Best Leather Cleaner-bridge of weir-Lincoln MKZ

[Scienceman]

Greetings,

I have a 2010 MKZ with approximately 38,000 miles. I have noticed the bridge of weir leather is beginning to age a bit. To clean it, I use a slightly damp cloth and gently wipe. I have been using Blue Magic leather conditioner as a supplement, and have not seen the results I was hoping for.

Here are some pictures.

These first ones are the drivers seat:

Look really close at the edge of the seat-sorry poor quality. It is much more noticeable in person.

This is the side of the drivers seat- notice the stretching lines also.

Here is the passenger seat:

________________________________________________________________
The pictures, in my opinion, do not show the extent of the wear.
It is not terrible, of course. I just do not want cracks in the future.
________________________________________________________________

What is the best conditioner that I could use to keep beautiful/supple/improve the leather?

Is my leather to stiff/dry?

I have found:
-Lexol
-Leather Honey
-Leatherique

Are any of these products what I am looking for? I am open to your opinions. Please evaluate the pictures to provide the best answer possible.

 

[domer10]

I use auto glym, use it for car interior and my leather sofa.

 

[Scienceman]

Thanks for the input.

 

[aquariuscsm]

To clean the leather,you can use a diluted Woolite solution. I mix it with warm water,then use a very soft brush to clean. Wipe dry,then use Surf City Garage Leather Rejuvenator or Armor All Leather Care Protectant (the one on the spray bottle). This technique has kept my almost 20 year old leather in brand new condition.

 

[qwertydude]

Those wrinkles are the leather naturally aging. If you have quality leather which I think you do it'll still wrinkle like that but it shouldn't crack or peel off.

But actually what I would be more worried about is the perforated leather. Perforated leather dries out much faster than regular leather and needs the conditioning more or it will turn stiff and crack.

What you want to do is clean the leather well. First vacuum out as much as possible, and really get into the stitching well with the vacuum. Any grit that's in the stitching tends to needlessly grind the leather as you sit and move around.

After vaccuming well then use saddle soap to clean the leather. I apply saddle soap with a horsehair shoeshine brush dunked in water. Scrub the leather well and then wipe it up with a microfiber.

The saddle soap has conditioners already in it but if you want to condition your leather a little more I find Lexol is the best one as it definitely doesn't contain silicones. Blue Magic is ok too as it doesn't contain silicones. Silicone is bad for leather in the long term and will cause cracking.

Save the silicones sprays like Armor All for your vinyl which is what it's good for.

 

[Scienceman]

Thank you! I have heard about the silicone.

The only thing I have found is that Bridge of Weir says no saddle soap on their website.

 

[FastEddie]

Nice car Andrew and you have some decent leather in that MKZ. I use Leather Master products at my detail shop for all my leather car needs, mainly their soft cleaner, strong cleaner and protection cream. Very high quality leather products and I'm sure would work well on you MKZ.

 

[qwertydude]

Bridge of Weir also says pretty much not to expose their leather to extreme temperatures, a hot car in summer definitely is an extreme temperature. Car leather in that environment will lose its conditioning. Also don't wear studs, zips, or buckles. Seems like they don't even want you wearing your good old Levi's when sitting on their fine leather. Little bit snobby if I do say so myself. No a quality leather ought to be able to withstand more daily wear than cloth. If it can't it's not quality leather to begin with.

Saddle soap is the safest cleaner for fine leather. I cringe when I see people saying it's ok to rub in hand lotion. For one thing hand lotion is greasy, a lot more than a traditional leather conditioner. Another is hand lotion does nothing to clean the leather and doesn't really condition it. It mostly just oils it up and you'll find it still stiffens with hand lotion, unless you use a lanolin based hand lotion which almost no one uses because lanolin smells bad as a hand lotion. Saddle soap will clean and condition. Something that when done yearly will definitely keep the leather supple which is what will prevent cracking and especially so for the perforated leather as they dry so quickly.

Using saddle soap I was able to resoften 20 year old Jeep Cherokee leather seats which had cracks already similar to what you've got but in worse condition. After washing with saddle soap and conditioning with Lexol the leather looked and felt like brand new again. Soft and supple, not hard and slippery. But it's still better to prevent the leather form getting hard and stiff than to try to condition it. Because part of the reconditioning process is to literally massage the leather til it absorbs the conditioner which was a pain in the butt to do.

