Springtime Spills

Most of us find ourselves frequenting our favorite home stores a little more often this time of year.  Those of us who don’t own pickup trucks find ourselves transporting plants, potting soil, painting and springtime project supplies in our automobiles.  And then it happens … that bottle of hummingbird food spills all over the back seat on your beige fabric upholstery!  You know the kind – sugar water and red dye.  But no matter how quickly you drive home and begin the clean up process, with most everyday household cleaners, the red won’t completely disappear.  That’s when you need to contact a certified upholstery cleaner – like Fibrenew Upstate.  We have the necessary professional grade products and hot water extraction tools to tackle stubborn stains.  So, once your springtime projects have been accomplished, give us a call and we’ll give your automotive upholstery and carpet a spring cleanup, as well.

Protect Your Leather . . . Just Like You Protect Your Skin!

For a lot of us, summer means fun in the sun with countless poolside hours.  And at the end of the day, when everyone is tired and hungry, we hop into the car for that quick trip home from the pool.  What you may not realize is that, over time,  those slightly damp swim suits are eating away the protective top coat on your leather seats.  Yep, that same chlorinated water that dissipates the sunscreen protection on your skin, will also cause much damage to the leather ‘skin’ of your vehicle.  And if you think sitting on a towel for the ride home will help, think again, if that towel has also been dampened with chlorinated water.  This summer Fibrenew Upstate was called upon to service a relatively new Lincoln Navigator owned by a family of swimmers.  Every seat throughout had lost the protective leather finish, but luckily the leather was still in good shape so that we were able to re-dye and top coat the front seats and bench seats, restoring them to a like new condition.    Your best bet is to keep clean, dry towels in your vehicle for rides home from the pool as well as put dry shorts on over damp swim suits.  And, if you believe the leather seats in your vehicle may have suffered chlorine damage over the summer, give us a call so that we can restore them before further damage ensues.

’94 El Dorado Classic Enjoyment!

Fibrenew Upstate  recently had the pleasure of restoring the interior leather of a 1994 El Dorado with just over 90,000 miles on it.  While it was obvious that this Classic had been well maintained, it did have the usual cracking and crevicing in both front leather seats.  Additionally, the center console needed to be recovered and, while we were at it, we re-dyed the gear stick knob to like new condition.  There was also an elbow indention / hole in the leather arm rest of the driver’s door.  With no luck in finding a replacement door panel at any of the local junk yards, we settled on repairing this rather large hole – with the promise of functionality, not beauty.  The owner was quite pleased with the overall restoration results, and especially impressed in the arm rest refurbishment, which included the replacement of the illuminating door light (a lucky find at the junk yard).  We, at Fibrenew Upstate, truly believe we meet some of the nicest people in our day to day work, and this was no exception.  This customer had always wanted to own a Cadillac Classic and his satisfaction with our work only added  to our satisfaction and enjoyment in seeing the pure joy on his face as he sat in his newly restored dream car!

There’s no need to be Blue when we Re-New!

Leather automotive interiors are quite durable when cleaned and conditioned properly.  Even so, the first place to show signs of age, or just general wear, is usually the driver’s seat.   This is typically more noticeable on the side bolster panels of  both the seat bottom and back.  Naturally, these areas receive more abrasion when entering and exiting the vehicle.  And those that drive sports cars may notice color loss to the edges of their seats even more quickly.  This, being due to even more friction caused by lowering the torso to slide in and out of a vehicle which sits lower to the ground.     Many times, the fancier the car, the fancier the seats, making it not uncommon to see multi-colored leather seats in sports cars.  Regardless of make and model, one color or multiple colors, if the leather interior of your vehicle is showing signs of age, get in touch with us at Fibrenew Upstate for a quote.  You’ll find restoring and re-dyeing your leather seats is much more affordable than buying new seat covers and for a fraction of the cost it will look and feel like you’re leather interior is new again.  There’s no need to be blue when we re-new . . . unless of course, your Roadster has a blue interior . . . and we can match that!

How To Be Proud of a ‘Hand Me Down’ Special

Sure, we can all recall a select few in high school or college that had been given a brand new car for graduation.  But typically, it was more the norm to have a used car.  Many times it was the family car,  ’hand me down’ special.  Chances are, it was a bit of a clunker, usually larger and heavier than we would have liked.    And that long list of reasons our parents gave us older, bigger, safer, paid for and cheaper to insure vehicles still exists today.    But at least there are now options if the interior is a bit too tired and tattered.  You can ease the possible pain and embarrassment created by this family heirloom by contacting us at  Fibrenew Upstate.  We offer leather and vinyl seat  refurbishment, replacement or a combination of each to suit your needs so that ‘hand me downs’ can still be something to be proud of.

Mom was right, Beauty Is On The Inside

Remember what your Mother told you, ‘Beauty Is On The Inside’. . . maybe just not inside your car!  Are you the type that’s meticulous about the upkeep of your vehicle?  You schedule regular maintenance services, maintain the exterior by washing and waxing and even choose distant parking spaces to minimize unsightly dings.    If so, you probably also take the time to vacuum, clean and condition the leather interior.  And yet, the leather seats are still showing wear.  This is typical of even the most tenderly cared for, and even garaged, vehicles.  Usually it’s the driver’s seat bottom and back that show signs of age first.  After all, this is the seat that receives rubbing and abrasion every time the ignition is started.  And for us particular and picky car owners, it’s especially bothersome when every time we open the car door the worn, tired and maybe even cracked leather is staring us right in the face.  With Fibrenew Upstate’s available (and mobile) services, it doesn’t have to be this way.  You can keep driving your beautifully cared for vehicle and enjoy what looks and feels like brand new leather seating at a fraction of what replacement costs would be .  The cracks and crevices virtually disappear when they are filled in, the re-dye color is then customized to match and a final protective top coat is applied.  It will look so good, you’ll probably want the other seating done, as well . . . keeping in mind there are yet more cost savings when multiple seats are restored simultaneously.