Am I the Only One Confused About Leather Seats?

[Gebo]

You can see in my signature the cars I have. I have spent at least 20 hours researching how to take care of my leather seats. I have been using Leatherique and some people seem to agree it is a top notch product. To me, it is very expensive and I seen to think it works although sometimes it can me sticky.

Lexus sells their own brand of leather conditioner. I heard it was Zaino. One video says all the leather is covered with a clear coat of some kind so all are you doing is wasting money trying to recondition the leather as nothing will penetrate this clear coat. One video says to use 303 for the clear coating. One video says we are all ignorant as "all current" windshields block practically all UVA and UVB rays. One video says the ph has to be 4.5. One video says this product will cause the stitching to deteriorate. Wash with Woolite. Wash with coconut shampoo. Put a drop of water on it an see if it sinks in or evaporates?????

I'm so confused I didn't even take a shower yesterday.

aniline, semi-aniline, hokus pokus.....

Can anyone actually tell the truth? Someone has to know the truth. I wish someone would tell me the truth and leave out opinions. Treat me like I'm Judge Judy. No emotions, no I think, no I feel....But I guess that would be impossible.

 

[Jethro_Bob]

Most owners manuals have a chapter specific to that model, I would check there first to see if there are details about treatments applied at the factory and what works for cleaning. Also check ingredients in the Lexus product and compare.

 

[Rolla07]

Simple. Buy cars with cloth seats. Lol

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Nobody is lying. You just have to test your leather (water bead test), but the reality is that unless otherwise specified automotive leather is top-coated with some sort of urethane for durability. It's why you see a lot of comments to use 303 or some other vinyl dressing. In addition while the windshield will protect from UV that might not be the case with side/rear window. Dressings also help with regards to frost resistance and plasticizers which constantly leech from plastics/plastic coatings from heat.


Sure some automakers still off a leather option which does not have a top-coat but that's usually only for luxury makes and even then it may only be available as an option rather than standard.

 

[ZZman]

First you have to figure out if you have uncoated real leather or the coated kind. Uncoated will absorb liquid so leather comconditioners will work. Coated leather like on most vehicles need something like vinyl /plastic wipes/sprays.

 

[RooflessVW]

Unless your car is ultra high end and special ordered, it most likely (99%) has coated leather.

Product manufacturers know this, and any of the products on the shelf made for use on leather will clean and preserve your seats and stitching.

 

[Kestas]

I bought Leatherique once for my Mercedes E320 because all the guys on Peachparts were raving about it. It didn't work because the leather had a coating that precluded proper absorption of the conditioner.

I have since detested leather seats - especially for convertibles - because they just don't hold up as well as vinyl and other man-made materials. Industry has come out with a leather-like product that even has odor in it. Feels like leather and wears like iron. I see no need for leather seats anymore.

 

[Luftmasse]

Originally Posted by Gebo
You can see in my signature the cars I have. I have spent at least 20 hours researching how to take care of my leather seats. I have been using Leatherique and some people seem to agree it is a top notch product. To me, it is very expensive and I seen to think it works although sometimes it can me sticky.

Lexus sells their own brand of leather conditioner. I heard it was Zaino. One video says all the leather is covered with a clear coat of some kind so all are you doing is wasting money trying to recondition the leather as nothing will penetrate this clear coat. One video says to use 303 for the clear coating. One video says we are all ignorant as "all current" windshields block practically all UVA and UVB rays. One video says the ph has to be 4.5. One video says this product will cause the stitching to deteriorate. Wash with Woolite. Wash with coconut shampoo. Put a drop of water on it an see if it sinks in or evaporates?????

I'm so confused I didn't even take a shower yesterday.

aniline, semi-aniline, hokus pokus.....

Can anyone actually tell the truth? Someone has to know the truth. I wish someone would tell me the truth and leave out opinions. Treat me like I'm Judge Judy. No emotions, no I think, no I feel....But I guess that would be impossible.

Leather Masters never fails. Works with modern leathers.

 

[billt460]

I feel and understand Gebo's pain. Aside from the Vette I bought back in the 80's, it and my new Jeep are the only 2 vehicles I've ever owned with, "leather" seats. I put the leather in quotation marks because I didn't know there are 14,789 different versions of "leather" seats in cars today. I thought leather was leather. But no. Some are coated, some are not. Some can be treated, others can't. Some will absorb, some won't. What works on one, might not work on another.

And unless you buy a car that costs well into 6 figures, your leather seats really aren't "real leather" anyway. At least not "real" in the true definition of the word. Because they weren't hand fitted and stitched by some 84 year old woman who has worked for Bugatti since she was 12. And personally chooses the hides from the cows Bugatti raises in the pasture next to the factory. On the same land her grandfather owned before Hitler took it.

This is something that you think is so simple...... Until your head is swimming in all the B.S. that surrounds it. All because they have managed to make maintaining a simple seat covering, more complicated than a Shuttle launch.

Gebo, for what it's worth I've been using Maguire's Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner. I don't know if it's getting absorbed or not. And I don't care. I apply it heavily with one of those round terrycloth covered, sponge applicators, when I know I'm not going to be driving the car the next day. That way the seats are nice and dry when I get in, and the crap has at least 24 hours to either soak in...... Or else dry up and blow away.

