How to dye plastic, vinyl, leather & carpets.

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sewlow

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Been a while.
Someone was asking about Landau Black dye in another thread. So, before I jack a build thread I figured I'd post here.
I may have previously mentioned some of the following. It's been a long day & I really don't feel like re-reading my own babble!

I have a shelf of maybe 3 dozen cans of SEM dye on a shelf. 1 or 2 cans of one color. Leftovers from jobs.
But I'll buy Landau Black specifically as shop supplies, 6 cans at a time just to have on the shelf. I use it in lotsa different areas of interiors. Inside of console storage boxes, plastic door handles, seat riser covers, switch plates, etc. When things get painted black they either totally disappear or stand out as an accent or color separation when using similar light colors together.
Landau black just seems to have the right amount of semi-gloss for it not to look cheap or trendy. Has just the right amount of sheen when beside leather &/or interior plastics.

The top coats that SEM sells can be used to create contrasts within a single color interior (Flat, matte, semi-gloss, & gloss)

You can have SEM custom mixed for you at most any body/paint shop supplier. Color-matched to any other part of the vehicle you'd like. They use a machine (Spectrometer?) to analyze the color & break it down to it's basic elements. Then you can get it mixed by the pint, quart or gallon. Lotsa places here will even put into 16oz. aerosol cans.
I do a lot of dyeing with a 'Pre-Val' sprayer. They work great for doing small areas, repairs & touch-ups.
I've dyed black parts black just because the repro part color is not quite right.
My mixing guy is a genius but goes all Tweaker when I do a total factory style resto! Puts on a white lab coat, starts mumbling, waving his arms around, writing numbers & equations on a scratch pad! He'll go as far as to match up the factory differences in the part colors in the way that they were originally produced. He'll be mixing stuff for hours. That time isn't cheap though, but when it comes to having vehicles in judged competitions & they loose points when, oh say, the splatter paint in the trunk of a '60's GTO has the splatter going in the wrong direction, getting the little variations & imperfections just right is pretty important.


Oh, & GM painted the trunk from the inside of the empty vehicle interior towards the tail lights. The original, or a proper restoration, has the splatter direction heading towards the rear. The unknowing resto guys will stand at the rear & paint towards the front of the vehicle, resulting in the wrong directional splatter. Why? 'Cause it's easier! Lol! The trunk was painted in the factory while working around the rear seat braces. That's why there will be areas on those braces & the back parts of the wheel well that will have little or no trunk paint when viewed from the rear of the car. Some areas will have too much (Front of the wheel well or at the back of trunk on the tail light/rear brace panel for examples.) and there'll be the odd run. That trunk paint doesn't go all the way up under the quarter behind the wheel well either. Just kinda fades out as it goes up. Neither is it painted all the way down. There'll be a point where the paint was stopped by the edge of the trunk floor. Factory resto's are not perfect. They were built on a line under time constraints. Matching the factory shortcomings can be a lot more work (& a history lesson!) than doing an perfectly perfect over-restoration.
 
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How much reducer do you need to mix with the SEM Color Coat line? Is SEM brand reducer recommended, or will any brand do?
Thanks!
 

sewlow

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Whenever I've had dye custom made for me, I've just sprayed what they gave me, right outa the can. Did a couple of test panels to check & go if it was right.
Never mixed it down with reducer. I see that SEM does sell it. Just don't know if that would affect the color. They must sell it for a reason, though.
From what I've learned from hangin' around painter friends, it's a good idea to stick within brands. But then, those guys tend to be pretty brand loyal. Could be to avoid 'oops's' by mixing the wrong brand with another &/or to keep their inventory from being a crazy amount that needs 2 whole rooms to store it all n.
 

Sampuppy1

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Holy crap. Looks like I'm gonna spend some time on my door panel pieces.

sent from a likely flagged smartphone.
 

