have a 2003 escalade with light color leather seats, sunroof was left open a little and leaves and rain got in, now have what looks like mold and stains from the leaves in the leather seat.. is there a leather cleaner strong enough to get the stains out? and whats the best method and product to clean the fabric headliner? it has also some stains from moisture buildup, almost like mildew stains..

thanks

 

Can you post up a picture?

Usually this product does the trick and then you condition the leather...

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...ttle%2C/Detail

 

For the Leather I recommend Leatherique Rejuvinator Oil followed by Prestine Clean, it works wonders! For fabric one of my favorites is 303 Aerospace Cleaner.

 

I dont think the stains will come out with any cleaner, they are light colored leather and have a few dark stains from wet leaves and mildew...

 

If a cleaner alone will not work, use a cleaner along with a horse hair brush(short bristle). Lightly agitate the surface then wipe clean with a microfiber towel.

Knowing the type of leather, I would use a woolite/water mixture. Cut it 1/10. Allow it to foam when agitating it. If it can come out that will do it I bet.

 

Can you post a pic with that stains?

 

woolite did not remove the stains... guess will just have to live it..

 

I'm not sure why people recommend woolite to clean leather when it was designed for clothes

We have actually compared how woolite cleans to AG Interior Cleaner and the results were night and day. Leave the kitchen and laundry products where they belong...in the home

Have you tried AG Interior Cleaner?

 

Have not tried the AG cleaner yet.. maybe I need to order it from you and try it out..

 

Someone got ink from pen on a leather chair in my house...I tried using all the leather cleaners and conditioners I use for my car such as Lexol and few other products and it didnt take the stain out...I read on the internet about a trick for getting out tough stains on leather...perfume...I tried it and sure enough stains came right out,...then you use other cleaners to get perfume smell out.

Something you can try if nothing else works anyway.

 

The reason so many use it is because it works fantastic at removing filth from leather but not harming the dye. The dyes in cloths are not as durable as the dye in leather. A LOT of true detailers use it for this reason. I've never once used it and had bad or undesirable results. No one can say one products works the best for everything and there may be areas where woolite has its limits but the stuff speaks for itself.

I do like Connolly products but they don't seem to work any better at cleaning than does woolite. When it comes to cleaning products(much like everything out there) there is a lot of hype and marketing and a then the truth. Sometimes the marketing is truthful and sometimes not(sometimes somewhere in the middle). Shrewd folks don't buy hype, they buy results.

There are more leather products out there then I have time to test/use. I've used a lot but I like woolite when working on real leather. I will be happy to show pictures that represent how excellent it works if anyone thinks it doesn't.

Moe, you offer great services and you know what works for you, I am not knocking that. But woolite works works great and that's why so many recommend it.

 

I know there are many ways to go about things using different products. In this case, we cleaned a leather seat on a 993 porsche and the door with woolite. We then cleaned the same areas with he autoglym and were able to pull off even more dirt, not dye. AG Int Cleaner WILL remove dye if it's not OEM. So if you've had your seats re-dyed, you may want to use a more gentle cleaner from lexol or leatherique.

Since woolite is a detergent, I'd also be concerned about the soap residue left behind, unless properly cleaned off with water, as that will attract more dirt and body oils.

 

Rickett Benkiser Woolite® - (pH 7.5)is intended for delicate fabrics and fine washables such as lingerie and cashmere sweaters, so it won’t remove polish or car care products. It also has a number of issues that do not lend themselves to the long-term quality care of leather upholstery and interior components. It's not made for carpets, upholstery fabrics or leather as it contains far too much detergent even at a 60:1 dilution ratio.

Using a detergent that is meant to be flush rinsed (i.e. rinsed until it runs clear) in a situation where this is not possible, is not recommended as when it dries it will attract dirt and contribute to re-soiling; it will also dry out the surface due to dried soaps capillary action with moisture and the solvent (alcohol) it contains as an aid to cleaning; these will further aggravate the drying out process due to their affinity with moisture

Household detergent soaps tend to be formulated with an alkali, sodium sulphate to enable foaming, and this salt content may not be safe to use on leather upholstery, as this can compromise pigmented leather and / or its polyurethane covering.

MSDS - http://bit.ly/5hSUsM

This product contains alkalis (sodium hydroxide), which forms a strong alkaline solution when dissolved in a solvent such as water and provide foaming, and a solvent (alcohol) as an aid to cleaning; these will further aggravate the drying out process due to their affinity with moisture.
It also contain optical brighteners (Stilbenes) which are dyes that absorb energy in the UV portion of the spectrum thereby accelerating UV degradation and also tend to dry out the upholstery

A response from a company representative – on cleaning car interior parts with Woolite® [Too fully remove the soap requires a large volume of water to flush it away, simply wiping off would leave a large amount of residue behind that could attract more dirt. The second problem they alluded to was that Woolite® is formulated as a gentle fabric cleaner and was never intended to clean materials other then fabric so they have never tested it as such.

Asked specifically about Cadillac and Lexus (as well as all other car manufacturers) recommendation for using Woolite® to clean leather, they stated that Woolite® have never recommend their product for cleaning leather] Reckitt Benckiser

Use a product that is specifically formulated for the type of finish (polyurathene covered or natural leather) on your vehicles upholstery

 

Results of using woolite.

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-b...storation.html

Another EXCELLENT thread discussing the pro's/con's of using Woolite on leather. The discussion beyond about page 3 drops to arguing. But the initial information and discussion is very worthwhile. Autopia is full of high end detailers and this is their take.....good or bad(I am results driven and not scared to show both sides)

http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...e-leather.html

It's Cadillac and Lexus that recommend a woolite mixture(wool safe cleaner) in cleaning their leather. Not woolite(probably has something to do with liability in an industry they don't market to). As in most leather cleaning solutions, you should completely clean the surface after cleaning then condition it. If you're cleaning off the remnants of the solution there's no issue with attracting more filth. A lot of professionals use this method, have for many years and have never had any issues. If you're conditioning your leather then you're making an incredibly small amount of drying a moot point. I've used some high line leather cleaners before that were WAY too aggressive and removed small amounts of dye. Most have some "bite" to them anyway you look at it, or they would not clean. There are high line products that work and aren't too aggressive but they don't seem to work as good as woolite for cleaning.

Woolite meets the standards set by leather manufacturers when cleaning leather(mild wool safe soap). I've yet to see anyone actually experience damage from using woolite and folks have known of it for many many years. I, personally, get fantastic results using it. Whether you like using it or not, the facts speak for themselves. It works and no one's reporting ill-effects.

 

Thanks Jon...now I have a good technical understanding for something we've known about for years. As usual, thanks for the wealth of knowledge.