Leather options; what type?

[68driver]

I have a friend with a company that makes leather handbags, purses, backpacks, etc... and he gets great pricing on his leather hides and vinyl. I'm going to ask him to get some leather to recover my seats and door panels, but I'm not sure if the type of leather he uses is what I need for my upholstery job. Is there a specific type or grade of leather that works best for interiors? Some of his bags are made with very nice leather and suede, but I want to make sure its the right stuff for my seats.

Thanks,
Rob C.

[toofun]

Well I can chime in here.. My family owns a leather tannery and I can tell you first hand.. DONT USE SUEDE!! I dont care what people say it WILL fade very quickly in a car interior. There are many different leather grades out there but the leather you get for handbags is different than that of which you get for furniture or auto upholstery. What color are you looking for? I also sell hides on the side from my tannery and can offer great pricing as well. I sell my RED and BLACK hides (which average 50 sq feet each) for $150 each plus shipping. My hides are AUTO grade so they will be perfect for your interior. If you are interested give me a call.

Mark
TOOFUN
978-479-8319

[68driver]

Thanks for the reply Mark. How many square feet to cover two front buckets and a rear bench seat in my 68 Camaro? Front buckets will likely come out of a 4th generation Trans-Am, or maybe some similar aftermarket seats (Scat Pro Rallys...).

How many sq.ft. to cover door panels and rear sail panels to match?

Thanks again for the response.
- Rob C.

[toofun]

Hello Rob,

4 full hides would take care of all of that. The difference is in the width size of the hides. Believe me there are alot of different types of animals from different countries that leather suppliers use and all of them are different in appearance and quality. Most suppliers will say you would need about 6 hides or more but because of the width size of the hides we use, you will only need 4. If you have any other questions or want to order some just let me know. You can email me or PM me or better yet give me a call!!

Mark
TOOFUN
978-479-8319

[Lenie]

PM sent

[68driver]

Mark (TooFun)
Thanks for the info. I just sent you a PM.
- Rob C.

[FJB2069]

Well I can chime in here.. My family owns a leather tannery and I can tell you first hand.. DONT USE SUEDE!! I dont care what people say it WILL fade very quickly in a car interior. There are many different leather grades out there but the leather you get for handbags is different than that of which you get for furniture or auto upholstery. What color are you looking for? I also sell hides on the side from my tannery and can offer great pricing as well. I sell my RED and BLACK hides (which average 50 sq feet each) for $150 each plus shipping. My hides are AUTO grade so they will be perfect for your interior. If you are interested give me a call.

Mark
TOOFUN
978-479-8319

I need to redo the back seat to match leather of 2004 GTO front seats Black. Is it possible to get the same "type" of leather?
How would what you sell compare?

Fred

[toofun]

Hello,

The type of leather I sell is the same as far as quality goes. But Black has about 100 different shades and 100 different grains. Since you are doing the rear seats though I dont think you will see a major difference. I can send you a swatch of it if you would like and see if it works for you. Just send me your address.

Mark
TOOFUN