95bucket

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O.K. After a bunch of inquiries, I'm gonna attack this once again.
Had it nearly done once, only to hit the wrong button before I hit 'Post' & deleted all of it. Had to start again! Grrr! #@$%$#&$!!! Almost threw something!
This info is from my experience. Others may have different techniques, which is fine, but this is what has worked for me. Been doing this for (ahem!) a 'while'! Yea... old-fart, here! (Gotta new trick for finding my pants! Leave my cell phone in a pocket, then in the A.M., phone me from the land line. It's on speed dial! #2. M&D are on #1)
When I do this stuff, I tend to do the overkill thing. I hate comebacks, & the having to do it over. That's not profitable, fun, or adds to the rep of the shop. I'm only as good as the last job. No matter how many came before!
Ready? O.K.
And...here...we...go...
To do this stuff, to do it RIGHT, you have to have patience. A complete interior re-dye will take the better part of 4 days, at the minimum. Figure 5 days to a week, depending on your available time, & the size of your workplace. This includes the 'Just hangin' around, waitin' fer it to dry' time.
Try to do this when the weather is reasonably stable. Humidity levels & temperature will effect final colors.
Prep.
No matter how well you apply the dye, it's all for not if there are short-cuts taken during these initial procedures.
I can't stress that enough.
Prep is the key!
Whatever is to be dyed, -vinyl, -plastic, -leather, or -carpets, the material has to be clean. Squeaky, 'Hospital' clean!
Other than leather, the procedure starts out the same for all the materials inside a vehicle.
I'll note the deviations to these cleaning procedures for each type of material in their relative section.
Links for the chemicals needed will be throughout when mentioned, if possible.

You're work area has to be warm. At least 68deg. 72deg. is better. The colder it is, the longer it'll take for the dye to flash. Too cold, & there will nothing but probs. Runs in the finish, lack of adhesion, (flaking) or a permanent slightly sticky feel, among others.
Improper cleaning can also cause that slight tacky feel.
You'll need a hose or at least a 5 gallon bucket with cold, clear water. New sponges & rags. Lots of rags.
And a place to clean & rinse the parts.
Don't do this in the back-bedroom, or downstairs in the basement. There's gonna be fumes! Keep the pets away. Especially any pet birds. One wiff of some of these chemicals & they're dead between the time they fall of the perch & the time they hit the ground. The canary-in-a-coal-mine thing.
Now that you've got all that done & are ready to do this...
Take the seats apart.
"Do WHAT???"
Ha! What I mean by that, is that backrests should be separated from the cushions. For 2 reasons. It makes for an easier job to do, (the parts are easier to handle) & you'll get a much better finished result, especially if a radical color change is planned.
Most seats come apart via a couple of bolts. On the later buckets, the outside side panel material has to be pulled down or can be released around the bottom back of the cushion to access the bolts. It's just a stationary pin on the inside of the backrest that fits into an eye which holds that side together.
Raise the headrests to their highest point & tape up the metal support bar.
Bucket seat cushions should be left on the tracks. When removing the seats from the vehicle, remove the front bolts first, then slide the seat forward and remove the rear bolts. This will put the tracks in the proper place to prevent them from falling over on the bench. Tape off the tracks to protect from any overspray.
Rear seat bench cushions can be supported on a couple of cinder blocks on the bench. This is so that you can reach the underside edges without having to mess with the newly dyed top and sides.
For smaller hard plastic parts, you're gonna need some hangers & a place to hang them. This includes the door panels, seat mechanism covers, visors, seat belt covers, coat hooks, etc. You get the idea.
Seat backrests that need to have both sides worked on, should be hung on hooks or wires. Wire them up to something solid, & with the ability to access both sides.
Other interior parts such as seat cushions & headliners can be done on a couple of saw-horses, 'workmates' (personal fav.) or a work bench. It has to be solid. Nothing worse than a freshly dyed, wet part falling down. Like toast, it always lands butter'd side down! Always!