 

[David1]

Originally Posted By: Andrew MKZ
Greetings,

I have a 2010 MKZ with approximately 38,000 miles. I have noticed the bridge of weir leather is beginning to age a bit. To clean it, I use a slightly damp cloth and gently wipe. I have been using Blue Magic leather conditioner as a supplement, and have not seen the results I was hoping for.

Here are some pictures.

These first ones are the drivers seat:

Look really close at the edge of the seat-sorry poor quality. It is much more noticeable in person.

This is the side of the drivers seat- notice the stretching lines also.

Here is the passenger seat:

________________________________________________________________
The pictures, in my opinion, do not show the extent of the wear.
It is not terrible, of course. I just do not want cracks in the future.
________________________________________________________________

What is the best conditioner that I could use to keep beautiful/supple/improve the leather?

Is my leather to stiff/dry?

I have found:
-Lexol
-Leather Honey
-Leatherique

Are any of these products what I am looking for? I am open to your opinions. Please evaluate the pictures to provide the best answer possible.





I used to detail cars back in the mid to late 90s and we would use a 2 buckets.. 1 bucket with warm water and 2nd bucket with warm water and Ajax.. Then we would add Ajax to the water and stir the water up.

Now we woulnt use the whole bottle...

Then we would use a scrub brush and water and Ajax and then scrub it.. Then we would take the 2nd jug and put towels in the warm water and rinse all the Soap / Ajax away and then take a 3rd DRY Towel and WOW O WOW that leather would come out PERFECT.

Then we would take Murphy oil spray or some other conditioner and spray on the leather and wipe it in good.

NOW that leather would come out like NEW!

I would show people this and they would say .. ARE YOU NUTZ... then when they saw when I was done and it was perfectly clean and soft.. they were amazed.

 

[qwertydude]

I wouldn't use Ajax. I'm sure it cleaned the leather really well. But if you know what's in it, it has an ammonia based bleach and on top of that fine quartz abrasives. That will definitely clean the leather and I'm sure the ammonia softened it due to it breaking the bonds between the leather fibers. Ammonia is one of the principle ingredients used in leather tanning, so you're essentially retanning the leather, not good in the long term.

But the problem is you end up drying the leather out due to the ammonia and the abrasive quartz particles getting everywhere in side the seams and leather pores in the long term would definitely be doing harm. It comes out soft because of the mechanical working and ammonia but it will stiffen up eventually and risk cracking.

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15565

What I would be worried about is after a while and repeated Ajax cleanings is if the leather would crack, ammonia is very bad for leather, even in small amounts. I used to know a person who treated his stiff leather motorcycle jackets with ammonia because it cleaned it so well and did leave it soft but over a few years his leather jacket developed cracks due to ammonia drying it out. My buffalo leather jacket on the other hand was cleaned with saddle soap, treated with Lexol and waterproofed with Johnson Paste Wax. It's been through rainstorms, multiple day rides in the hot deserts of the southwest and California. Beaten to heck and back, covered in mud, splattered in bugs til the leather looked green and yellow and still looks new after 8 years of outdoor use.

Lots of things may work but there are definitely some things that though it seems effective, probably are not the best in the long term. I do know saddle soap and Lexol will definitely keep a quality leather looking good and definitely won't damage leather long term. If you see near the bottom of my jacket has developed some character lines, ie wrinkles but isn't cracked and the only appreciable wear area are parts on the collar from abrasion from how the jacket buttons up. And even the top of the neck area exposed to the most skin grease and sweat still looks new. This jacket's definitely been through more abuse than your average car leather seats and shows nearly no signs of damage.

 

[Turk]

The best I've found..........

http://www.surfcitygarage.com/shop/voodoo-blend-leather-rejuvenator

http://www.amazon.com/Surf-City-Garage-133-Rejuvenator/dp/B001Q7VRVM

 

[qwertydude]

I'd still avoid that Voodoo stuff. The MSDS most definitely shows silicones in it. If you can at all possible you should avoid applying silicones to leather as it can cause cracking over time as silicones tend to close the micro scales on the leather collagen fibers and loosen them. This causes them to separate and what makes the leather feel soft again. But it's not the same as conditioning the leather properly with either lanolin or good leather conditioners which restores the suppleness but doesn't loosen the collagen fibers.

 

[Scienceman]

At this point, I think I will try the diluted woolite to clean it, and some leather honey or lexol conditioner. Not interested in trying this person's products, but his video is very informative

 

[Volvohead]

Leatherique.

