After 13 years and 85,000 miles, the driver’s seat on my 2012 Superb was looking slightly tired, with minor wear and some colour loss, especially on the bolsters. I also had an annoying little patch on the seat base where the colour had worn through to a yellowy-orange layer.

A couple of weeks ago someone posted that they’d used Furniture Clinic leather repair paint with good success, and included a colour code for their 2012 Superb with ivory leather, same as mine. If you’re reading this, thanks!

I contacted Furniture Clinic to confirm the code, and their response was understandably cagey - they cautioned that the match might not be perfect on my car due to differing wear use and sun exposure, but I took the gamble and ordered 50ml quoting the colour code KM8127. I also gave a description “2012 Skoda Superb ivory”. I figured that if I took a sample from an inconspicuous area, or even if I sent them a headrest, the wear and exposure would be different from the seat base anyway.

When I received it I was a bit sceptical. The paint looked too “biscuity” in the bottle. But I tried it on an inconspicuous area and the match was as near perfect as you could hope for. It went on the correct colour, and was virtually indistinguishable once dry.

So yesterday I spent the afternoon working on the seat. First, I cleaned the whole area (not just the bits that obviously needed attention). I didn’t buy the special cleaning product; I used dilute Fairy liquid on a cloth and dried it with kitchen paper. Then I degreased - instead of using their alcohol cleaner I used electrical contact cleaner on a clean cloth, and immediately wiped over with kitchen paper to mop up any greasy residue. I also considered using spectacle lens wipes - I reckon that would have worked as well.

Then I shook the paint vigorously and started applying thin coats onto the areas that needed repair using an artist’s paintbrush, which allowed me to gently work it into the cracks. I allowed about 30-40 minutes for each coat to dry naturally, and did 3 coats using the brush. I was a bit more generous on the edge piping.

In places, particularly on the bolsters, the leather had darkened with age and the colour match wasn’t perfect. But I had used only minute quantities of paint so I could afford to cover the wider areas. I did this by cutting a 1 inch square from the corner of a washing-up sponge (fresh out of the packet, obviously!). Using a small piece allowed me to saturate the sponge without using huge amounts of paint. I dabbed this over the wider areas, doing a second coat where necessary. On the perforated leather I kept a cocktail stick handy so I could unblock the holes if needed.

I also found it seemed to work well on the plastic base, around the seat position buttons.

And I’m delighted with the results! It was slow work, but quite satisfying. Time will tell how well it lasts; I suspect the prep is the key, so I hope my improvised degreaser did the job.

More pictures…

Edited 19 October, 202519 Oct by Dr_Mike_Oxgreen

The annoying orange mark…

Edited 19 October, 202519 Oct by Dr_Mike_Oxgreen

I also did the arm rest, and a little dabbing on the passenger seat bolsters.

I’ve probably got at least 2/3 or 3/4 of the 50ml bottle left. £16.99 well spent.

wow. That’s great thankyou for sharing the experience as everyone with ivory will know it looks lovely but needs care to keep it clean.

Liquid leather cleaner is good too. Not the conditioner, while that is good, it’s the cleaner that cleans.

That's a brilliant result. Just need the code for black now!!

On one of the pictures you can see how grubby my seat belts are. I’ve tried various things but it’s pretty stubborn.

Any ideas to clean those up?

Have you tried a steam cleaner?

1 hour ago, persimmontom said:

That's a brilliant result. Just need the code for black now!!

I don’t know if it’ll help, but according to the sales brochure for 2012 the correct name is “Onyx” for the very dark charcoal/black leather. I dare say that’s a standard VAG colour, so Furniture Clinic might be able to match it.

4 minutes ago, persimmontom said:

Have you tried a steam cleaner?

Interesting idea. Worth a go!

22 hours ago, Dr_Mike_Oxgreen said:

I don’t know if it’ll help, but according to the sales brochure for 2012 the correct name is “Onyx” for the very dark charcoal/black leather. I dare say that’s a standard VAG colour, so Furniture Clinic might be able to match it.

I've got the standard black ordered. It's not massively expensive so worth a shot. I'll report back.

7 minutes ago, persimmontom said:

I've got the standard black ordered. It's not massively expensive so worth a shot. I'll report back.

It wouldn’t take a huge effort to cover the whole front face of both front seats, which would eliminate any colour mismatch. I think the next bottle size up is 250ml, which might be more cost-effective and would probably allow you to do the back seats as well. It’s not a quick job, but it’s fairly straightforward.

Best of luck, and I’ll be interested to hear how you get on!

I'll concentrate on the damage first like you did and then move on. Thankfully my leather isn't perforated which makes it a tad easier!