Let's start cleaning!
Initial wash. Use a mixture of 10% 'Ivory' soap & water.
Ivory is soap. No additional stuff in it. No perfumes, dyes, oils, or grit. Just straight-up soap.
Wash all the parts with this & a sponge. This removes that first layer of dirt. The more time you spend on the corners & stuff & just the cleaning in general at first, the less time you'll spend with the chemicals. Don't go really crazy fussy on 'em, but just do a damn good cleaning!
This is the time to really get after any nicotine residue. It can be a BEEEEE-otch! You may have to do this step a couple of times, if that's bad.
If there's any tar on the seats (it happens) use reducer or thinner to remove. Followed by another cleaning of that area with the Ivory soap mix.
Rinse well. Then rinse some more.
Hit the home improvement store & pick up some T.S.P. 'Tri-Sodium Phosphate'. It's what house painters use to wash walls to eliminate oils from hands & fingers before painting. Pretty good at removing nicotine, too.
Mix as per the instructions on the box.
Using a soft nylon bristle brush, (a bottle washer brush works) or, a NEW(!) shoe polish brush, & a finger nail brush, (works well in tight corners) work the mixed TSP into the grain of the part in circular motions. You can scrub pretty hard. Work areas about 18"-24" square at a time. Before moving on to the next spot, give the area just cleaned a good quick wipe down with the sponge & fresh water. The TSP will dry as a white powder if left on.
The smaller hard plastic parts can be dropped into the bucket of water as they're done.
When everything's done, the larger parts will need to be hosed down.
Use the sponges to wipe down the parts, even the small ones in the bucket, while hosing them down.
This part is really important. Rinse, rinse, rinse!
Let dry somewhere clean & warm, for at least 24 hours. At least!
Longer for the larger parts, if you can wait, especially the seats. The seats will have trapped moisture right down into the seams and to the thread within.
Here come the hefty chemicals.
*A note about masks.
If you're doing this in a shop & are the least bit sensitive, a particle mask ain't gonna do it for ya.
You'll need a proper mask. The ones with the replaceable filters. But here's something most don't know. The filters start to loose their efficiency as soon as they are broken outa the bag. Within about 8 hours, they're not doing their job. Whether you are using them or not! Keeping the mask in an airtight bag helps, somewhat. Maybe.
Get some new filters.
SEM sells various cleaners for use at this point. Some I've used. The others must work if they sell them. I can only speak for what I've used. One thing for sure. They ain't cheap when you add up all they recommend, especially if they have to be shipped. Most can't be shipped by air.
I have used SEM Soap.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/prep-products/sem-soap/
It works & it doesn't emit fumes that requires a mask. But it involves another round of washing, rinsing & drying time. And there's the dollar thing.
Yea, call me cheap!
I use reducer. Or lacquer thinner. Even paint thinner. But it must be automotive grade/quality. No hardware store stuff. Just give the parts that have been prepped, a wipe down with a rag moistened with the chemical of choice. This will remove anything that the previous cleanings left, including any oils from your hands while moving this stuff around. It'll evaporate fairly fast.
Work with a manageable amount of pieces. Say...2 bucket seat cushions, or 1 bench cushion. 1 headliner. Stuff like that.
You can do 1/2 a dozen plastic panels at a time. Too many parts at any one time crowds your workspace, leading to 'Oops! Awww...DAMN!', & I hate when that happens.
Spray the parts to be dyed with SEM 'Sand Free'.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/prep-products/sand-free/
This stuff works! It's recommended for tight corners that can't be reached to be properly cleaned. It's an adhesion promoter. I use it on everything. This product is the key for exceptional adhesion of the dye. Do not skip the use of this.
It's strange stuff to use, and here's why.
While the part is still fairly wet with the 'Sand Free', (Let it dry for just a few minutes, just until it's not runny. It should still look wet.), that's when you hit the part with the dye.
Comes in an aerosol.
Dye.
Actually, it's not dye. But it's not paint either. It's a coating with elastomeric qualities. By using 'Sand Free', the top layer of the substrate becomes soft, & the pores of the vinyl or plastic open up allowing the 'dye' to actually soak into it. The dye then reacts with the 'Sand Free', & 'kicks' like a fiberglass resin does with the catalyst.
I like to use this.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/flexible-coatings/color-coat/
Why? Because in this line of SEM products, they have the top coats that work together with the dye. Same formulation. No chance of different formulations negatively reacting with each other. Plus it comes in more colors & variations of purchase amounts. This is important when doing larger jobs. If one big job came outa the same can, then it's all gotta match.
I've used this, too.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/flexible-coatings/classic-coat/
Works for smaller jobs & touch-ups, but it only comes in 16oz. aerosols. And no top coats

Spraying.
Light coats will get the best results. Runs can not be sanded out. Heavy build-ups can cause flaking when dry, or a slight tacky feel. There is the possibility of loosing the grain or texture, too.
Spray in straight lines with the next overlapping the previous by 50%.
The first coat is just a dusting. As is coat #2, & #3. The actual number of coats will depend on if you are re-dying to match the original color, or doing a radical color change. Usually 4 or 5 coats will be required for full coverage. These last coats can be heavier than the first ones, but, once again, heavy build ups will create probs.
Radical color changes will probably need more coats.

