Took her to Leather masters today (thanks Texas F1) and immediately he assumed the damage was shrunken leather on the dash as apparently he has worked on several.

When I told him it was baggy leather on the seat he said that he had never seen that on an Aston, that it was typically the opposite. He gave the seats a look and said the leather was the softest that he had ever seen on an Aston and was shocked when I told him the car had over 40k miles. He immediately recognized and complemented the the care that had been taken asking what I had been doing to care for it. I shared with him that I had been using leatherique and he told me he swears by it, even on lightly coated leather. The foam was in almost perfect shape. He said my care of the leather followed by sitting on it had stretched it over the years. Wetting the leather and drying it would fix the issue but it would also take away the softness that all of the conditioning had done. He will be unstitching and pulling the leather until it is tight and then re stitching.

 

I've seen YouTube videos on using a steamer to shrink the leather on car seats. The steam will also re-expand compacted seat foam. I know this from when I worked at a (non automotive) upholstery shop many years ago. We would routinely use a steamer to apply steam to cushions and they would magically re-expand, obviating the need to fashion a new foam cushion. The nozzle of the steamer needs to somehow be inserted between the leather and the foam from the edges. For perforated leather, very wet, very hot towels can be laid on top of the leather and then the steam will penetrate to the foam. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

That is good to know; please follow up with pictures when it's done! One of the most frustrating things I found when looking for these cars, especially the 05-06's with the older style seats, is that even the most well-kept cars had seats that looked like Fat Bastard, Fat Albert, Fat Joe, and Jabba the Hutt sat in them and stretched the leather out. The particular example I'm looking at now thankfully doesn't have this issue, but I worry it may come up eventually, and it won't be because I weigh 145lbs soaking wet!

 

So based on this explanation, we should all expect baggy seats after a similar number of years and mileage. Or is that just those of us using Leatherique?

 

It may come up later. Mine looked good when I bought (second owner), the original owner was perhaps 160lbs. I am 180lbs, athletic and take care upon entrance and exit of the car. The bolstering still looks fantastic after 40k miles which can be a wear issue as well.

 

Lol! To clarify, leatherique being applied then sitting in car over time which stretched the leather. Would be interesting to see if there's anybody else who has the older style seats and has applied leatherique for the past 10 years.

 

Got the drivers seat out today. Relatively straight forward, just need to take care to ensure that you do not drag the metal base on any of the leather while pulling it out.

I also took this opportunity to clean under the seat making it look like new.

 

So I just received a call from leather meanders today. They opened up the leather cover to expose the foam and the foam is disintegrating. There is velcro that attaches the leather to the foam and this is a "gooey mess" that is no longer attached. He believes it is all of the leatherique I smothered the seats with over the years. He will be adding new foam to fix. I will try to stop the by to take pictures. The job cost just went up ��

 

Wow thats interesting

first time i've heard of the leather treatment killing the foam

how much did you use?

 

1 (very heavy) application per year every year since 09'. I literally hand rub it in and around all areas of the seats.

I stopped by their shop today to try and see the seat but it was already off to to their upholster. He showed me what had happened on a seat cover from a different car. Essentially some of the leatherique had made it through the leather itself but he believes the majority came through where it is stitched. On the backside of our covers is material and foam that is connected to the cover itself. This is what they use to secure the seat cover with the foam of the seat itself. It was the material and foam on the cover itself that was literally disentigrating. The foam of the seat was just fine. They are attaching new material to the back of the cover so that the cover can be secured again. He is trying to get the upholsterer to send photos so I can post for the forum.

 

Might have just been age rather than the leatherique.

My headliner started sagging & I removed it to get it repaired. The thin layer of foam (between the alcantara and the fiberglass ceiling panel) was just crumbling to dust.