[Lthompson]

what is the best type of conditioner to use on leather seats??

thanks


Lance

[Rob Keller]

make sure its clean with a leather and plastic cleaner and then i use black magic i dont like armor all it builds up and gets sticky like a fly trap YUK!!

[kristkustoms]

The last thing you should use on leather is a tire/rubber conditioner. Contact the supplier of the leather and get their suggestions, most good quality leather companies will have their own formulated cleaners and conditioners. Different leathers require different cleaners. Aniline/semi-aniline etc etc need to taken care differently. I have about 5 different leather conditioners at my shop. Example, Meguirs leather care works great on some leather, but on others it makes it streaky.

[Rob Keller]

black magic makes a vinyl an leather protect ant as well as tire protection i dont use the tire protection much

NEVER USE tire shine on anything but tires !! sorry ive might have conveyed that
i use a liquid silicone on all rubber... tires , door seals, rad hoses etc...
non-static, non dirt attractive, UV resistant and beads water like rain X its not greasy, but like the tire wet you dont want to get it on any thing but rubber and ware gloves i use sponge brush
Maguires is a good product
look in you local phone book ant look up you local detail shop supplier call a few see what they recommend if they brush you off then they did you a favor or you can call my supplier
brite & rite352.401.3636 very nice people and have the best products ive ever used
good luck

sr66

[Lthompson]

Im not exactly sure of what "type" of leather it is. THe truck just had leather seats in it and i just want to take good care of them. Thanks for the help.

[bluebu]

If you have a Tractor Supply or a tack shop near you they should have a product called Leather New. It's a pretty gentle leather cleaner. I use it on everything from my saddles to my leather furniture and have never had any problems with it but just to be safe test it in an inconspicuous spot to be sure.

[creativeinteriors]

Just to inform the general population. If you are speaking of a north american leather intierior do not have exposed leather surface. 99% of all top grain leather hides used in OEM intieriors are heavily top coated with a clear vinyl fiinishing process for wear on matching of the secondary vinyls used on the seat. If your aftermarket intierior uses an North American OEM hide it will have the same top coats.

Most European intierior hides do not use these top coats as the market in Europe are more accepting of the wearing and cracking than Americans.

Now if you have a top grain hide that is used for furniture upholstery than it depends on the hide quality that you have. The more supple hides should be cleaned with a mild Saddle soap and the treated ONLY with a high quality conditioner preferebly containing mink oil.

If you have a North American OEM leather you can clean it with leather/vinyl cleaner it comes in an orange and white can, I check the name in the shop tomorrow if anyone is really interested but as for recoating always check a spray on top coat in a non obvious area because many treatments (armor all) can damage fogging it or making it sticky as mentioned before of what is left of the original top coat or make it like greased lighting when sat on.

[302 Z28]

Silicone containing products (Black Magic, Armor All) should never go on leather. Mequires has an excellent leather cleanr/conditioner IMO.

Vince

[Weimer]

1 Cap of Murphy's Oil Soap in a new clean spray bottle of water...shake well, spray solution on rag and wipe down seats...When i detailed restorations and new cars that is all we used.
Later,
WEIMER

['40Tudor]

I sell interior products (including leather, fabrics and carpet) primarily to the aviation industry, but also to a few specialty automotive upholsterers. All of our leather hides are from Northern Europe.
I agree with at least 90% of what 'creativeinteriors' (above) said. ...but I do take exception with a couple of points.
There is a topcoat on most all upholstery leather, both No. America and Europe. The topcoat is to minimize abrasive wear.
As long as this top coat has not been damaged by chemicals or extreme wear, any "conditioners" are going to remain on the surface and attract dust & grime. (If the "conditioner" is strong enough to permeate the topcoat, it has ruined the topcoat.)
Our tannery reccommends wiping with a clean cloth that is dampened (not too wet) with a diluted mild soap (not detergent) and then drying with a clean cloth.

Also, factory automotive (OEM) leather is generally not 'top grain' leather. It is highly 'corrected' - meaning that the hides are buffed down below the top grain and 'imprinted' with "graining". The stronger fibers in the hide are at the surface, therefore 'top grain' leather is naturally more wear resistant. (My 'factory' interior shows some signs of abrasive wear after only 2 yrs. - top grain leather will last many times that under harsher conditions.)