Top Coats.
Highly recommended! Provides a protective layer & allows the manipulation of the actual finish.
Available only in the 'Color Coat' line of products.
High Gloss Clear. - Not something that I like nor recommend. Makes the final product look cheap.
Satin Gloss Clear. - This is what I use. Nice original looking finish. Appears 'factory'.
Low Luster Clear. Have some experience with this, only 'cause that's what the customer wanted. Not something I'd personally choose for my stuff.
Flattener. - Why? To me, this would make the interior look like some kid had gotten loose with a box of chalk inside your truck. But if a customer asks for this, well...O.K., I guess.
This final stage of the coloring process can be applied within 2 - 24 hours of the final dye coat being applied.

After the clear coat application, let the parts dry once again in that warm dry room for at least 24 hours before installation. Longer if you can wait.
The parts can be handled within an hour or 2, but the 24 hour dry time is very important. Why take a chance of all that work getting screwed up?

Variations for different substrates.

Plastic & Leather Prep.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/prep-products/plastic-and-leather-prep/
I've used this. Works well on plastic, but the aforementioned prep steps have also worked well for that too. An additional expense.
But, I DO recommend this for dying of leather. DO NOT go through the previous steps outlined for plastic & vinyl, when dying leather. Use this stuff, as per the instructions recommended by the manufacturer. Along with the 'Sand Free' procedure.
When prepping leather, the Color Coat line is also the weapon of choice. After a good cleaning as previously outlined, go over the leather surfaces with 400-600 grit sandpaper or a red 'Scotch-Brite' pad with light (LIGHT!) circular motions. Followed by the Sand Free, then the dye. Let dry as everything else.

Carpet.
Carpet color can NOT be radically changed.
It is recommended to only go one or two shades darker. This will help to cover any severe staining, but the basic color has to remain the same.
Once again, 'Color Coat' is what I've have used & achieved great results with.
Carpet dying should be done with the carpets removed. It just makes for an easier job with better results than if the carpets are left in the vehicle.
Blow the majority of the dirt off with compressed air. Vacuum the h3ll out the carpet. Follow that up with a thorough shampooing. A good household carpet shampoo will work fine. Rent a shampoo machine for a couple hours if you can. A rental machine has the advantage of being able to suck a lot of the moisture out after the cleaning. Or, a shop wet/dry vac. will work, too.
Hang & let dry 24 hours.
Use the Sand Free here, too.
Spray the dye onto the carpet, followed by a thorough brushing in all directions.
Do at least 3 coats, followed by the brushing of the carpet each time. This brushing will get the dye right down deep into the fiber of the carpet, & also prevents the individual fibers from sticking to themselves, providing a quality finished product.
'Top Coat' is not required for carpet.

Fabric headliners.
Same procedure as carpets, but you don't have to brush the dye in as thoroughly, due to the shorter length of the fibers.
Any 'crispy' feel of the H/L fabric can be knocked down after the 24 hour dry time.
Again, 'Top Coat' is not required.

Well...there it is.
Hope this info answers any of the 'Q's you guys might have.
I'll edit/add as I think about or remember more.
Yea. The remembering thing. This old-fart syndrome is a PITA!
Good thing I figured out how to at least find my pants.
I'll try to answer any questions you guys think of!
Good Luck!

Man. I wish I saw this before I bought all this duplicolor rattlecan dye. Well it's not a show truck so I'll use your prep instructions as my guide to making my inferior Chems work as well as possible. Great write up.
 

89RCLB

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Chiming in a little late here, sorry. At home with a cold and I'm bored...

SEM is, in my opinion, an awesome product. I've used it for quite some time and would only switch to DupliColor if forced to.

I just finished a dash refresh project, recently, and used the three colors below.
You must be registered for see images attach


The local paint store was able to find the mix codes for me, in a mix table, provided to them by SEM and the color came out very, very close (Dark Cognac/Brown match). The Camel is a very close match to the lighter stock color (Light Cognac) as well (and was readily available off the shelf) close enough that I just went ahead and used it. The Satin Black is my preference for most stuff that needs to be Black again, I used it to paint the glove box door latch.
You must be registered for see images attach


My prep is simple: Dawn liquid dish washing detergent and a scrub brush to help remove any dirt and oil/grease contaminants, rinse with clean water, let dry and then use 70% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol just before spraying to get rid of any other stuff (you would be surprised at the remaining dirt/stuff the alcohol gets). Have used this method for a long time and have never had an issue with SEM products lifting or peeling.

