Dyeing Cloth Bucket Seats

[SteveSS]

I got a smokin' deal on some late-model cloth bucket seats. The seats are gray but the center panel on both is a dark navy blue. I don't have any blue cars. Can cloth seats be dyed? I'd change the blue part to be black so seems like a dark color could be used as a dye. I did all sorts of dumb color changes to car interiors like painting faded carpets with a can of spray paint. I dyed a pair of Corvette I used seats with a Tandy leather dye but they turned out kind of purple. I used black shoe polish with the sponge applicator on some old black leather seats just to cover up the weathering pits and cracks. I changed an E Body door panel from black to white. I used all the fancy products from the auto paint store on that one but the paint still flaked off.

This makes me think of another weird question. The blue leather seats on the 1969 Charger SE have developed a couple of cracks in the center section of the driver's seat. Everything's original on those. Can I have an upholsterer just replace the cracked section?

 

[Hikin Mike]

Yes, but it would be better to remove the fabric from the seats and dunk them rather than spraying dye to the fabric. You would want to rinse it several times to make sure your, or somebody else's clothing doesn't get stained. I used RIT Fabric Dye.

I had a red seat belt (racing-style) that a friend gave me for the passenger seat and dyed it black. Just followed the directions. I also re-dyed faded carpet using a spray bottle.