The Upholstery Forum

I took my motorcycle to an upholsterer and paid $300 US to have a custom seat cover made. Although I provided him a photo of a satin/gloss black vinyl seat as reference, the vinyl he used turned out like this:



It’s apparently a more durable type of vinyl but it’s greyish black and doesn’t match the bike. I’ve since tried to darken the vinyl using a good quality dye called Solution Finish but it only made a very minor difference. I’ve also bought Dupli Color vinyl paint but when I’ve tested it on an off cut it makes little difference.

Any ideas?

@Faultlinespine ,

I think you are stuck with a grey seat man.

Was thinking a brush on vinyl paint might work, like this: https://youtu.be/c22hq3RM0nw

@Faultlinespine , I feel for you man. Why did your seat come out grey when you wanted black? I am not sure about plastic paints to me they are cosmetic. PM me and we can talk about your seat.

Angelus leather dye company (www.angelusshoepolish.com) makes a liquid translucent black acrylic sealer. I use it as the final finish on custom leather holsters that I make, (the black ones, they also make a clear acrylic for use on other colors). The dyed-black holsters look matte gray after the dye dries. This finish gives them a really deep black satin-gloss look. I do not know if it would work on vinyl though, or how it would hold up. I would see if you can get a scrap piece of the vinyl from your seat maker to try it on. The folks at Angelus are pretty friendly, so I'd give them a call and ask about it. I dip my holsters in a bucket of the stuff, but for something as large as your seat you would probably want to air-brush it on.

Personally I like the look of the matte finish against the gloss paint. Looks more like leather to me than glossy vinyl. Something else to keep in mind with putting other finishes on top of the vinyl is that they may make it very slick, not very desirable when riding a motorcycle haha.

I have used SEM color coat to repaint vinyl. It works well.
This is an example https://amzn.to/2RGZhpK

Also if you agreed on one color and the guy used a different color without checking with you... He should recover it free in the color you originally agreed on.