Cheers
 

Jvalaniz

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O.K. After a bunch of inquiries, I'm gonna attack this once again.
Had it nearly done once, only to hit the wrong button before I hit 'Post' & deleted all of it. Had to start again! Grrr! #@$%$#&$!!! Almost threw something!
This info is from my experience. Others may have different techniques, which is fine, but this is what has worked for me. Been doing this for (ahem!) a 'while'! Yea... old-fart, here! (Gotta new trick for finding my pants! Leave my cell phone in a pocket, then in the A.M., phone me from the land line. It's on speed dial! #2. M&D are on #1)
When I do this stuff, I tend to do the overkill thing. I hate comebacks, & the having to do it over. That's not profitable, fun, or adds to the rep of the shop. I'm only as good as the last job. No matter how many came before!
Ready? O.K.
And...here...we...go...
To do this stuff, to do it RIGHT, you have to have patience. A complete interior re-dye will take the better part of 4 days, at the minimum. Figure 5 days to a week, depending on your available time, & the size of your workplace. This includes the 'Just hangin' around, waitin' fer it to dry' time.
Try to do this when the weather is reasonably stable. Humidity levels & temperature will effect final colors.
Prep.
No matter how well you apply the dye, it's all for not if there are short-cuts taken during these initial procedures.
I can't stress that enough.
Prep is the key!
Whatever is to be dyed, -vinyl, -plastic, -leather, or -carpets, the material has to be clean. Squeaky, 'Hospital' clean!
Other than leather, the procedure starts out the same for all the materials inside a vehicle.
I'll note the deviations to these cleaning procedures for each type of material in their relative section.
Links for the chemicals needed will be throughout when mentioned, if possible.

You're work area has to be warm. At least 68deg. 72deg. is better. The colder it is, the longer it'll take for the dye to flash. Too cold, & there will nothing but probs. Runs in the finish, lack of adhesion, (flaking) or a permanent slightly sticky feel, among others.
Improper cleaning can also cause that slight tacky feel.
You'll need a hose or at least a 5 gallon bucket with cold, clear water. New sponges & rags. Lots of rags.
And a place to clean & rinse the parts.
Don't do this in the back-bedroom, or downstairs in the basement. There's gonna be fumes! Keep the pets away. Especially any pet birds. One wiff of some of these chemicals & they're dead between the time they fall of the perch & the time they hit the ground. The canary-in-a-coal-mine thing.
Now that you've got all that done & are ready to do this...
Take the seats apart.
"Do WHAT???"
Ha! What I mean by that, is that backrests should be separated from the cushions. For 2 reasons. It makes for an easier job to do, (the parts are easier to handle) & you'll get a much better finished result, especially if a radical color change is planned.
Most seats come apart via a couple of bolts. On the later buckets, the outside side panel material has to be pulled down or can be released around the bottom back of the cushion to access the bolts. It's just a stationary pin on the inside of the backrest that fits into an eye which holds that side together.
Raise the headrests to their highest point & tape up the metal support bar.
Bucket seat cushions should be left on the tracks. When removing the seats from the vehicle, remove the front bolts first, then slide the seat forward and remove the rear bolts. This will put the tracks in the proper place to prevent them from falling over on the bench. Tape off the tracks to protect from any overspray.
Rear seat bench cushions can be supported on a couple of cinder blocks on the bench. This is so that you can reach the underside edges without having to mess with the newly dyed top and sides.
For smaller hard plastic parts, you're gonna need some hangers & a place to hang them. This includes the door panels, seat mechanism covers, visors, seat belt covers, coat hooks, etc. You get the idea.
Seat backrests that need to have both sides worked on, should be hung on hooks or wires. Wire them up to something solid, & with the ability to access both sides.
Other interior parts such as seat cushions & headliners can be done on a couple of saw-horses, 'workmates' (personal fav.) or a work bench. It has to be solid. Nothing worse than a freshly dyed, wet part falling down. Like toast, it always lands butter'd side down! Always!

