I just brought my RDX Base 4WD 2 weeks ago and the drivers seat looks worn. I have beige interior and have sat in the car with jeans. Yes, I am aware that the denim comes rubs against it and leaves blue markings, however, I have used the Lenox cleaner and conditioner to remove which it has but the problem is that the seat is starting to look warn.

Is there any type of protector that I can use on the seats for them not to turn color? I don't wear denim everyday but once and in while, it stains. Any suggestions?
thanks!

 

Leather Master Cream or Gtechniq L1 Leather Guard should work

 

I am trying to look for a solution to protect the leather seat and prevent to get worn as well, especially I park my car outside under the sun whole day long. I am currently using the Zaino Z9 & Z10. It looks nice and shinny after I applied but it will look worn again after couple of weeks.

 

Yes, a cleaner/conditioner should work to remove it, but i'm not sure if you can prevent it from happening. Try washing your jeans in warm water so it'll eventually stop bleeding/transferring.

 

Yojcboy -- Good to see another Zaino user on the board. Haven't used their leather care products yet, how does this work given the perforations in the leather? e.g. what's involved to remove excess product / keep the holes clear?

 

Good point sculldog3,

I remember on my 2006 TL when I applied some cream based leather cleaner/conditioner and it promptly filled up all the little holes. Stupid
I spent hours cleaning them out one by one.

I switched to some pre-moistened wipes and they worked pretty good.

Now that I have my RDX with parchment leather I am looking for a new solution to care for the seats.

 

Hi Sculldog,

I am not too sure whether I can answer your questions well or not since I haven't used a lot of leather care products before. Overall, the Zaino cleaner & conditioner work OK to me and I don't see they go in to the holes on the seats. I did my research online and both Lexol and Zaino have a pretty good feedback on their leather care products.

Zaino Z9 & Z10 Pros- Easy to use
- Leather will become soft and shinny

Cons- The leather will become hard and looks worn after 2 weeks

I am not sure how long are they supposed to last before you apply the conditioner again. I am thinking I should try Lexol or not.

 

I have used Lexol cleaner and conditioner but my jeans still stain the seat. I just bought Leather master cream protector and will try that. Hopefully the cream will not go into the holes in the seats. I don't think i ever had that problem before.

 

Hi Chrissy,

How do you like your Lexol beside the colour stain? (make the leather soft? look new?) Anyway, please keep us posted on your leather master cream.

 

I have used the cream on all my seats however my jeans still stain the drivers seat. Other people have gotten into my RDX and their seats were not stinted, so it HAS be my particular jeans. I guess I will just continue to clean them as I go with cleaner, conditioner and the Leather Master cream so it won't look too worn. Other than that I am satisfied. Only my jeans! lol

 

I haven't tried this one yet but the video looks good!

http://www.chemicalguys.com/Leather_..._p/spi_101.htm

 

Best bet might be switching to tan jeans. :-)

 

For protecting the leather from the sun... get the car tinted. I tinted my RDX all the way around even the front windshield (Lumar Air 80). Even the rear ones that have privacy glass DO NOT have UV protection so I got everything tinted. It cools the car down significantly as well.

 

Hi Happy Chrissy,

Did you have a chance to clean off the stain yet? My friend has the same problem and he managed to remove the stains. He used the ZEP cleaner from home depot and Mr. Clean magic eraser, he removed all the stains from the seat. Anyway, just want to share my information. Goodluck.

 

I am glad I don't have to worry about staining the seats....Being a clean freak, that would just drive me wild. I'd likely drive around pantless.....

 

Sorry, please correct my previous message is ZEP leather cleaner, not other cleaner.

 

Is it common/easy for the parchment seats to stain or deteriorate faster? The parchment leather looks nicer and "richer" but not if it will end up showing its age and dirt quicker. Thoughts anyone?

 

I added sheepskin inserts that cover the center section of the parchment leather on my RDX. I hope to keep this car for many years and my previous 11 year old Lexus RX with parchment leather looked pretty worn on the front seats. Back seats still looked great since they weren't used very often.

 

How do you like the Lumar Air 80? How long did it take to cure on the windshield? How dark did you go on the rear windows? How's it look at night?

 

I have the same Lumar Air Blue 80 on my windshield (1G TSX) and it is great. It is almost clear so either day or night you really have a hard time seeing it. There is a spot in the lower left corner that we left uncovered so I can put my inspection and registration stickers. Even with the tint 'wet' I had no problems seeing through it. It might have been a little wavy in a few spots but it cured in a day or so and now is crystal clear. It does cut down on the heat on the dash (I live in southern Texas and it gets HOT!) and cuts down slightly on the glare from car headlights. That is really the reason I got it. Sometimes flashes from headlights or Sun glints from other cars will trigger migraines.

Now in Texas it is legal to tint your windshield but the law says it is supposed to be clear. I'm not sure what a clear tint it. There is a clear product that you can put on the _outside_ of your windshield but that was not something I was looking for. I haven't had the car inspected since I did the tint. I hope it is either not noticed or they won't care about it. I bet they won't even see it until they go to put the sticker on. I hope there is no problem with it as I plan to do it on my next car as well.

