was 10x easier and you spend half as much paint

[@sfm.x]

This video was actually quite labour intensive. Thanks Alex for the effort you put in for us to watch.

[@LegitStreetCars]

No problem!

[@Zekrom868]

I also bought the color lock system and you missed one step and that is spraying on the top coat to lock in the color. Great video by the way love the content.

[@davidgriffiths938]

Looks fantastic. Also I can offer a tip, you can renew the red seat belt release button with just a heat gun.

[@keithprinn720]

brilliant result creating satisfaction from such work

[@pi1797]

Great video. Seats turned out awesome. When I have detailed the interior of my cars. I have used Simple Green cleaner all the time. Works great on interior surfaces. It is strong but bio-friendly.

[@yellowdogparty]

Killer job! I’m curious about the labor explanation because, as a business owner, I was wondering about labor costs. I’m sure it’s because of it being DIY, but even then I’d still consider my own costs so I’m wondering about why you aren’t (at least externally). The explanation wasn’t linked in your description. Maybe I’ll come across it as I’m starting to go through your back catalog (I’ve only been subscribed since the Fox Body project took off) but if you have it handy or could at least point me to the proper video, that’d be helpful. In any case, keep up the great work! This is a really entertaining channel! I’m glad you show more of Peter now. He’s a great addition for the banter between you.

[@GearHead4Lyfe]

Alex what can I say... WOW those seats were horrible but they legit look brand new! That was an amazing transformation and I'm shocked it only took 100 in materials.

[@SHOdown13]

That turned out 1000% better than I anticipated.

[@PRAGEETHKARUNADHEERA]

What an awesome job you did there. I'm going to place an order to fix my M3's side bolster.

[@pauliew6166]

I have the 1999 year of pretty much that exact car! I'm going to use this video to help repair my front driver's seat. Thanks!!

[@robpeabo509]

Those seats look like they were kept in mint condition when you measure it against the life of the car to date! They actually now look like someone cared for their car. I can't wait to see the carpets and whatever else you are doing to the interior. Thank you for showing us how to do this Alex. Well worth the effort for a DIY"er, considering a DYI"er's labour is free in real cash terms.

[@joecrancher2008]

I think these small budget builds are the best, after all that's what 99% of the viewers can realistically do, myself included!

[@mylesdenny7981]

Tuff stuff is great stuff ! I do upholstery repair for a living and use Tuff Stuff all the time it cleans great and never had it harm anything.