The better the leather, the better it works. It soaks in and lifts the contaminants to the surface. Great results here on Atacama natural hides and several high-grade Nappas. I'll occasionally "waste" it on GM leather, although it does a great job there, too.

According to George, even on "sealed" hides, it is not completely sealed, and the product will work, just more slowly. From my experience, that seems the case. You may need to let it sit all day in the sun.

It's been around for 45 years, so is a proven product.

We use Lexol, too, but only for periodic touch-up, as using Leatherique all the time is expensive.

Exit side bolsters are the first to decline on any seat, so do them more regularly.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: qwertydude
I'd still avoid that Voodoo stuff. The MSDS most definitely shows silicones in it. If you can at all possible you should avoid applying silicones to leather as it can cause cracking over time as silicones tend to close the micro scales on the leather collagen fibers and loosen them. This causes them to separate and what makes the leather feel soft again. But it's not the same as conditioning the leather properly with either lanolin or good leather conditioners which restores the suppleness but doesn't loosen the collagen fibers.


qwertydude,

I talked with Surf City Garage Technical Team yesterday and they said their Leather Rejuvenator DOES NOT contain Silicones!

The PDF proves there is no Silicone in it. SCG will happily e-mail the PDF to you.

Where did you get that inaccurate information and why would you spread it??

Please retract your inaccurate statement.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Turk
Originally Posted By: qwertydude
I'd still avoid that Voodoo stuff. The MSDS most definitely shows silicones in it. If you can at all possible you should avoid applying silicones to leather as it can cause cracking over time as silicones tend to close the micro scales on the leather collagen fibers and loosen them. This causes them to separate and what makes the leather feel soft again. But it's not the same as conditioning the leather properly with either lanolin or good leather conditioners which restores the suppleness but doesn't loosen the collagen fibers.


qwertydude,

I talked with Surf City Garage Technical Team yesterday and they said their Leather Rejuvenator DOES NOT contain Silicones!

The PDF proves there is no Silicone in it. SCG will happily e-mail the PDF to you.

Where did you get that inaccurate information and why would you spread it??

Please retract your inaccurate statement.



Since in the other thread it was mentioned that you contacted scg, I found this where you discuss it.

However their msds, from here: http://surfcitygarage.com/media/wysiwyg/Voodoo_Blend.pdf

Section 15 states polydimethylsiloxane.

Thus the concern... Real or not...

 

[qwertydude]

Well you have to consider who you talked to. Did you talk to a chemist? An engineer? Or just the sales guy or someone at the desk? Cause those guys will tell you anything you want to hear.

Right now considering in my job MSDS, well after the new HazCom 2012 implementation it's now known as SDS, are legal documents required for health and safety audits. If they're claiming it's got no silicones and you're using their stuff for business and flowing that info down and an audit reveals it does have silicones you can face fines and penalties. It may or may not be hazardous but it's the fact that you aren't in compliance that can get you in trouble, and telling the auditor but I called a guy and he said it didn't, won't cut it. They'll point to the sheet and go, if you want to independently test it and prove it's got no silicones, be my guest, then we'll go away and bother the original company for falsification. The liability trail makes it so I'd put money on the MSDS every time.

So basically the MSDS is never wrong. On the other hand the sales "engineer", and I've dealt with plenty of those, is almost always lying to you.

And besides just that if you look at the hazardous decomposition (ie burning) byproducts one of them is silicone oxides. Most definitely a sign some sort of silicones are in the product.

 

[aquariuscsm]

All this talk of silicones,what over the counter leather conditioners (if any) contain absolutely none?

 

[qwertydude]

Lexol. Meguiar's Gold Class Leather Conditioner, (D180 if you're willing to order the better stuff), Mother's Leather Cream. With less conditioning, more cleaning, but still some, Kiwi Saddle Soap.

These may not be boutique but I'd prefer them to any leather product that contains silicones. I'll reserve the silicones for my plastics and rubbers where the the silicones actually do provide protection against UV.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: qwertydude
Lexol. Meguiar's Gold Class Leather Conditioner, (D180 if you're willing to order the better stuff), Mother's Leather Cream. With less conditioning, more cleaning, but still some, Kiwi Saddle Soap.

These may not be boutique but I'd prefer them to any leather product that contains silicones. I'll reserve the silicones for my plastics and rubbers where the the silicones actually do provide protection against UV.


What about Kiwi Mink Oil?