It cost me $150.

 

If you are cleaning perforated seats you need to apply the product to a wet towel first, rub it in slightly, then use that on the seats. This way you won't clog up the holes.

Beware of using those magic eraser pads. They have some sort of lye in them and you don't want that on your leather. If you do use one clean the seats well afterward with water to get rid of any residual cleaner.

 

i visited a couple of dealerships last week.
getting close to making a deal.

we went in looking for silver with black interior.
we looked on the lot at forged silver ,and silver moon.
one had a somewhat blueish tint,i forgot which one.
i didnt pay that much attention because when we went into the showroom on the floor they had white pearl,with parchment.

my wife then said thats what she wanted. shes will be coming out of a 08 rdx white pearl,with black. she liked the parchment because it was a lot differant from what she has been driving the last 5 years. i also like the look,but informed her of the work to maintain it. so im curious what parchment owners have to say. any regrets? would you choose it again.

i always get black leather, might get a little played out never changing,but i like the fact it requires no maintenance. its not just the seats,its the interior plastic molding trim , rugs and mats of the light interior. she seems to downplay it,i have my concerns.

 

We've always wanted the Amber Brownstone but was disappointed that it does not come with black interior (except in Canada). Since we love the exterior color so much, we decided to go for it. We don't regret the Parchment interior one bit. Personally I think it looks better because you can see more details of the car's interior. The black interior, everything kind of disappears. The Parchment interior is cooler as well when parked under the sun for a while (I've tested this since my friend bought the gray RDX with black interior).

 

I love the Llumar Air 80. No one notices that I have tint on the windshield. It has this slight blue tone to it from the outside. It took about 24 hours to cure (I parked it under the sun in the mornings). The front windows I went with Llumar CTX 30 and 40 on the rear and sunroof.

 

So, I used the Lexol leather conditioner quick wipes and it left a little bit of grease-like residue on the parchment seats and clogged up a few holes (you can only tell when you inspect closely). Is it not meant for perforated leather?

 

I had Ivory in 2006 Accord and it looked great the day I took delivery. Not long after I had black stains on bottom sides of seat . Dealer replaced leather as a one time deal. I bought 2012 TSX Forged Silver and I got Ebony interior this time. Seats look like the day I took delivery. I dont know why Acura does not offer ebony on other colors?

 

I agree. I would like to see some of the other exterior colors, like Amber Brownstone, with Ebony interior. My wife has been driving an '06 TL with ebony interior for 7 years and the upholstery has kept a good appearance with no maintenance.

 

Could you post a pic of these or share where you found them & how they are working for you?

Easy on my equipment, take pains to keep all of my gear in good shape but w/ the TX warmth/humidity we enjoy, I am considering having a local interior shop I've used, custom make a drivers seat cover, maybe leather or sheepskin. My T2 had ebony leather, the 2011 CRV had some faux, well who cares Naugahyde equivalent type leather.

I do like the parchment so I best find a way to maintain/protect it, especially after an extended range session, run or bike. Years of towel usage is sorta ingrained now but anyone have any fresh thoughts re. an alternative here?

As an aside the best Acura interior color I have seen is Umber but WTH, only available in TLs, that's criminal IMO.

 

That would surprise the heck out of me since (most) automotive glass has had UV protection for a couple of decades(laminated glass, that is). Even non-laminated glass blocks most UVB and varying amounts of UVA.

I don't have a link to Acura numbers; but here's what's happening 'across the street' at Lexus:

The glass of our vehicles greatly reduce UV-A and almost completely blocks UV-B. Up to 92% of UV is blocked. UV blocking both helps protect occupants and helps delay aging of the interior upholstery.
Caveat
UV and IR blocking rates can vary slightly from one window position to another. Also, blocking rates are not constant; over the wavelength spectrum of UV and IR, which is why we list the maximum blocking percentages.While I'm all for tinting windows within legal limits, it's not because factory windows/tints have NO UV protection.

 

For leather care, I would recommend a product called Bick 4. It is used for fine quality exotic leathers like ostrich and is non greasy once applied. Much better than Lexol IMHO.

 

I AGREE!!!! I love the Amber Brownstone, but being an environmental scientist I tend to track in a lot of dirt so light interior just won't work On top of that, snowboarding in the winter just adds to that dirt. If they offered AB with Black interior I think that would be my number 1 choice.

 

I tried Zaino leather conditioner and I don't really like it. I have recently tried the Chemical guys leather conditioner and it turns out extremely well! The leather seat looks very shinny & wet, also it feels very soft.

I highly recommend this product.

 

I suppose personal preference play a big hand here; to me "shiny and wet" is the very thing I don't want my leather to look like.

So I guess there is still no general consensus on which leather protector/conditioner is best for the parchment RDX leather?

 

Seriously, check out Bick 4. All the major exotic boot manufacturers recommend it. if its good enough for my Ostrich skin boots it will work great on my RDX.