How to distinguish vinyl from leather

[mjoekingz28]

On my saturn i armoralled the seats and sometime later in the cold weather, knelt one knee on the seat and split a seam.


Im ready to go ape on the interior, and after armoalling the interior i will wipe it down with a damp watered cloth, for preference.


When i bought some boots awhile back, i asked the salesman if i could use automotive products on them. I was meaning, leather wipes, but they thought imeant armorall and sternly warned against it.

 

[michaelluscher]

...you do understand that Armor-all is HORRIBLE for leather?

 

[3800Series]

When it comes to leather its always best to use a dedicated leather/conditioner product. If it's good leather I would go for higher priced cleaner.

Try to avoid armorall on leather and "all in one" products. Leather can be very sensitive and you would be surprised how easily some products will stain it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

State of the art Leather cleaner and conditioner is available from Chemspec.

It is an all in one product. Two part products are NOT current, just trusty old school tech...

 

[zrxkawboy]

From the title, I'm thinking he is trying to figure out if his seats are vinyl or leather. OP?

 

[Lapham3]

It's kind of a thing where you just 'know'? I have no trouble after enough years, but notice for sale ads with the older cars that vinyl as the OE is often called out as leather-so the sales guys have trouble too.

 

[aquariuscsm]

If it's a Saturn,the seats are probably "pleather". Only way to know for sure is if you still have your owner's manual,it might say.

 

[Fordtrucktexan]

If the OP is talking about the 91-02 S-series, they never came with vinyl. I'm not as certain about the Ion and L-series, but I'm almost as sure they did not either. What you see in Saturns is the seating surfaces are an automotive grade leather, with the sides and back being vinyl.

Saturn leather is generally pretty tough too, I have a set of black leather seats out of a 94' in my 2001 Saturn that still look great for their age.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: 3800Series
When it comes to leather its always best to use a dedicated leather/conditioner product.


^^This

 

[mjoekingz28]

On my truck, im wondering what to apply to the sides of the seats. It is most likely vinyl, since it is a work truck, but since i messed up the Saturn's seat with AA, i want to be safe.

I knew the saturn seats were leather i just had a lapse of judgement, or didnt know any better, or "what could it hurt.


I asked this same question on bike forums about my Bontrager seat. I used gold class leather wipes on it that i think was a good move.

 

[SteveSRT8]

On virtually any car only the actual seating area is leather. All the sides and back are vinyl.

Goes for almost any price range, too, within reason...

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

It's probably top coated* leather. If water beads then it's top coated. TC leather really only needs damp cloth and a water based protectant such as Aerospace 303. Creams, oils,and such are a waste because they can't get through the urethane.

*Top coated leather contains a top coat of urethane. Apparently ~95% of automotive leather is made this way.

 

[Garak]

Yep, I don't think non-top coated leather is terribly common this side of a Rolls or Bentley. I still use a "real" leather product on my G37's seats, if only to be certain, and to keep the slickness to a minimum, versus a non-leather specific product.

 

[Joel_MD]

Yeah, almost all leather used for automotive seats in the last 20 years is coated with a clear vinyl. The exception would be the high-end cars like Garak mentioned. You can use Armorall if you want; you're not going to hurt coated leather by using a vinyl protectant or cleaner. I like Griot's Leather Rejuvenator because of the smell. The most important thing for leather seats is to keep them clean. Dirt acts as an abrasive and causes wear. Frequent vacuuming is good. I spend a lot of time on the Autopia detailing forums, and a lot of the pros use 1 part Woolite diluted with 9 or 10 parts water to clean leather upholstery, coated or uncoated..

 

[HerrStig]

Many a "Nauga" died to make those seats.

 

[Danh]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
On virtually any car only the actual seating area is leather. All the sides and back are vinyl.

Goes for almost any price range, too, within reason...


With at least one notable current exception: Toyota, which uses a form of vinyl in its up-market interiors, including seating surfaces (and charges extra for the privilege).

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Danh
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
On virtually any car only the actual seating area is leather. All the sides and back are vinyl.

Goes for almost any price range, too, within reason...


With at least one notable current exception: Toyota, which uses a form of vinyl in its up-market interiors, including seating surfaces (and charges extra for the privilege).


And will never get a penny from my home! But seriously, I was speaking of cars that advertise their Leather Interior...

 

[zray]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Many a "Nauga" died to make those seats.


the hyde of the nauga is highly prized among the trappers I know.

hillbilly Z

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Armour-Alles doesn't belong anywhere on an automobile. Nasty stuff.

Now, what is a nice vinyl cleaner that doesn't shine and has no Silicone compounds. ...

 

[razel]

Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
It's probably top coated* leather. If water beads then it's top coated. TC leather really only needs damp cloth and a water based protectant such as Aerospace 303. Creams, oils,and such are a waste because they can't get through the urethane.

*Top coated leather contains a top coat of urethane. Apparently ~95% of automotive leather is made this way.


Completely agree. Water soaking into leather is the only way to tell real uncoated leather from top-coated leather or vinyl. If you have the latter you don't need to waste special cleaner on it.

If you have the real stuff you may need a little. On my modest car the upper seat backs are untreated leather, but everything else is pleather. After I used up my dedicated leather conditioner, I ended up using leftover facial sunscreen lotion on it for protection. I preferred the sunscreen lotion instead. The face version is very light. I believe they call it non-codemgenic.