Success dyeing the center console arm rest? Is it injected foam?

[kajcienski]

Hi All! I wanted to inquire about something that has bugged me about my interior since I bought the car and see if anyone else has the same thing going on. Everything is just about perfect inside after some old fashioned elbow grease except the arm rest where the ash tray goes has gone from black, to a strange kind of charcoal with a hint of blue when seen in sunlight. It looks really odd compared to the rest of the interior. Has anyone had success dyeing this part black again? Any thoughts on the type of dye I would use (is it injected foam like the dash?) since there will be a fair amount of bare arm contact rubbing on it? I would worry about how that would effect the dye job over time, but then again I don't really know nothing about dye...! Thanks!

[sdg3205]

I dyed mine in the recommended grey by SEM. It has held up beautifully. I imagine black would be just as good.

[micmak]

I also did mine using the SEM stuff too. The binnacle turned out great. The arm rest was good but only good. By the end of the Summer, the edge closest to the driver's side was discoloring, and then the edge on both sides started peeling! I used all the proper prep stuff that SEM has for cleaning and stripping off the surface before applying the dye. I dunno if the natural oils in your skin can have an effect it or not just like some people wear off the letters on the keys on their computer keyboards or the numbers on their TV remote. I don’t do either of those but I wonder if something like that is the reason for my center console cushion not being particularly successful. So I make a point of being very gentle when I am cleaning the binnacle, and a replacement cushion is on my list of things to get. It's not an eye sore and it's not something that most people would notice, but I will replace it some day.

......Mike......

[kajcienski]

I also did mine using the SEM stuff too. The binnacle turned out great. The arm rest was good but only good. By the end of the Summer, the edge closest to the driver's side was discoloring, and then the edge on both sides started peeling! I used all the proper prep stuff that SEM has for cleaning and stripping off the surface before applying the dye. I dunno if the natural oils in your skin can have an effect it or not just like some people wear off the letters on the keys on their computer keyboards or the numbers on their TV remote. I don’t do either of those but I wonder if something like that is the reason for my center console cushion not being particularly successful. So I make a point of being very gentle when I am cleaning the binnacle, and a replacement cushion is on my list of things to get. It's not an eye sore and it's not something that most people would notice, but I will replace it some day.

......Mike......

Was this a gray or black armrest? I feel that I have heard that black dye is more of a penetrating dye and that colors like gray go on more like a paint. Not sure if that has anything to do with this or not...

[micmak]

Was this a gray or black armrest? I feel that I have heard that black dye is more of a penetrating dye and that colors like gray go on more like a paint. Not sure if that has anything to do with this or not...

Its a grey interior. I would imagine black would cover better. And yes, it was more like a paint when i was applying it.

......Mike......

[john 05141]

I did a dye on the whole interiour of the car with the exception of the seats. (had those recovered)
I was affraid the dye on the armrest would come off, but after 3 years there were no sighn of wear at all. I drive +/- 2000 miles per year maximum.
But 2 winters ago, I had my armrest recovered in black. I tought it looked better with the console and narrows down the all grey color.
It cost 80€ (+/- 100$) to have this recovered, its color will not wear off.
In the same run, I removed the sigarette lighter and enforced the plate of the switches.
the first picture shows the armrest only partly, I have no other picture on hand.

Jan