phillylex

My TL has a camel interior. The lower portion of the driver's seat backrest has pretty nasty greyish/blackish discoloration that I haven't been able to remove with leather wipes. I think it might be from the die on my belt rubbing off on the leather. Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, have you succeeded in restoring the color of the leather?

rets

My parchment leather was ever dyed by the blue jean... I used water to clean them...

GaleForce

mobilezen

I'm waiting for Corbeau to make brackets for the 3rd gen TL's...all part of my project

ACuraR_RENAMED

LEXOL Leather Cleaner...

Solution for "dye transfer"... Polyester Forever!!!

JetJock

My friend had a BMW with a light colored leather, and after several years, his seats were ruined by the dye from his blue jeans rubbing off on the leather. He tried cleaning, conditioning, everything and it just wouldn't come off. He ended up selling the car. Good reason to get dark colored leather in a car...except for the heat issue. I have chamois colored leather furniture in my home, and I have the same problem but to a lesser degree because it doesn't get the intense wear that a car seat does. It's a problem.

Seminole

I have the same problem with my camel interior. I have tried several leather cleaners, including lexol, and none have had any effect. Several people have said the only option is to re-dye the leather.

phillylex

Sorry for the huge delay. Here are the pics.

If the leather looks like this after 3 months, what will it look like in 3 years? Obviously I really don't want to pay to get it redyed. Has anyone written to Acura about this issue? I plan to call next week and demand an explanation and reimbursement if redying is necessary.

Tedanddenise

This cannot be just an Acura problem. I'm wondering if you use any leather cleaner/softener products on the leather which may work their way into your belt causing the dye transfer? Makes me wonder if I should be careful with such products.

Novice

Two things together: Woolite and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I got all my jeans stains out. Just put some Lexol conditioner afterwards.

BaronVonHiezwig04

Try some cleaner called fantastic. It works great at getting my stains out of the leather that my black leather jacket creates.

¿GotJazz?

I found that the cause for my leather stains was one of the black belts I used to wear. The belt was thick from top (dyed surface) to bottom (undyed surface). No more thick black belt (now only cloth belts and thin leather ones) - no more problem.

JetJock

It's not Acura's fault!! Everyone seems to blame Acura for any problem that happens with the leather. I have this same problem with my sofa in my home....blame the company who made the clothing you wear..that's where the dye is comming from. It's not Acura's fault guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

phillylex

So you think it's fine that the leather is so susceptible to staining and that therefore the belt manufactuer is solely at fault? I'm unhappy with both Acura and the belt manufacturer, because this just shouldn't happen. But the belt cost $35 and the TL cost $32,000, and my unhappiness is proportionate according to that.

phillylex

All I've used are Lexol products on the leather, so I'm not certain its them causing the dye transfer.

Whatever the cause, I'll try the Woolite + Mr. Clean combo. Thanks.

Novice

If you look at the first picture on the far right side, you also see some nasty stains where the belt should not rub. I wander what caused it. Seat belt?

All I know is that those stains will all come out eventually.

I also think routine conditioning will prevent dyes sticking to the leather.

PossibleTL

I'm seeing a lot of people complaining about the Camel interior and how the dye effects it. Does the Parchment do the same thing? I'm just wondering.

Novice

I have a parchment interior and have not seen anything as bad as in the above pictures. I had very light blue jean staining on the bottom part of the seat which easily came off.

¿GotJazz?

It's nobody's fault. Why are you trying to place blame anywhere?

Look ... if you had cloth seats in the TL, would you complain about the cloth getting a little bit worn down or getting stained from spilled food after owning the car for a few months?

When you place two surfaces together and rub them constantly (which is occurring when you are sitting in the driver's seat), some damage is going to happen. I've noticed that I spend approximately 10 hours driving in my car for every tankful of gas, based upon the trip computer data. That's a decent amount of time of rubbing.

I wouldn't be surprised that if you wore a thick white (or tan) belt every day, or wore white pants every day and had an ebony TL interior, the opposite would be happening - the TL's darker dyes would discolor your lighter belt / pants.

BTW, I can't see the pictures for some reason.

Xpditor

I can't see the pictures either.

I have a Camel interior. No discoloration so far <knock on plood>.

But leather accepts dye. That's why it's Camel to begin with. Leather does that.

Keep it conditioned so it doesn't act like a sponge.

Use leather cleaners if it gets discolored.

As a LAST RESORT: AmorAll Oxi-Magic is a very good stain remover on the headliner and might do the trick. But rinse well and then condition after.

