I have a new 50th with black leather interior and the cloth center seats.
I like to keep my car immaculate and am wondering what product to use to treat the leather bits of the car (seat sides, dash top, doors etc).
Internet search suggests leatherifique except that it seems like overkill on new leather.
I basically want to treat the leather so that it remains nice over time and am starting from a new leather (clean) basis.
What I definitely want to avoid is any product that makes the leather look glossy.
Thoughts?

 

I use this: http://www.autogeek.net/hide-soft-le...nditioner.html

I have heard excellent things about these: http://www.autogeek.net/le16ozkit.html
http://www.autogeek.net/leather-mast...-ink-away.html

 

I have a new arrival with black leather also, and agree on the potential for product overkill. While I bought a bunch of different products, most seem to have an odor that would detract from that natural new leather smell, in my opinion. To date (3 weeks and 310 miles in), I have just wiped down the leather with some Adam's Leather and Interior cleaner that I spray onto a MF towel. Takes care of any discoloration from body oil, especially on the arm rests and steering wheel.

I garage my car 99.9% of the time, so UV fading and extremes of temperature are of lesser concern to me than they may be for some.

I did, however, treat the carpeted areas with GTechinq Smart Fabric. There's a bit of an odor at first, but it does dissipate quickly.

 

Don't forget to drive it and enjoy it too! As beautiful as they are, they are also a lot more fun to drive than polish.

 

Depends on the type of leather. I have the new espresso/cognac interior which is aniline leather (non treated) which has different care requirements then the treated leather which is in your car and in most vehicles regardless of brand. The Leather Masters' Product Line will treat both but requires more time than a more traditional approach.

http://www.leatherworldtech.com/Leat...lmlcbun250.htm

For all the other leather interiors that I detail, I use the following combination and have had fantastic results for >20 years.

cleaning
http://www.autogeek.net/ultima-interior-shampoo.html

conditioning
http://www.autogeek.net/pinleatcon.html

 

Ed, remember that you should be re-treating the fabric every 6 mos - I love the Gtechniq Smart Fabric - cannot believe how clean my matts still look after 1600 miles and the way it repels water is simply crazy.

 

Good reminder on the maintenance! I tried to get my buddy who has a new Jeep "*****" and leaves the panels / top off all the time to do his entire interior with it. He'd rather travel with a set of towels - there's no reaching some people, ha!

 

Zaino make a great leather cleaner and conditioner. The cleaner is all purpose and can be used any where. They are great quality products.

 

I have been detailing my own cars for a very long time and have used various products. I have found the Griot's Leather Care product absolutely amazing on Porsche leather, I use it on the seats, dash, pretty much everywhere since I have extended leather. It's very easy to use, you simply spray, and then buff to a dull finish. It brings out that new leather smell every time you use it. What I really like about the product is how easy and quick it is to use. Give it a shot and you will not regret. I don't think leatherique would be a good option if you have ventilated seats.

http://www.autogeek.net/griots-leather-care-spray.html

 

I'm in the leather furniture business and I would be very surprised if any car maker would put a pure aniline leather in the interior of any car, because of the rapid fade issue in direct sunlight. Not saying that the Espresso/Cognac isn't, because I haven't seen it in person, however even high end British cars such as Aston Martin, Bentley, etc. use Finished hides and their premium upgrade leathers are Semi-Aniline (which still have a slight pigmented base).

When hides come through a tannery they are examined for flaws. Only 6% of the leathers worldwide are 'clean' enough to become aniline leathers, the rest all require some form of sanding to removed imperfections. That process also destroys the grain pattern which is later embossed back into the hide. When done being tumbled and softened, these hides are all painted (hence the name Finished, Corrected, Pigmented, Protected). Paint is far less likely to fade and has a good measure of spill resistance. The 6% of hides good enough to be pure anilines will be de-haired and dyed, all imperfections are left in place including the original grain pattern, fat wrinkles, bug bites, bard wire scars, etc. The problem with dyed leathers is they fade rapidly in sunlight and have minimum spill resistance, so car makers avoid them. The Semi-Aniline (which is what I suspect is the Espresso / Cognac) is a hybrid of the two, with only light sanding, the original grain is left in, and a combination of dyed and light pigmentation topcoats. So you get much better fade resistance and pretty decent spill protection.

One way to really tell is take a dab of mineral oil (Baby Oil,etc) and in a non-obvious place put a drop on the leather. If it soaks in and leaves a stain, its a pure aniline. If it comes off the hide then its a topcoated leather. Eventually that stain will go away, but it may take a few weeks for it to dissipate.

I sell LeatherMagic products in my store, they make quite a range. The more important thing you can do to your leather is just keep it clean. You don't need to put anything special on it, just a white, damp cotton cloth and see how much crud comes off your steering wheel cover if you wipe it down every two weeks. That removes the bulk of all dirt and body oils. You can apply the product of your choice every so often if you like, and ones for pure anilines are more gentle in the chemical composition than the ones for topcoated leathers.

Hope that helps

 

Nice write up. Do you think leather conditioner does harm or is just a extra step that is not needed. I have been using it because over time my seats have cracked on the left side of the drivers seat.

 

drcollie: Thanks for all of that info! Good stuff and it is appreciated! Excellent info on this forum!

 

Leather conditioner definitely helps, but not as much as simply keeping it clean. I usually wash my cars once a week, and when I'm done with the drying towel which is pretty damp by then - I just go over all the leather in the car with it, especially the steering wheel rim and gearshift lever which get the brunt of dirt and hand oils. I learned this whole damp cloth thing from visiting tanneries around the world in my business and while its definitely low-tech, and we WANT to put a chemical on it, you hear the same thing from most tanneries - a little soap (Ivory bar Soap) if dirty, and water takes care of most of it. The trick is very little soap and very little water. Don't saturate, less is more. What kills off more leather than anything else is failure to clean it, then the accumulated dirts and oils will attack the tanning process and the hides will first usually darken, then crack out.

I'll typically use the Leather Magic products on my cars every six months or so, and then do those damp wipe downs weekly. Leather Magic is the gold standard in the high end residential leather furniture business for a treatment product, but its not the only one out there by any means.

On your leather stress-cracking (hairline), remember this is a painted leather in the cars - and you are seeing stress cracks in the paint moreso than the leather itself cracking in most cases. Not much you can do about that, it does wear over time due to use. Usually on the side bolsters of the driver's seats, from the weight of a man getting in and out of the car. Notice that cars with leathers seats that are driven by women usually show much less of that, its due to the weight of the person using the vehicle.

One other note if you have a light colored leather interior - blue jeans will dye-transfer to the hide and you cannot get the blue out, because its indigo dye. Damp blue jeans are worse (sweat, water) and once in the leather you can only repaint the hide as an option, or replace it. If you wear jeans a lot and have a light leather interior, consider using either a towel to sit on (unlikely!) seat covers, or use some of the leather barrier creams to try so slow it down.

 

I personally hate this with blue jeans. I do use towels that are similar to color of my interior and tuck them in the side. I also do condition the leather as well.

 

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