I know this has been covered before, but I just applied some Meguire's to my leather and leather-like surfaces and I have a big problem - TOO SHINEY!! Arg ... is there any quick way to resolve that?

Also - anyone found any good product to use on the dash? I seem to recall just some swiffer wipes being mentioned? Again ... no shine wanted !

To me, my seats now look like a cheap used car with bad seats that have been mega-shined to make them try to look good

Help me out fellas!

P.S. I used the clay bar today for the first time ever (for me and for this car). Not for nothing, but that is a pain in the a** ... although it took care of some serious tree sap and road tar that I had ... great product

1) There are several products you can use for your dash that don't cause excessive shine. The one used by many here is 303 Aerospace Protectant. get free samples here:

http://www.303products.com/main.php

I've been using 303 with great luck in my TSX.

Folks over at Autopia.com claim that Einszett Tiefenpfleger produces an even less shine.

If you need a product that you can buy locally (instead of mail order), look for 303 at a boat store or NAPA, or try Vinylex (slightly more shine) which can be found at most autoparts stores.

2) 303 works great on leather, and doens't make it shine at all. You could also use Lexol cleaner on your seats to remove the Meguires, and then recondition with Lexol conditioner.

provench

darth - awesome help man !! Thanks bud ... I think I will give that Lexol cleaner a try and start over. I am such a car cleaning noob

Einszettes makes the perfect product for you. Its their Cockpit Premium. it leaves the dash with a beautiful matte finish and its safe enough to use on leather. i'm in the same boat as you and think shiney looks very cheap and unprofessional. i wouldnt use anything else on my dash and door panels but cockpit premium. 303 aerospace is nice but it does have a little bit of shine to it. cockpit premium will clean off the oily look from your seats and leave them "factory" looking. same goes for your dash. you can buy it at detailersparadise.com

also for future reference, lexol makes great leather care products and their conditioner doesnt leave any shine.

I think I am gonna pick up the Einszettes and Lexol lether bundle on detailersparadise.com -

for

I will say ... I like the Meguirs wax that I used is ... car is smoooooth now

BTW, what do you think of Einszettes polishes? I need an easy to use Polish from removing VERY minor surface problems, so I though about Einszettes Metalic.

Ok -so this link has me worried about finish on Lexol leather cleaner:

http://store.yahoo.com/autopia/inf-cockpit.html

That would be bad I would need to call and change my order ASAP!!! Help !

FYI - They recommend Einszett Lederpflege for an awesome factory matte look (exactly what I want) ... http://store.yahoo.com/autopia/1z-291141.html

Hmmm ... I might have to swap up my order?

I use both products... For einszett, i have the cockpit premium which i think is a great product. It has a nice smell too. I think autopia is having a sale of einszett products. So check it out...

First of all, that is simply incorrect. Lexol most definitely does not create a shine on leather. I just used it yesterday, and my car looks great.

Second, they are talking about Lexol CONDITIONER. It sounds like you ordered Lexol CLEANER. Two different products.

For general interior cleaning I love Griot's interior cleaner.

It gets everything off everything on the interior. And leaves all plastics clean and factory new. Does great on cloth and leather too.

www.griotsgarage.com

Lexol bundle comes with cleaner and conditioner. I also ordered the 1Z product for the dash and door surfaces. Hmmm ... whatcha think Darth? I trust you man ... I'll stay with the Lexol if you say it is matte conditioner, but sounds like the 1Z leather product for sure is the "latest craze" on Autopia

I'm sure the 1Z product is good. 1Z has an excellent reputation and I don't know anybody who has been unhappy with any of their products.

On the other hand, the Lexol products will work quite well too. I'm sure you will be happy with the conditioner. It leaves your seats looking clean - not overly shiney or sticky. I've been using Lexol on my car for the last year and a half, and have been very satistified.

