How to: Leather Care!

[.RJ]

Thanks for putting this out there - I followed this to clean up the leather in the Ridgeline, and it worked out really well.

[Mike]

Thanks for bumping this. Gonna tackle it myself soon. Don't know if the Audi's leather is just crappy (nothing soft or particularly nice about it) or it needs this kind of treatment.

[premiershine9]

It's difficult unless dealing with a natural, legitimate leather hide found on most exotics and upper-tier luxo sedans- for the most part, leather nowadays is just a urethane concoction- most can be cleaned with a highly diluted solution of all purpose cleaner- stray from citrus. Always assess whether or not the surface looks like it can take a good scrubbing with a soft brush- GM vehicle owners beware.

[premiershine9]

Oh, and to respond to Jon P's comment- I'm working nearly 90 hours a week right now...through the weekends. If you need help or have a question, shoot me a text/ FB message me please.

201 two six four- seven095

[Beej]

Welp, I'm a believer.

I cleaned the entire seat multiple times with either Lexol or Gliptone and a nail brush or horse hair brush - both cleaned pretty well and took a lot of the shine away. Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil came today and I didn't feel like waiting for a full day of hot sun to do it right. Despite only 70 degree ambient temp, some blow drying, and an hour of time (as opposed to leaving the car in the sun for a full day), the 50/50 looks way better than "just cleaning."

Nice and matte on the left (middle panel only):


I used Lexol and a horse hair brush for post-oil cleaning. So much for Leatherique not working on coated leathers - looking forward to a hot day to do the whole thing right - thanks, Dan! :thumbup:

[SlimKlim]

Looks good! I need to pick up another decent leather conditioner, the stuff I have now leaves a sheen and the seats look glossy. I might just get some Gliptone, its like $50 less than leatherique.

[Beej]

Thanks! I should add that I completely forgot about conditioner last night, so that picture is post-cleaning only. That said, I put a dollop of Gliptone on this morning and can't really tell a visual difference. Which is weird, because I thought it added a very minor touch of shine on both the M3 and the Jeep in the past. :dunno:

I can bring Gliptone to whatever MM event we both go to if you want to give it a whirl.

[SlimKlim]

I think you brought some up when you dropped off my seats, works well! Especially for the price compared to leatherique. Although I would like to dump a bottle of leatherique conditioner on them on a really, really hot day this summer and let them steam for a solid day and a half, see if I can rehydrate some of the stress cracks that are starting to form on those E46 seats, definitely want to keep them from ending up looking like my old vaders.