Dying seat belts.

The shoulder straps on my Monte Carlo are getting faded. Anyone know of a good product/dye to bring them back to life? Not Snaake Oyl either. Also, something that won't rub off on you while the belt is on. I'm so happy to have a 'new' shop for my cars, and I can actually work on them! I can take them out of the car and put them on my big ol' work bench and dye them! Anywho, if you guys know of anything that's good, let me know about it! Thanks!

post pics of your new shop then i ll tell you how to do that

I'd like to know how to do this, also. I hear people talk about trying this, but isn't the seat belt fabric a nylon type material? And, I didn't think nylon (or any other plastic type material) is capable of absorbing a dye. And, if you are simply painting or coating them, won't it rub off over time?

I used Duplicolor spray dye. Looks good but it stiffened them up enough that they aren't very comfortable. i didn't dye them all the way down cuz I was afraid they would jam the retractor. just hit the faded spots and they look ok. I did it back in the spring, and it hasn't rubbed off yet.

I read that just about anything you use CAN cause them to weaken, and most "experts" recommend having them re-webbed.

I looked into it and only found a couple of outfits that would do it and they charged mucho dinero.

http://www.seatbeltsolutions.com/

http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/

If I recall correctly, the ssnakeoyl guys wanted $250 to redo a pair of swivel seat belts.

You might want to look into buying the webbing and having an upholstery guy sew 'em up for you.

link to some Camaro guys discussing it;
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D133183&sa=X&ei=CsunTK-nMcT_lge_xYnVDQ&ved=0CCAQrAIoADAA&usg=AFQjCNEDE1UqrnvNLkvrQJcXtnQ_2kx54g

After reading some of the Camaro link comments, it seems to confirm my previous thoughts...you aren't really "dying" the fabric...more like painting or coating it. And, I suppose it makes sense that the chemicals attack the nylon fibers and could weaken them. Be curious to hear from others who have tried this.

Guess I'll leaved them as is. I'm too cheap to get the re webbed =P

Thanks guys!

74MonteCarlo wrote:The shoulder straps on my Monte Carlo are getting faded. Anyone know of a good product/dye to bring them back to life? Not Snaake Oyl either. Also, something that won't rub off on you while the belt is on. I'm so happy to have a 'new' shop for my cars, and I can actually work on them! I can take them out of the car and put them on my big ol' work bench and dye them! Anywho, if you guys know of anything that's good, let me know about it! Thanks!

post pics of the new shop and i can fix that for you

For my Malibu, I bought the webbing and had a guy who repairs shoes sew the new belts. I had to dis-assemble the retractors etc, which is a real challenge to get back together, winding the belts back into the ratcheting mechanisms etc. I wouldn't do it again. At the time, like 5 years ago, I couldn't find a place to re-web the belts, or I would have had them done.

http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.php Best place to talk about your new shop. Feel free to drop in, Lotta nice guys there. and no drama like at garage journal.

done and done