XP

Nicki

the cure would of been to get the ebony leather

Rocketsfan

Speaking of leather cleaners and conditioners, did we ever come to a conclusion as to which part of the TL's seats is actual leather? Or do you guys just slap Lexol on everything?

Xpditor

Get in your car naked.

Whatever touches you is leather. (Assuming you're not 300+ pounds)

The perforated,of course, is. The areas around the perforated are. The steering wheel and the shift knob is. The backs of the seats are not. The black on the door is not. I put Zaino Leather in a Bottle on the whole seat to make sure.

Then I get dressed.

XP

¿GotJazz?

Not sure, but I wonder if the "inside" surface (the surface against your body) of the seat belt is picking up some of the dyes, then transfering it to the seat leather. That surface of the seat belt goes directly across where your pants/slacks belt would go.

You obviously never tried to clean my BMW's leather seats. :'( I could never get the stains out, regardless of leather cleaner type or amount of elbow grease.

planman_RENAMED

So are you saying the perforated "leather" on the door is not real leather like the seats?

As for staining, a mild detergent like the Woolite + Mr. Clean mixture mentioned above should work for you. A more textured/grained leather, a la some BMWs or Volvos, would be much tougher to clean than the smooth variety in the TL.

Novice

[QUOTE=planman]So are you saying the perforated "leather" on the door is not real leather like the seats?

Definately not!

funseeker57

The stain looks to me like it is a stripe right at belt height. Do you wear a black belt of some kind? Maybe the dye in your belt is rubbing off onto the seat. what do you think?

rick955i

It is the dye transfer from your belt, it should come off with leather cleaner

Xpditor

No. The perforated leather on the door is perforated leather on the door. If you have a black interior, I guess it would be black. Mine is Camel and the vinyl is black on the top part of the doors. The perforated part is Camel.

XP

winstrolvtec

Anyone have this problem with the quartz interior?

lindros2

my Audi's leather (A4 with thick-grained surface and S4 with smooth "Nappa" leather) was less susceptible to this. I have parchment in my TL but haven't had a problem yet.

phillylex

Light rubbing with the Mr. Clean sponge dampened with diluted Woolite didn't work. I'm wondering if the Lexol conditioner caused the dye to transfer to the seat. I'll have to pick up some Lexol cleaner (the Turtle Wax wipes I have didn't work).

Novice

Philly:
I am really surprised that the sponge and Woolite didn't work as I got all my stains out using this combo. If this failed, there is no way Lexol cleaner would work. Sorry to hear that.

phillylex

Maybe I diluted the Woolite too much (bascially a capful into 2 cups of water) or didn't rub hard/long enough. How precisely did you go about removing the discoloration on your seat?

Novice

Philly:

People here say to use 5 parts of water and one part of Woolite. But, I just put a generous amount of Woolite. I mix the solution up with the sponge eraser, squeeze excess liquid out and rub it on the affected area. I am really puzzled as to why this method didn't work for you. It worked really well on my parchment leather. Hmmmm. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

PA-TL

I had the same exact problem and it even looked the same on my 96 Infiniti I30t. The problem ended up being (believe it or not), the dye my black belt. The dealer said it wasn't their seat, so I went to Coach (where I got the belt) and they grudgingly agreed. They refuneded my money and paid to have the seat professionally cleaned.

DanL

iTrader: (2)

Try it without the Woolite and just LIGHTLY dampen the eraser. It's not a sponge and too much liquid defeats the whole purpose.

phillylex

Thanks, Novice and DanL. I'll give your suggestions a shot.

PossibleTL

Hey guys i just saw the pics that the guy was talking about w/ his seats. For whatever reason they wouldn't come up before but now they have for the first time. First, that doesn't even look like Camel. It looks like it could go for Parchment. Based on the pics you really can't tell a difference. So for those of the people on here that wants to call it "too orange"... i really don't have no idea what you're talking about. NOT UNLESS you have to see it in the sun. Nonetheless...as far as the rubbing and the dye transfer or whatever, is anyone elses doing this to that degree that have the Camel interior? The way it looks in the pics it's like the leather of the Camel is almost cheap looking for it to do that. But of course that can't be it. I'm agree with what another guy said up here, you should get in the car naked and if you can't do that... don't put on no belt, no leather coat, nothing...

mxtt

First of all, your comment is irrelevant to the topic. Second of all, what do you care as you don't have a TL yet?