Technical To the guys with with custom white upholstery.

Looking after to redo the upholstery in my 40 sedan in a traditional white tuck and roll. I'm looking for some advice or suggestions from those that have it in their cars. Would you do a white interior again? Hard to keep clean? Any lesson learned? Also what material did you use for the headliner. The headliner is a suspended type with bows. I have heard regular vinyl is too heavy but I'm not a fan of the perforated type. I've also been shown tier vinyl just not sure about it either.

 

If the theme of the car asked for a white interior I wouldn't hesitate. Nothing looks cooler than white tuck and roll in a hot rod. While not in a hot rod I've had 2 cars with white interiors, a 66 Impala SS and a 72 Grand Prix. They did require some extra maintenance but they were in daily drivers.

 

Doing a customers "A" right now with all white tuck and roll. The headliner will be perforated.

 

I love my white interior. Just have to wipe it off once in a while. I’d do it in a heartbeat again.

 

Fresh blue Levis will stain leather..

 

It never crossed my mind to do anything other than white. Would never reconsider it. Front seat is leather, rear seat is vinyl, but you can't tell the difference at all. No problem keeping it clean, but then I NEVER get in it with dirty britches ......

 

White pearl vinyl....

One issue I've seen come up; if you attend car shows, printed flyers with the printing against the material can 'bleed' onto the white and stain them. We tell anybody dropping flyers at our shows to make sure to keep them off the seats.

 

I find its easy to keep clean and if for any reason I may have some concerns getting the white dirty a simple towel to sit on solves the problem.

 

I had white vinyl in my 55 for almost 20 years, lots of miles. It did get dirty, but I drove it a lot and didn't mind. Had a perforated thin vinyl headliner, which was fine, although if you looked close, you could see the metalized film insulation...so if you do use it, think about what the perforations will show.

 

If the grain in the material is very deep, it will take a lot of effort to keep clean. The smoother, the better in my exp.

 

Love the white interior in my 57.

 

I love my white interior but its pretty dirty especially the stitching, what do you guys use to clean with?

 

Best to find a color that matches the grease on your hands. White carpets too, hell ya. Not.

 

Heavy material for the headliner is not a problem.

 

Kinda depends on what you do for a living, and where it's gonna be parked, alot. Had a 66 Charger with an all white interior when I was working two fulltime foundry jobs. All you had to do was look at the interior and it was dirty. 69 GTO. Had that one when I was keepin' track of my rental stuff. Stayed pretty clean. I found towels were your best friends.

 

My interior is white with a pleated broadcloth insert. The stock interior was white for this year with inserts. I had the perforated head liner removed and the shop found a vinyl headliner material with a miniature herringbone pattern from a bmw and it looks great.

 

I had a headliner made out of material that was too thick. I couldn't pull it tight enough.

 

My '71 cutlass supreme had a Pearl white vinyl interior Remember the orange fender covers the clean towel guy had ? Always had the seats covered except for date nights or vacation trips ,got clean covers every week .

 

Several of my cars have had black and white interiors, it was easy to clean when it needed it. In my ‘55 F100 I let it go to develop a patina to match the rest of the truck. Looked right.

 

We have a green & white interior in the Ranch Wagon, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. HRP

 

My 70 GTX had a white interior. My 65 nn maroon GrandPrix has a pearl white interior and I love white interiors. Like said earlier don’t wear new blue jeans in them until they have been washed about a dozen times.

 

I have a white tuck & roll interior in my 47 Chevy, with a matching tuck & roll headliner. Just wipe over with some spray cleaner every now and then, a bit extra on the door trims, they get dirty the quickest. To keep the seats clean, I make everyone get in my car nekid. Maybe not.....

 

In keeping with the white interior theme I have one also in my roadster and can already see it starting to show signs of being dirty. Mine is a marine grade vinyl. What all are you guys using to clean them with?

 

I absolutely love white interior. My 48 sedan was white leather except for the headliner which was vinyl. Used saddle soap and/or Meguiar's leather cleaner. The pix our from the add to sell the car after driving for 21 years. The coupe is bead rolled sheet metal painted white headliner is vinyl) and really easy to keep clean. Its basically a open car so needed easy maintenance.

 

love it!

 

I keep a Mr. Clean magic eraser handy, they do a great job. HRP

 

I've had white upholstery in my '55 for 25 years. It's held up very well and is easy to clean. We put white upholstery in my daughter's '55 3 years ago. Both have solid vinyl (not perforated) headliners with colored piping at each bow.

 

My Son Lance,wanted white for for his T-bucket,so that's what we did at home. After he asked a few shops how much too do it ??
Each one was very high $$$$. So I said,lets try an do it our self together at home. We did ,an for never having done it be for,came out OK. I did have time back in the 1960s, a part time job doing clean up at a small upholsrety shop,so saw it done.
I did a tech for HAMB about it;
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-sew-at-home-upholsrety-hot-rod.604077/

 

I am too lazy and sloppy to have a all white interior.