Best way to mend splits in Old Leather? 25 Packard. Any new High Tech products?

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

In my 1925 Packard Roadster I have original upholstery.

Rumble seat leather is Mint. Bottom cushion in the front is excellent!!

Problem area is the front seat back cushion. 100 years of sweat and sun & in and out.  It has vertical pleats about 4". Seams are OK and strong.

I have a few horizontal splits between the seams. 

Any new, or old products that could seal of the tears and help prevent it from getting worse? Its a survivor car and would like to save it as long as possible.

Thanks...............Jim

 

Black leather.

[JFranklin]

Black duct tape comes to mind

[rocketraider]

All I can suggest is clean with a good saddle soap and then use a leather conditioner to soften it as much as possible. Lexol products have a good reputation. I'm sure there's others I haven't tried. 

 

I really doubt you'll be able to close up the splits. Keep the leather soft and may not get any worse.

 

Or you could try putting small strips of black duct tape in the splits and behind the surface leather!😃 or maybe even some leather strips. Either way it may be noticeable.

 

Trimacar may have some insight.

[keiser31]

Photos of the problem, please?

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Will send pics later this week when I get over to where the car is stored. Thanks

[58L-Y8]

Fiebing's products have been recommended as a good product to badly dried out leather.

Conditioners - Fiebing's

[wayne sheldon]

The 1929 Reo coupe I had many years ago had very nice original upholstery. The coupe's front interior was mohair, and very nice. The rumble seat was real leather, and except for one about two inch half circle gouge, was also nice. I have no idea what someone had hit it with, but it cut clear though that near half circle. I cleaned the leather outside, and inside as well as I could around the cut. Scrounged a piece of scrap leather about three inches round, tucked it inside the tear and spread it flat. Then carefully spread some clear epoxy between the leather pieces, pushed the tear closed and weighted the area until the epoxy had fully set.

The result was visible! But it did not jump out at anyone, and held up very well for all the years I had that car.

I would consider doing that again for anything similar. Of course quality of the result will depend a lot on how well the original leather cleans up and softens.

 

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

The leather is actually pretty soft. I'm good with leather conditioners, thanks to the advise from Eddie M. & secret sauce the leather is not brittle. Of course, its 100 year old cow. Most of it is on the drivers side back. From sun, getting in and out, and the pulling of the leather down when trying to shoe horn into the cramp front cockpit has cause strain on the leather fiber (outside and in) as well as sweat/salt on the back of the drivers shirt actually putting a shine and some smooth wear on the surface for 100 years.

So, I would like to find the best way to glue ? the already couple tears in the leather so they don't get bigger and I see a few creases that are on the surface that will tear in the future.

I know father time always wins with leather, but trying to keep this unrestored survivor just that.

Thanks.....Jim

 

[Digger914]

For glue I use 3M clear trim adhesive, it holds leather to leather like you wouldn't believe and its flexible so you don't have a hard spot. Tears not next to a seam and holes all fix with a glued in teather patch. Tears at the seam are more work than I can justifiably describe and I have no pictures to attach at the moment, but I will in a month or so.

 

For most small tears and holes, a leather patch can be cut to a size about an inch wider and longer than the tear, then pushed through the tear and maneuvered into position using dental picks, toothpicks will also work, it just takes a bit longer. Round toothpicks work the best for applying the adhesive. Pushing the toothpick about a third of its length into the adhesive tube opening gives about the perfect amount of goo for a half an inch of application. With one hand push the dental pick into your patch making an opening large enough to slip your toothpick into and gently roll the adhesive from the toothpick onto the front of the patch and the back of your torn leather until you have closed the tear or hole.

 

I make my patch pieces using good leather sections cut from old replaced or junkyard bad seat covers, as they have a thin foam backing attached that helps keep the patch in place while working and the price is right. The foam backing also helps to keep the newly repaired section from folding into the same crease that caused it to tear from wear. 

 

Making the repair invisible and the seat look like new again is no big deal. Making it look look like a hundred year old seat that never split, that will take an artist and that's not me.

 

Added Note: Newer cars have foam backing and seperate the backing from the seat leather then slip the patch material in between the backing and the seat leather before applying the glue.

Edited May 18, 2022 by Digger914 (see edit history)

[Dan Cluley]

1 hour ago, Digger914 said:

For glue I use 3M clear trim adhesive, it holds leather to leather like you wouldn't believe and its flexible so you don't have a hard spot...

Is this the correct glue?

 

https://www.amazon.com/3M-03601-Plastic-Emblem-Adhesive/dp/B000CCM3J2

[Digger914]

1 hour ago, Dan Cluley said:

Is this the correct glue?

 

https://www.amazon.com/3M-03601-Plastic-Emblem-Adhesive/dp/B000CCM3J2

Yep, that's the stuff.

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Here are a couple pics requested of the leather in the front seat that is splitting. The rumble seat is perfect. All original paint and upholstery. 100% survivor. 

 

Thanks, Jim

[auburnal]

Nice Pics of a beautiful car ...personallyI wouldnt be concerned about these splits as they are not serious jn my view being so original is unique ,

 

If you could glue a backing material to the splits if possible , if you could open the splits without dissasembling the seat panels and slide in a leather backer and contact glue it in place you might be pleased with the result .

 

i use olive oil on my leather seats several doses will soften and feed the suppleness usually .

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

The problem is the splits in the leather will be pulled down even more when getting into the car. I did see YouTube video's with some products on how to glue leather together. Or, maybe tape, then have a custom seat cover made out of black canvas top material with the same pleats as on the original leather to protect as much as possible from tearing. Much nicer in the summer with canvas cloth material on your back rather than hot leather.

Thanks

[Bloo]

In my opinion, don't glue that. It's just going to make a mess. To patch that in a way that would not pull unevenly would require a patch from the back, and I think that would require ripping seams to get in. Even then, the outline of the patch would probably telegraph through the leather.

[JFranklin]

Just saw this ad and thought it interesting to repair leather.

 

https://www.inspiredhousehold.com/products/teyou-repair-leather-sticker-self-adhesive-patch?st=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhLKUBhDiARIsAMaTLnFdhfIr-0RFsCl-QX-0N2sWAINYLBFeFeLj_IYIv9SV9zo3fZp0VBgaAl9lEALw_wcB

[zepher]

There are quite a few leather repair videos on YouTube.

This is just one of many.

 

[AdamInNH]

Some years back I had solid success with the leather crack filler, Soffner and colorant from Color Plus: https://colorplus.com/collections/all