How To Colour Artificial Leather And Plastic - For Professionals
Vinyl and plastic parts should only be coloured with experience in colouring with spray guns and an equipped workshop (airbrush, extraction system, breathing protection etc.).
Changing the colour of leather surfaces is more work than refreshing the original colour. You need far more paint and time and a helping hand to colour in all folds.
CLEANING
De-assemble upholstery and covers as much as possible.
Remove any dust from the leather with a vacuum cleaner or with compressed air. Compressed air is better for the cleaning of folds and piping edges. Remove any remaining dust with a soft brush.
Rub all surfaces with COLOURLOCK GLD Solvent. The surface will turn dull and sticky, which is important for the colour adhesion.
Smooth hard plastic, which doesn`t get sticky when cleaned with GLD-Solvent, have to be primed with Plastic Primer. This will generate the required adhesion. Only spray on a thin layer and start colouring before the stickiness is gone.
REPAIRS
Carefully smooth rough or cracking surfaces with the Leather Sanding Pad. Wipe off the dust using a moistened cloth.
Stick together the edges of rips with COLOURLOCK Leather Glue. Fill cracks and rips with COLOURLOCK Leather Filler. Let the filler dry and repeat the procedure where necessary. Important: Extremely old, brittle and weak parts should be replaced entirely.
COLOURING
Filter the COLOURLOCK Leather Colour before filling it into the spraying pistol and mix with 3% to 5% of COLOURLOCK Crosslinker IC2 and stir well! Use 3% Crosslinker on soft vinyl and 5% on hard plastics. Apply the colour at low pressure (approx. 2 bar/15-32 psi) evenly and not too thickly. Always apply several layers and dry with a heat gun before applying the next layer until the surface is evenly coloured. Apply the colour only as thinly as necessary: Thick layers of colour affect stability and grip of the colouration. Pull apart folds and piping edges and treat those first. Always wear breathing protection during spraying. Work only in a well-ventilated space.
Mix filtered COLOURLOCK Top Coat with 3 % of COLOURLOCK Crosslinker IC2. Stir well! Spray the mixture thinly over the dried colour and dry with a heat gun. Repeat if necessary. Mix only as much Top Coat with Crosslinker as you need in the following two hours. The Crosslinker is reactive and should not get in contact with water. Keep away from skin and eyes!
Primer, Leather Colour and Top Coat can be dried with a heat gun and the steps should be performed successively to ensure that the fresh layers connect well.
Smooth down rough areas with COLOURLOCK Polishing Pad 4000. Then, if necessary, again apply colour or only Top Coat.
After 24 hours, rub a wet cloth on the colour to be sure that the surface has sufficiently been treated with Top Coat. In case of discolouration, the surface has to be treated with Top Coat again.
Care the coloured surface with COLOURLOCK Leather Shield in order to protect it against wear and scratches.
The quantities above are sufficient for a complete set of equipment. Minimum quantity for matched colours is 1 litre. Most other products are also available in 250 ml bottles. We will be happy to adjust the quantities to suit your individual requirements.
