Leather Treatment

[subjectzero]

Question: I was told by a guy at the car dealer that leather treatment should probably take place twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall so the extreme temps of the other seasons to mess with the leather. Was this true or total bull? It sounded logical sound I followed his advise and waited til yesterday to do the first treatment on my leather. I used the Meguiar's spray clean/conditioner, but is it really enough to protect from cracks and wrinkling? It did a heck of a job getting the oils and grime off the steering wheel leather that's for sure.
I've never had leather interior before, and was wondering if there are any tips out there for keeping my leather in pristine condition. I have black interior so I'm also concerned about UV fading as well.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Leather Treatment

Some wrinkling on the most often used seat surface is commonplace, even with regular treatment. But cracking and drying is going to happen if you don't condition the leather regularly. We would suggest a monthly light application to prevent the seats from drying out and cracking. Even with a light treatment every month, a single bottle of product should last you a couple of years at least - you don't need to glob the stuff on!

You'll likely read someplace that automotive leather is treated with a plastic or vinyl topcoat that is impervious to any leather treatment and so it needs nothing more than a simple wipe down with warm water to keep it clean. While it is true that automotive leather is almost always coated (some very high end vehicles use a more natural leather finish), those coatings are designed to look, feel and act like the leather they are protecting. Which is why on older cars that have been neglected, the leather is dry, brittle and cracked. And it's also why you'll usually end up, over time, seeing some light creasing on the most heavily used seat surface. Don't worry about that light creasing, though.

Twice a year is probably not sufficient, especially if the car is a daily driver and/or spends a lot of time out in harsh sunshine.

[subjectzero]

Re: Leather Treatment

Wow glad I asked the question. I have your spray bottle of the leather cleaner/conditioner. I just wiped it on with a microfiber cloth. Is this sufficient enough as a daily driver car, or is there something more potent I should use?

[Murr1525]

Re: Leather Treatment

You would get better cleaning / protection from the cream or gel products, if you wanted to try them out.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Leather Treatment

Just be careful, if you have perforated seats. Apply product to the m/f. Not on the seats. The perforations are a pain to get the product out of, lol.

[ocdetail]

Re: Leather Treatment

I've got a 3 year old avalanche with black leather, so I can relate quite a bit here. My main objective for the entire vehicle's leather is to keep it protected, from UV and wear and tear equally. Now I'm a self admitting clean freak when it comes to that truck. So what drives my ocd into a frensy is wrinkles on the driver's seat. Of course, it's to be expected to receive the most use.

Here's what I do every month religiously.
First: Make sure the leather is brushed out top to bottom inside the seams.
Second: Clean the entire seat and back as you normally would. Make sure to thoroughly remove the cleaner chemical.

Third: Turn on the seat warmers, go into the house and steal your wife's/gf's hair dryer. Heat up your problem areas 1st, outside quarter of the seat bottom usually is a good place to start. You'll notice that the wrinkles from sliding in and out of the vehicle are slowly disappearing.
Fourth: Now is the time to apply your leather conditioner. The heat from the dryer will temporarily open the leather surface's pores. Meguiar's aloe step 2 is choice, I've also had good results with Lexol and Zymol. While still hot to the touch, the conditioner you're applying penetrates the surface. While it's cooling, the pores close, sealing in an extremely healthy dose. Beats the HELL out of just conditioning the surface.

If necessary, do this routine a few times for your first treatment. Hit all the seats every month if every seat gets used on a regular basis, otherwise a quarterly plan. Driver's seat every month, all others every 3 months is what I do.

Let me know how you like the outcome.

[subjectzero]

Re: Leather Treatment

Holy cow ocdetail. Way to feed my ocd. I never saw myself being a car freak until I bought this car. I'm going to have to try that. All my other seats look like they came straight off the factory line (cause its usually just me). My seat is getting fine wrinkles in that quater section you mentioned. Finally someone who gets it. Lol. Most people laugh at me....and I laugh at their cars

[subjectzero]

Re: Leather Treatment

I ordered some of the aloe treatment you mentioned. My local autozone doesn't carry it. I'm sure if I dug around I could find a store that does but I'll wait the 7-14 days and let you know how it goes.

[Jenny2]

Re: Leather Treatment

You would get better cleaning / protection from the cream or gel products, if you wanted to try them out.

Hi,
Which are you used the cleaning powder or gel. can you suggest me?

[Murr1525]

Re: Leather Treatment

I have only used the cream type products myself, the gel just came out last spring.

The Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner/Conditioner comes in both a cream and gel (and the spray mentioned above which ends up milder). The gel wont dry white in perforations or on stitching, so can be good if you have that.

There is also the 2-step Leather Cleaner and Leather Conditioner. Separating the steps can get you more cleaning ability if needed, and more conditioning.

[jfelbab]

Re: Leather Treatment

THe best thing I've found to keep my leather in pristine condition over the years is to keep it clean. I use QID weekly to wipe down and remove any dust and light dirt. I recall reading that QID also adds UV protection. I do a full cleaning and apply a protectant at least quarterly. Works for me.

[Cadi Cruisin]

Re: Leather Treatment

I seen the two step cleaner and conditioner posted and have been meaning to check it out cause im assuming that stuff is better than the wipes. I recently tried some of the gold class leather wipes on my black deville and im not sure about that stuff. Any opinions on these wipes and if they are even good for your leather? I have heard that the leather wipes and natural shine interior wipes for the dash do more damage to your car than good in the long run just like the armor all stuff. Any truth to that or anyone have opinions about this? i want to get what will work best for my ride long term

[ronniejay]

Re: Leather Treatment

My son needs help on cleaning his suede seats in a 2006 mangum srt8.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Leather Treatment

I have heard that the leather wipes and natural shine interior wipes for the dash do more damage to your car than good in the long run just like the armor all stuff. Any truth to that or anyone have opinions about this? i want to get what will work best for my ride long term

Two things here:

• whoever made those comments about any of our wipes simply doesn't know what they're talking about
• poor Armor-All, they just keep getting this nasty misinformation spread about them

Let's see if we can help clear up a couple of things here.

You've probably seen some negative comments about silicone being used in interior care products and how it will rot your dash with regular use. That simply is not true - it's not true if you use a Meguiar's dressing with silicone in it, it's not true if you use Armor-All products, and it's not true if you use any other company's interior dressing. You may even read people making comments like "I only use water based dressings, not silicone based dressings". Well, we don't know of any actual "silicone based" dressings on the market. They're either water based or solvent based, and the vast majority of water based dressings contain some silicone. Why? Because silicone, depending on just which silicones are used, can make application and wipe off easier, or they can make the product add gloss to the surface. But they don't have to make the surface glossy. Natural Shine and Supreme Shine both contain silicone, as does M40, but the level of shine imparted by the three varies quite a bit. Which one you choose will depend on whether you like a glossy appearance or not.

Now, Armor-All products may leave the surface feeling a bit slick and greasy at times, and you may not like that for your interior, but they sell product in enormous quantity, so somebody obviously likes it. But it certainly isn't causing anyone's dash to crack or rot. And, yes, we just defended a competitor.

We entered into a brief discussion in the detailing section of a make/model specific car forum where someone asked about "dash treatment preferences". As you might imagine, there were as many different products recommended as there were replies to the thread - everybody had a favorite. But there was that one guy who warned against using "silicone based" products and mentioned a "water based" product that he had used on his interior every monthly for several years, and never had a problem. This was a bit of a "boutique" product, generally purchased only online from a handful of car care products retailers. But we compared the MSDS info on our Natural Shine to the MSDS on his preferred "water based" product. As it turns out, his favorite "water based" product actually contained almost double the silicone found in Natural Shine. Double! But still, with faithful use, his dash hadn't rotted, cracked, turned white, or disintegrated. He had no further response to the discussion, by the way.

But back to the wipes versus a lotion or spray. Wipes can be very convenient, but the packaging may not allow for long term storage once opened. If you use them regularly, that may not be an issue. But they contain the exact same product as what's found in their alternative packaging, whether spray or lotion. Some people love the wipes, others hate them. But the same can be said of Ford, Chevy and Dodge. Or chicken, fish or steak. Or red, blue and yellow. But they certainly aren't going to hurt anything.

My son needs help on cleaning his suede seats in a 2006 mangum srt8.

This is a vastly different surface, one that obviously you don't want to apply a lotion consistency product to. Cleaning suede or alcantara is best done with a very, very light cleaner and a soft brush. Sometimes just plain distilled water is best, or a highly diluted all purpose cleaner. But never use a combination leather cleaner/conditioner on a suede/alcantara surface.

[f86sabjf]

Re: Leather Treatment

Thanks for clearing that up Michael. Thats why I love this forum. GO Meguiars!!!