Coconut oil on leather?

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Was bored last night and started reading about interior detailing. I saw on a Lexus forum where people use 100% pure coconut oil on leather seats saying is the best thing you can use because it contains no harmful chemicals that can degenerate the leather and stitching. I do remember a few years ago maybe,there was a guy here who used a coconut oil based hair conditioner on his leather seats.

Would coconut oil really work better than automotive branded stuff,or is it more of an organic fad?
 
How long did you leave it on before wiping down. I use it for my hands, I would not leave it on the seats very long
 
As long as you don't mind wearing gym clothes while driving, it should work ok.
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Either coconut oil is the true cure all we've been waiting for or people are desperately trying to find reasons to justify spending $10 on a jar of cooking oil.
 
There are too many excellent leather care products out there to go seeking an alternative product.

I use Coconut Oil occasionally for certain cooking uses but it doesn't cost much here, or at least not "$10 a jar". I think I saw it at Safeway for $5 last time I was there.

If your local supermarket is too expensive, try a Halal Grocery Store, it will be the vendor with the least expensive price in your area.

For leather care, though, I use something designed for the purpose.

One thing worth mentioning though, is never use a product designed for vinyl on leather. The reverse ... a product designed for leather ... is OK on vinyl, but isn't ideal so why use the more expensive formula for the PVC product?
 
Depends on the type of leather interior. The cheaper leather that is sealed does not absorb much if any conditioner. The expensive higher quality leather will.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
There are too many excellent leather care products out there to go seeking an alternative product.

I use Coconut Oil occasionally for certain cooking uses but it doesn't cost much here, or at least not "$10 a jar". I think I saw it at Safeway for $5 last time I was there.

If your local supermarket is too expensive, try a Halal Grocery Store, it will be the vendor with the least expensive price in your area.

For leather care, though, I use something designed for the purpose.

One thing worth mentioning though, is never use a product designed for vinyl on leather. The reverse ... a product designed for leather ... is OK on vinyl, but isn't ideal so why use the more expensive formula for the PVC product?

Agreed.

Coconut Oil is fairly expensive in So Cal too, about $7-8 a jar. Why it is so expensive compares with other oil, even extra virgin olive oil isn't so expensive.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
One thing worth mentioning though, is never use a product designed for vinyl on leather.


This I definitely agree with. From what I've read,vinyl protectants can harm the stitching and seems in leather seats. I always use a dedicated leather conditioner. As to coconut oil,I use it in my hair occasionally (I have very thick coarse unruly hair) to straighten and smooth it out.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
One thing worth mentioning though, is never use a product designed for vinyl on leather.


This I definitely agree with. From what I've read,vinyl protectants can harm the stitching and seems in leather seats. I always use a dedicated leather conditioner. As to coconut oil,I use it in my hair occasionally (I have very thick coarse unruly hair) to straighten and smooth it out.


I think the more severe issue is they will pull the protective natural oils out of the leather, drying it out, and dried leather leads to cracking which is the precursor of tears and rips. All bad, basically.
 
I know from experience that lanolin will really keep leather soft as will neatsfoot oil. Indeed several leather conditioning products use those two in their formulations.
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
I know from experience that lanolin will really keep leather soft as will neatsfoot oil. Indeed several leather conditioning products use those two in their formulations.


Which otc products contain lanolin? I've heard this as well,that lanolin is really good for leather.

Has anyone ever tried this stuff?

https://www.turtlewax.com/shop/products/...ioner-16-fl-oz-
 
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Depends on the type of leather interior. The cheaper leather that is sealed does not absorb much if any conditioner. The expensive higher quality leather will.

Bingo, I've seen so many customers come in my shop with jacked up leather from years of conditioning with products designed for un-coated leather, it's a waste of money and actually damages the leather over time to use a conditioner on sealed/coated leather found in most cars today.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
I know from experience that lanolin will really keep leather soft as will neatsfoot oil. Indeed several leather conditioning products use those two in their formulations.


Which otc products contain lanolin? I've heard this as well,that lanolin is really good for leather.

Has anyone ever tried this stuff?

https://www.turtlewax.com/shop/products/...ioner-16-fl-oz-


Mothers VLR, all in one leather care, and leather conditioner all have it.
 
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I use Collinite leather and vinyl wax on both of the F150s I care for. My '11 FX4 is 5 years old and the leather looks pretty darn good considering I weigh in around 250 and it has 95k on it. I'm sure Ford uses coated leather ( as opposed to vat dyed leather) and my theory is that the Collinite maintains or protects that factory applied coating, which helps mitigate wear.
Really like this product...
 
Bee's wax with Aloe Vera to make it spread
I use it on every piece of leather I own including my bike gear which some of it is 25 years old and always gets comment's when it time to bring out the leathers in winter
I always rub it in by hand no cloths work it in leave it use sparingly
The XJ8 leather gets a matte sheen on it the Jeeps leather goes a satin sheen go figure
If I am not using the car I'll leave it on as long as possible in the Queensland sun its not cold at all so the wax gets a chance to go in
speaking of which it time to do it all again
 
Nearly all leather seats in modern cars will be coated leather. Many seats are a mixture with coated leather down the center and vinyl bolsters. Not sure how a "conditioner" will be of help on these materials.

I've seen a couple reviews of Chemical Guys Leather conditioner which left a greasy residue on seats because it won't penetrate the OEM coating. Same will be true of most any "conditioner".

I've just started to use Chemical Guys Leather Serum and so far so good. It's more of a wax for protection. A guy on Youtube uses Meguiars D156 quick wax with good results.
 
From what I understand,is that all leather is coated or protected to some degree or it would get ruined simply by being exposed to the open air. Automotive coated leather is still porous so it can breathe per se. Dedicated leather conditioners are designed to penetrate the porous surface keeping the innermost part of the leather "oiled" while at the same time conditioning the stitching to keep it from drying out,rotting,etc. if you'll notice,you sweat like a pig on vinyl seats whereas on leather you don't.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
you sweat like a pig on vinyl seats whereas on leather you don't.

The two will have very different thermal properties. Porosity may be a factor but I would bet it's a small one.

I'd much prefer to have a non-permeable coating as this would keep stains, odors and other things out of the finished leather. A permeable coating would largely defeat the entire point of having an OEM coating.

I suspect that wear (sliding) and UV are far more deleterious to car leather than "drying out".
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
I suspect that wear (sliding)


Man I cringe when someone gets into my car and slides across the side bolster! I've noticed alot of cloth seats lately with holes in the bolsters. Cloth seats don't seem as durable as they used to be,the material seems alot thinner.
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Nearly all leather seats in modern cars will be coated leather. Many seats are a mixture with coated leather down the center and vinyl bolsters. Not sure how a "conditioner" will be of help on these materials.

Conditioners don't help on coated/sealed leather seats found in most cars today. If a drop of water rolls of the seat, a conditioner is just going to sit on top of that same seat and do nothing but attract dirt etc. But hey, if someone thinks they do some good, then by all means go for it. Leather conditioners for coated leather is a big business, but they aren't getting my money.
 
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