Let's start cleaning!
Initial wash. Use a mixture of 10% 'Ivory' soap & water.
Ivory is soap. No additional stuff in it. No perfumes, dyes, oils, or grit. Just straight-up soap.
Wash all the parts with this & a sponge. This removes that first layer of dirt. The more time you spend on the corners & stuff & just the cleaning in general at first, the less time you'll spend with the chemicals. Don't go really crazy fussy on 'em, but just do a damn good cleaning!
This is the time to really get after any nicotine residue. It can be a BEEEEE-otch! You may have to do this step a couple of times, if that's bad.
If there's any tar on the seats (it happens) use reducer or thinner to remove. Followed by another cleaning of that area with the Ivory soap mix.
Rinse well. Then rinse some more.
Hit the home improvement store & pick up some T.S.P. 'Tri-Sodium Phosphate'. It's what house painters use to wash walls to eliminate oils from hands & fingers before painting. Pretty good at removing nicotine, too.
Mix as per the instructions on the box.
Using a soft nylon bristle brush, (a bottle washer brush works) or, a NEW(!) shoe polish brush, & a finger nail brush, (works well in tight corners) work the mixed TSP into the grain of the part in circular motions. You can scrub pretty hard. Work areas about 18"-24" square at a time. Before moving on to the next spot, give the area just cleaned a good quick wipe down with the sponge & fresh water. The TSP will dry as a white powder if left on.
The smaller hard plastic parts can be dropped into the bucket of water as they're done.
When everything's done, the larger parts will need to be hosed down.
Use the sponges to wipe down the parts, even the small ones in the bucket, while hosing them down.
This part is really important. Rinse, rinse, rinse!
Let dry somewhere clean & warm, for at least 24 hours. At least!
Longer for the larger parts, if you can wait, especially the seats. The seats will have trapped moisture right down into the seams and to the thread within.
Here come the hefty chemicals.
*A note about masks.
If you're doing this in a shop & are the least bit sensitive, a particle mask ain't gonna do it for ya.
You'll need a proper mask. The ones with the replaceable filters. But here's something most don't know. The filters start to loose their efficiency as soon as they are broken outa the bag. Within about 8 hours, they're not doing their job. Whether you are using them or not! Keeping the mask in an airtight bag helps, somewhat. Maybe.
Get some new filters.
SEM sells various cleaners for use at this point. Some I've used. The others must work if they sell them. I can only speak for what I've used. One thing for sure. They ain't cheap when you add up all they recommend, especially if they have to be shipped. Most can't be shipped by air.
I have used SEM Soap.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/prep-products/sem-soap/
It works & it doesn't emit fumes that requires a mask. But it involves another round of washing, rinsing & drying time. And there's the dollar thing.
Yea, call me cheap!
I use reducer. Or lacquer thinner. Even paint thinner. But it must be automotive grade/quality. No hardware store stuff. Just give the parts that have been prepped, a wipe down with a rag moistened with the chemical of choice. This will remove anything that the previous cleanings left, including any oils from your hands while moving this stuff around. It'll evaporate fairly fast.
Work with a manageable amount of pieces. Say...2 bucket seat cushions, or 1 bench cushion. 1 headliner. Stuff like that.
You can do 1/2 a dozen plastic panels at a time. Too many parts at any one time crowds your workspace, leading to 'Oops! Awww...DAMN!', & I hate when that happens.
Spray the parts to be dyed with SEM 'Sand Free'.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/prep-products/sand-free/
This stuff works! It's recommended for tight corners that can't be reached to be properly cleaned. It's an adhesion promoter. I use it on everything. This product is the key for exceptional adhesion of the dye. Do not skip the use of this.
It's strange stuff to use, and here's why.
While the part is still fairly wet with the 'Sand Free', (Let it dry for just a few minutes, just until it's not runny. It should still look wet.), that's when you hit the part with the dye.
Comes in an aerosol.
Dye.
Actually, it's not dye. But it's not paint either. It's a coating with elastomeric qualities. By using 'Sand Free', the top layer of the substrate becomes soft, & the pores of the vinyl or plastic open up allowing the 'dye' to actually soak into it. The dye then reacts with the 'Sand Free', & 'kicks' like a fiberglass resin does with the catalyst.
I like to use this.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/flexible-coatings/color-coat/
Why? Because in this line of SEM products, they have the top coats that work together with the dye. Same formulation. No chance of different formulations negatively reacting with each other. Plus it comes in more colors & variations of purchase amounts. This is important when doing larger jobs. If one big job came outa the same can, then it's all gotta match.
I've used this, too.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/flexible-coatings/classic-coat/
Works for smaller jobs & touch-ups, but it only comes in 16oz. aerosols. And no top coats