It seems to work well. But I really don't know if I'm doing them any good or not. I don't have data or trajectory tables to prove it either way. The seats feel the same, and the car drives the same before and after I smear the stuff on them.

 

[diyjake]

Originally Posted by Kestas
I bought Leatherique once for my Mercedes E320 because all the guys on Peachparts were raving about it. It didn't work because the leather had a coating that precluded proper absorption of the conditioner.

I have since detested leather seats - especially for convertibles - because they just don't hold up as well as vinyl and other man-made materials. Industry has come out with a leather-like product that even has odor in it. Feels like leather and wears like iron. I see no need for leather seats anymore.


When we bought our used Sienna the leather seats were terribly filthy so I bought Leatherique and I thought that this stuff would for sure make my seats look like new, it did clean the seats some but it left a lot to be desired. I then heard from someone on youtube about using Purple Power, first try and my seats are almost like new. Leatherique, very expensive but nothing special.

.
Industry has come out with a leather-like product that even has odor in it. Feels like leather and wears like iron. I see no need for leather seats anymore.[/quote]
What product is this that you are talking about?

 

[double vanos]

Used this for a long time on lots of leather seats with great results...
https://www.collinite.com/product/no-855-leather-and-vinyl-wax/

 

[Luftmasse]

Originally Posted by diyjake
Originally Posted by Kestas
I bought Leatherique once for my Mercedes E320 because all the guys on Peachparts were raving about it. It didn't work because the leather had a coating that precluded proper absorption of the conditioner.

I have since detested leather seats - especially for convertibles - because they just don't hold up as well as vinyl and other man-made materials. Industry has come out with a leather-like product that even has odor in it. Feels like leather and wears like iron. I see no need for leather seats anymore.


When we bought our used Sienna the leather seats were terribly filthy so I bought Leatherique and I thought that this stuff would for sure make my seats look like new, it did clean the seats some but it left a lot to be desired. I then heard from someone on youtube about using Purple Power, first try and my seats are almost like new. Leatherique, very expensive but nothing special,


Purple power for leather seats? Isn't it a greaser?

 

[diyjake]

It sure is, a lot of professional detailers use it and other degreasers to clean leather seats, carpets ect. You don't want to use it straight or else it will damage the leather, you have to dilute it 5 to 1 or 10 to 1, don't remember of the top of my head.

 

[ecotourist]

I've bought leather furniture from time to time and been offered a choice of leathers, all the way from leather with a stamped on leather-like grain (inexpensive), through top grain leather (fairly expensive) to full grain leather (really really expensive). I've probably got the names wrong but you get the idea. The really good stuff might add 50% or even double the price of a new couch compared to the medium priced quite good stuff.

So what do they use on your Honda or Toyota? Not the really really expensive stuff that's for sure. Though they might use it on a Rolls or Bugatti. And that might have been the really good stuff on my friend's family's '63 Cadillac.

The really really expensive stuff (which I can never afford) will absorb leather conditioner, grease stains, sweat and pretty much everything else. The others are all coated.

 

[WylieCoyote]

I'd always heard great things about Connolly's Hide Food (NKA Connolly's Hide Care). At $30+ a jar, it better be.

I've used Lexol for a few years now, starting with the 2010 Camaro & Optima. I'm not convinced it 'soaked in', as I think these leathers are coated, but I do believe it protected / conditioned the coating. After a few years with the Camaro, I can say my seats looked far better than seats in other Camaros its age. Deep creasing, cracking and graying were kept at bay. I could probably get similar results from smearing Armor All on them, but another thing I read decades ago was to NEVER use Armor All on leather, as it 'seals' it and prevents it from breathing. But they're sealing leather with coatings now, so how does that explanation pan out?

I spray it on, smear it around, and let the car sit for the weekend. If it's still moist on Monday morning, I wipe it off and go to work. Have I accomplished anything? Dunno. The overspray sure makes the sides of the center console look good.

Stuff I read about leather care in the 80s seems to conflict with present information, but that applies to pretty much everything else too.

 

[sdowney717]

Once a car gets some age on it, every leather seat I have seen cracks and falls apart. While the cloth seats can get dirty, they can be cleaned and they last longer looking good. And I prefer the feel of a cloth seat.

 

[Silverado12]

I had the the seats of my 2000 Mustang reupholstered with vinyl, and I really can't tell much difference from that and the leather it came with. Both look and feel good. FWIW I use Mother's VLP.

 

[WylieCoyote]

The factory seats in my convertible feel synthetic. I assume it's the cheapest leather Ford could find. The Katzkins I put in the coupe feel a little better.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted by diyjake
Originally Posted by Kestas
Industry has come out with a leather-like product that even has odor in it. Feels like leather and wears like iron. I see no need for leather seats anymore.

What product is this that you are talking about?

I'm not even sure it's on the market. I have a number of colleagues that work with interior design. They've been talking about it for over 10 years. For all that talk I thought for sure it would be out in the market by now.

 

[PimTac]

I know that some Leatherette or leather like material closely mimics leather in most ways. As for leather smell, there are products for cleaning and deodorizing that have a leather smell to them.