I have black cloth seats in my car currently, removed the slippery tan leather ones. Typical of 15 year old convertible seats the fabric was faded from black to a bluish gray color. Did 2 minutes of research online and found the solution. At fabric and craft stores they have soft fabric paint. I know others have used krylon or other brands of vinyl paint which is harder/crispier. The soft fabric paint was $4.95 and it took about 3 cans to do both seats. The fabric paint doesn't change the feel of the material like the vinyl paint does.

Wow. They are pretty much black again! Nice dress up project for 20 minutes work and $15. Not the best pic with the camera phone but the seats look 80% better than they did. (wrinkly bottom cushion due to foam delete.)

 

Cool. I might do that one day. I use "tough stuff" interior cleaner and it makes everything on the inside black again. But it only last a good month, then it fades back to what it was within 3 months.

 

I used, I believe, the Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric paint on a 225K 90 that I had. Worked great as well. I only needed one can for the two seats. It held up the whole month that I kept the car. It even helped somewhat cover up the yellow foam that was protruding through both of the split headrests. Yes, the split was still there, but not as obvious when it was all black.

 

Looks good.....but...What's up with your carpet?

 

My 94 is a C package black and tan and still has the tan parts. The original seats were Tan leather. The cloth seats being faded gray/blue looked horrible with the tan interior. Now they are only moderately hideous!

Really I'm not so picky about how the interior looks. Would I like it to look better? Yes. That's why I painted the seats. Do I want to bother with painting or replacing all the tan parts and putting in all new black carpeting? Not really.

I might consider it if I could find a nice hot pink carpet kit and teddy bear wheels for track use.

 

Stein,

that duplicolor stuff is another way to go. What I've read is it works great but it stiffens the cloth. Not a big deal but this is my DD car so I wanted it to feel nice and cushy when I drive around naked. The stuff I used doesn't change the feel of the seats at all. The can's are these stupid tiny things. If it was sized like a regular spray paint can one would have done it with this stuff too.

 

Tough Stuff makes them softer and smell good. The smell good part is the main reason I do it. Makes the car smell good. I do every piece of the interior with it, 'cept the steering wheel and pedals.

 

You like your car to smell good? I figured the funky, moldy, dog hair, sweaty, locker room, old sock smell was part of the joy of driving a 15 year old convertible with a leaky top!

 

It was definitely stiffer than before, but not objectionable. It did break in some after use, but I didn't get to use it much. You might have found some good stuff there. I'd be interested in the long term durability on yours.

 

We'll see about durability and also if it stains my sweaty fat azz! The Toughstuff that Pat used was also recommended and I would have used it but I found the other stuff, Simply Spray: soft fabric paint, conveniently 1st.

 

Someone put the limited edition blue seats in my brothers red car. So we tried the vinyl paint. Lokked good for 2 days and started cracking and pilling off. Then we found out about the limited blue cars.
Those seats were like new. I wish we would of sold them and just bought black ones.

 

Fabric dye - Ritz works great for fabric.
I have yet to find a vinyl paint that is good for high use areas such as seats.
Looks good though.

 

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Agreed, that color combo must have looked terrible, but noooooooooooooo

 

Machismo,

The stuff I used is a spray soft fabric paint. Not the same stuff as the vinyl paints. It's very watery and soaks right it. Didn't stiffen the fabric at all and looks sharp. No way it can peal off. It's likely just an aerosol can full of something like RIT dye. It was quick and convenient and cost me $15. We'll see how it lasts.

 

Sweet....I am not familiar with the product.
But definately worth checking into on my end as it sounds way easier to apply and get good uniform coverage.
Thanks.....

 

I've used the fabric paint on my '90 and it lasted and looked good. I used the fabric/vinyl on some office chairs I'm using for my poker table and it is stiffer and doesn't get as black. Stick with the fabric paint.

Frank