Spraying.
Light coats will get the best results. Runs can not be sanded out. Heavy build-ups can cause flaking when dry, or a slight tacky feel. There is the possibility of loosing the grain or texture, too.
Spray in straight lines with the next overlapping the previous by 50%.
The first coat is just a dusting. As is coat #2, & #3. The actual number of coats will depend on if you are re-dying to match the original color, or doing a radical color change. Usually 4 or 5 coats will be required for full coverage. These last coats can be heavier than the first ones, but, once again, heavy build ups will create probs.
Radical color changes will probably need more coats.

Top Coats.
Highly recommended! Provides a protective layer & allows the manipulation of the actual finish.
Available only in the 'Color Coat' line of products.
High Gloss Clear. - Not something that I like nor recommend. Makes the final product look cheap.
Satin Gloss Clear. - This is what I use. Nice original looking finish. Appears 'factory'.
Low Luster Clear. Have some experience with this, only 'cause that's what the customer wanted. Not something I'd personally choose for my stuff.
Flattener. - Why? To me, this would make the interior look like some kid had gotten loose with a box of chalk inside your truck. But if a customer asks for this, well...O.K., I guess.
This final stage of the coloring process can be applied within 2 - 24 hours of the final dye coat being applied.

After the clear coat application, let the parts dry once again in that warm dry room for at least 24 hours before installation. Longer if you can wait.
The parts can be handled within an hour or 2, but the 24 hour dry time is very important. Why take a chance of all that work getting screwed up?

Variations for different substrates.

Plastic & Leather Prep.
http://www.semproducts.com/product-catalog/prep-products/plastic-and-leather-prep/
I've used this. Works well on plastic, but the aforementioned prep steps have also worked well for that too. An additional expense.
But, I DO recommend this for dying of leather. DO NOT go through the previous steps outlined for plastic & vinyl, when dying leather. Use this stuff, as per the instructions recommended by the manufacturer. Along with the 'Sand Free' procedure.
When prepping leather, the Color Coat line is also the weapon of choice. After a good cleaning as previously outlined, go over the leather surfaces with 400-600 grit sandpaper or a red 'Scotch-Brite' pad with light (LIGHT!) circular motions. Followed by the Sand Free, then the dye. Let dry as everything else.

Carpet.
Carpet color can NOT be radically changed.
It is recommended to only go one or two shades darker. This will help to cover any severe staining, but the basic color has to remain the same.
Once again, 'Color Coat' is what I've have used & achieved great results with.
Carpet dying should be done with the carpets removed. It just makes for an easier job with better results than if the carpets are left in the vehicle.
Blow the majority of the dirt off with compressed air. Vacuum the h3ll out the carpet. Follow that up with a thorough shampooing. A good household carpet shampoo will work fine. Rent a shampoo machine for a couple hours if you can. A rental machine has the advantage of being able to suck a lot of the moisture out after the cleaning. Or, a shop wet/dry vac. will work, too.
Hang & let dry 24 hours.
Use the Sand Free here, too.
Spray the dye onto the carpet, followed by a thorough brushing in all directions.
Do at least 3 coats, followed by the brushing of the carpet each time. This brushing will get the dye right down deep into the fiber of the carpet, & also prevents the individual fibers from sticking to themselves, providing a quality finished product.
'Top Coat' is not required for carpet.

Fabric headliners.
Same procedure as carpets, but you don't have to brush the dye in as thoroughly, due to the shorter length of the fibers.
Any 'crispy' feel of the H/L fabric can be knocked down after the 24 hour dry time.
Again, 'Top Coat' is not required.

Well...there it is.
Hope this info answers any of the 'Q's you guys might have.
I'll edit/add as I think about or remember more.
Yea. The remembering thing. This old-fart syndrome is a PITA!
Good thing I figured out how to at least find my pants.
I'll try to answer any questions you guys think of!
Good Luck!


I know this is also an older thread, but I am about to attempt this process in dying some factory door panels black, and as you know, they have plastic, carpet, and I guess you could say a softer plastic? (The pull handle?)
What route would you take to tackle this?
What kind of brush do you use to dye the carpet part? I don’t want to use one that may be too harsh
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