dye factory seats? from grey to black

The factory non-sport seats in my 06 just get too dirty too quickly, probably just because of my line of work, I end up getting in my truck at the end of the day with some sort of grease or oil on my pants or shirt that I didn't see... The cloth itself is in perfect shape, they just get dirty and show everything since they're such a light color.

Anyone ever try to dye the factory seat cloth in their truck? I don't want to do the spray type dye because I've heard of it leaving the material ruff and scratchy feeling; I'd much rather pull the material completely off the seats and do a full soak-type dye (I'd probably just use a second set of covers that I can get from work). I just want strait black, nothing crazy. Does anyone know if the non-sport type seat material will even take a dye or will it not soak in? I don't want it to rub off on cloths if I get in my truck in the rain or anything, lol.

 

I think I would just get a set of the CoverKing Ballistic seat covers in Black. ~$200.

Their definition of these covers: Coverking's Custom Ballistic Seat Covers are the toughest Custom Seat Covers available - bar none! Not the most comfortable material, but definitely the toughest - repeated entry and exit, even with riveted jeans won't damage this material. Dogs, cats, and kids don't stand a chance. Coverking uses Ballistic material, which has a water proof inner coating. Because Cordura Plus is a stiff fabric, it will show more wrinkles than other materials.

 

Well I actually like the feel of the factory material, that's why I don't want to mess it up with the spray type dye. Not to mention, this would only cost me the dye and some time to do myself.

I also don't want to bother with added on external covers just because they never look or feel right in my opinion, even if they're "fitted" for the seat.

 

After you dye them post some pictures!!! I'd like to see them done! Good Luck!

 

Dye is one thing I would never do to a seat. Too many ways for it not to work out right.

Bleeding dye into your clothes, Uneven color, Fading ... and once it is done, it's done.

There isn't a good way to "set" the dye unless you remove the covers from the seats. Then again they could shrink.

My 2Cents.

 

Yeah I'd be removing them anyway; I'd be dying covers from donor seats (perks of working in a salvage yard but also the reason my seats get dirty to, lol); the seats in my truck would remain untouched until the dyed covers were done and ready.

And yeah it's the bleeding color off that I'm most concerned about. From what I gather, as long as the material is not coated with a stain resistant chemical of some sort, the dye should leach into the fibers and permanently dye it (stain it basically). Once that's done, a couple good rinses until they stop leaching die any more and they leave the rinsing water clear should keep them from bleeding off dye in the future.

But think about this; how do they make black seats to begin with? Not black cotton, I can assure you that I'm sure they dye the material before it's woven into any seat covers, but the principal remains the same. I think as long as the right dye and procedure is used, it would come out alright, so long as the material being dyed can soak up the coloring.

 

I wonder if there is someway to pre-treat before using the dye that would make the dye hold better.

 

http://www.ritdye.com/dyeing-techniques/sink-or-bucket

This is the procedure that I had planned on using. The key is probably the hot water pre-soak.

With RIT dye as well, probably the liquid over the powder.

http://www.ritdye.com/store/colors/black

Although I'm not sure how much I'd need; at least it's not that expensive. Probably take at least two bottles a seat; one for the top and one for the bottom, and probably the same story for the back. In the end that would be 8 bottles; at $4 each that's only $32. They say to use 1/2 a bottle per 3 gallons, but I'd probably do the work in a 5 gallon bucket and just throw the whole bottle in. Would make the mixture a little strong, but that should insure a full deep black color anyway.



RIT has tons of colors, but I don't think anything would really fit the interior other than black, lol. But hey if someone has a red or blue truck, red or blue seats might make a neat match!

 

Keep in mind if u have oil or grease on fabric dye will just make it all dark. U can still see oil and grease on black.

 

Well maybe I exaggerate when I say there's oil and grease actually on the seats; they're more or less just stained Just thinking maybe it wouldn't show up as much with black seats. Plus I think black seats might look neat; different at the least. I already want black carpet for the same reason; the light grey carpet in my truck looks like garbage... I realize it's a truck and it's going to get dirty, but it just looks like I don't give a damn, lol, but I do!

 

Synthetics don't generally take dye very well anyways. Even if you remove them and attempt to properly set the dye, they'll still bleed onto light clothing, and they will fade very quickly.
"painting" is the only thing that is going to work at all, and it ruins the texture.

Seat covers, or having the seats recovered by a pro really are the only good options.

 

See that's really the kind of response I was fishing for. The only thing that's stopped me so far is not knowing if the material would take the dye. And that's an excellent point that I hadn't though about!

 

But working at the scrap yard, it's worth a try.

Any time I've tried to dye synthetics, it hasn't worked out, but I see on the Rit site that they claim it will work on quite a few materials.

Grab some thrashed covers out of a wreck that you know aren't going to sell and give it a try.

 

do the seats out of a sequoia 4runner or tundra fit? do they come in black? What about the seat out of a Land Cruiser .......i bet those are some sweet seats!

 

actually I had my eyes on a set of grey leathers in a 4Runner last week and SERIOUSLY thinking about trying to bolt them in (power seats too ) but the backs are completely different... I think the back seats would be the hard thing to match up.

 

I would opt for seat covers. But it's your truck.

 

FYI.. Stay away from these.

Just my experience, but the Cordura is chafed out/stranded on the drivers side; after only having them on for about two years.

Definitely not what I would have expected for a set of $200 seat covers..

 

I say get some wet okale seat covers. pretty sure you can wash them. so when they get a little dirty pull them off and throw them in the washer.

 

I went ahead and ordered some sample material swatches from coverking. Depending on how the material feels and the price, I may go with something from them; not the ballistic stuff though, I don't want to completely take comfort away. I guess if all else fails I'll settle for some snug fitting covers. Still going to keep my eye out at work for something out of 4Runner or something, getting something for the back seat though is going to be difficult.

 

What about out of the minivan? arent those seats usually leather? Maybe the 2nd row or 3rd row seating will fit.

anyone eliminate the 60/40 rear seat and go with two front style seats and put a custom console in the rear middle?