Can my leather be saved?

[crofty1984]

Hi all, I know very little about leather care so would appreciate some advice. The interior of my Lotus Excel has faded/worn/possibly been eaten by rats over the years it lived in a hedge. There's a lot of it that has lost its colour and faded/worn through to the underneath. Can the below be saved. I've heard of feeding and dy sponging and things but don't know anything about it really. I'm more of a spanners and hammers guy when it comes to restoration.









I've also got some seat sides that looks like they've been used as a scratching post/pecked I'll update the thread with later.

[simon_harris]

looks like it needs feeding and then re-spraying, but from the photos supplied that looks eminently savable.

Simon

[RustyMX5]

Based on what I've seen on the Repair shop, that looks like it just needs a good clean, a feed (leather being a skin it does need feeding to keep it supple) and a little leather 'paint' to cover the blemishes.

[Turbobanana]

Are you sure it's all actual "leather", and not plastic / vinyl or such? I suspect repair and / or recolouring techniques might be different.

[AMGSee55]

The go-to guys for many restorers - they'll colour match to your trim.

https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1032-no-1-leather...

[Skyedriver]

The answer is yes it can be saved, those wear spots are common on the Excel, I have had two. (Fancy another, there's a nice one for sale but it's at the opposite end of the country but I digress),
Have a look at Furniture Clinic website, they're based near Consett, Durham.
Your problem is you'll need to remove the panels to respray unless one of their colouring balms will work on these areas.
Worth dropping them some pics, they're very helpful. Hry can colour match a sample too.
And the seat sides problem seems very common.

[Some Gump]

Totally savable

https://gliptoneeurope.com/leather/

All you need =)

[Sebring440]

Totally saveable.

https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/

All you will need.

[Skyedriver]

Just to add, thinking about it, I do wonder what the material is. Often wondered if it was actually leather or some coated pressed card or f/g in some of the places. The dash top & A pillars are definitely leather, the mouldings around the key, the rear panels etc, I'm not so sure. The area my last one suffered was the lower black surround to the dash, sorted that, and the worn steering wheel with show polish/scuff remover.