[daimon1054]

The best thing ever made for leather is Neats foot oil, the problem is it will darken light leather and stain clothes. So Lexol makes Lexol NF (NF for neat foot) it does not darken the leather or stain your clothes. Any place that sells saddles will have it. I spoke with eveyone I could find when I was riding horses and also again with motorcycles and this is what every top guy said to use. I have taken worn seats that were starting to crack and brought them back to like new using this. Remember though never soak the leather put some on let it soak in then repeat over a few days, the leather will let you know when it has had it's full. For cleaning use a towel with warm water not much else is ever needed but if it is then buy a leather cleaner nothing else then re-oil the seats.

I have an old motorcycle that has spent way to many days exposed to the weather and the bike looks like crap but the seat looks new.

[creativeinteriors]

to further clairify for 40Tudor and others that may care to know a little more. I agree that there is alot of other details that I omitted. This was because it would be a very dry dry read for most. But to assist the point for those interested. And to hopefully help 40sedan to understand the other 10% of my meanings that may not have been clearly stated.

While Europeans do use some top coating the extent and chemical make up are completely different than North America. They have different interior fogging requirements, EPA tanning restrictions and freedoms and livestock raising practices. Barbed wire is not as readily used so fewer scars and less hormones are used so it allow more consistent skin growth. But as for top coating they use less and wear is not as big of an issue with their core consumers.

As for the buffing comment, it is technically not allowed in OEM material spec for leather to be used on A-surface areas. There are some areas it is allowed but those are the exception and typically quality hides do not do this in the manner descibed. Rather than throwing stones and naming the leather suppliers I have caught doing this lets just say our textile engineers check for buffing and what we call "over"correcting and we restrict its use as much as we can catch them. Now spray pigment finishing is normal but not as 40tudor stated. If we catch a supplier cutting off the top and correcting the remaining hide that leather supplier will get to buy back alot of cut parts. If it was as he said I would also have a 90% yield verses 70 to 80 and throw out far less hide for scars and bites. I am in the Automotive industry and know well filling and buffing is used. It is not the whole hide and is a dirty little secret supplier use to keep crust pricing down by being able to purchase lower quality raw hide or crusts as we call them or increase yeild when supply of quality crusts go down (hides are on the market like gold or oil), but we monitor for its use and it very controlled in Automotive use.

As for Automotive leather being top grain I am aware all hide go through finishing processes to some extent, The process he descibed exists and is in use for other kinds of leather and uses for other industries. But it cannot be called top grain. If they cut or buff the epidermis off the top and correct as 40tudor descibed it, it is called something. The process 40tudor descibed is called a split as the hide is cut into layers by spliting. And the process descibed is typically used for shoes and other low cost leather products. Only a few Automotive OEM use this process resulting in what we called split hide or engineered leather, and the process when they use it is not called correcting. The layer left over after the upper skin layer is cut off a hide, and incidentally used for seat A-surfaces, is then skimmed coated with PVC and grained in a process similar to vinyl is but that is another subject all together. This type of leather does not stand up to high wear so it is typically religated to headrest and armrest of filler where they dont deal with ingress egress.

I do agree that ALL hides having a visible grain, whether used in Aviation or Automotive have roller embossed or stamped grain applied as natural epidermis of a hide has a fairly smooth surface to the naked eye after defoliating.

In the end,Automotive leather is made to look like vinyl so it matches the other 90% of the vehicle interior surfaces. Many leathers have a tinted top coat sprayed on for color match and gloss. The amount of finishing and type has to do with thickness requirements,color, crust quality, durability and ultimately cost. As in paint when it comes to leather you get what you pay for.

[delerium75]

Has anyone tried Leatherique? From my experience, it does do a good job in reviving and maintaining leather (My experience on two Nissan Maximas which seem to have thinner top coats than the Big 3). It tends to work best in areas closest to seams as for the most part, that's where it soaks in the most. It took what was in the beginning stages of cardboard and spit out what was close to factory fresh. The tops of the backseats improved somewhat though those truly were toast to begin with. This was over the course of a summer with probably 4-5 applications. I agree that in general, most leather products just sit on the surface and don't really do much good, however, it makes sense that something that soaks into the leather itself would to more than something that just sits on for 5 minutes and gets wiped off.

[Sly's 53 Suburban]

Saddle Soap has been around a long time. I don't know that it's been improved on by any of the millions of products since.

[daimon1054]

Saddle soap should never be used on leather! It was made to tan leather many many years ago and it will flat out destroy it if you try and clean leather with it now.