BTW, DavidB, the owner of Autopia, often pushes 1Z products in his little information bulletins because that used to be the premium brand that he sold. He just ended his buisness relationship with 1Z, and will now be pushing his own brand (SONUS).

darth - I guess for comparison ... I want something that is NOTHING like Meguir's I think I am gonna stick with the Lexol package deal (cleaner and conditioner + microfibre towels)

I did notice Autopia didn't seem to have much 1Z stuff ... interesting.

Yeah, Autopia lost their right to sell 1Z. I don't know what happened, but it created controversy at Autopia.org.

As for the "nothing like Meguirs" - to be honest, I haven't used any Megs products lately besides FINAL INSPECTION and NXT PROTECTANT. So, I can't comment. I know that their consumer oriented products (Gold Class, NXT, etc) tend to emphasize shine and gloss though. For example, I use NXT Protectant ONLY on my tires (which I like to shine). The stuff is far too glossy and sticky to put anywhere else on the car.

Lexol is not a product that knocks my socks off, and something like 1Z MAY be superior. But, it does it's job well. I like it because it is a high quality product that is available at your local Pep Boys, etc. I get sick of having to mail order everything. I'm always looking for better products, but I'm satisfied with Lexol and will stick with it.

So I called to talk to the folks at detailer's paradise about my order (to see how easy it was to change). First off ... this gal knew here STUFF! Not sure some order taker.

Based on what I told her ... she recommended the einszett Lederpflege (and helped me pronounce it ). She threw in a bundle with some discounted microfibre towels as well

So looks like I am going 1Z all the way ... I love this site ... you guys are awesome.

I use just about all of the 1Z products and have no complaints.

that "gal" is heather. shes the wife of nick who owns DP. they are great people and have become very good friends over the past few years. they know everything about every product they sell and will help you in explaining its use and methods or techniques. their customer service is second to none. either nick or heather wil steer you in the right direction and you buy with confidence in knowing they recomemded the right product.

hey darth,

i've tried every polish i can think of from groits, menzerna, 3m, meguires, mothers, ect. ect. and i can honestly say that einszettes makes the best polish i've tried yet. very easy to work with, but i've heard of people not liking it when used by hand. but when used with a PC its so easy to work with and even easier to remove.

for minor swirls the MP will work fine. set you pc to 3 1/2 and polish entire vehicle and then come back and buff off. the MP doesnt punish you for leaving it on for extended periods of time. i would grab their PP(paint polish) in the green can also. its the next step up from the MP and a little more aggressive. same as MP for removal and ease of use. usually i use MP with an orange pad or for very light swirls a white pad. for PP i use an orange or yellow pad. if i use a yellow pad i will follow up with MP and a white pad. their UPP(ultra paint polish) in the yellow can is very aggressive and can be difficult to remove. polish with UPP in very bad cases and remove right away and then follow up with MP and an orange pad for a flawless finish.

if i'm doing and american made car i almost always have to use UPP or an 80/20 mix of UPP/PP due to american clearcoats being as hard as granite. the 80/20 mix delivers alot of bite but the PP mixed in adds in the ease of removal. for the wifes tsx i use PP and an orange pad and her paint is absolutley flawless under 1000 watt halogens. you can also try their WPS (wax polish soft) for every few months use.


mark

Thanks, Mark. I'm probably going to order both products in the next few weeks. Very helpful!

Personally, I think you did the right thing for one primary reason: You can get Lexol anywhere - but 1Z is only available via mail order. So, if you're going through the effort to mail order (and paying shipping costs) you might as well get the less commercial, more rare product. And, like everybody has been saying, 1Z products have a superb rep so you can't go wrong.

no problem. glad to help. let me know what you choose. gonna fly out of town for a couple weeks tonight so hope everyone here has a great holiday and happy new year.


mark

darth and TSXtc ... great help and great thread for others hopefully

TSXtc - You are right ... Heather was awesome ... no rush to hang up and she helped me get exactly what I needed. They have my business (and my brother's once I talk to him) as a result. Good service is hard to find these days and the mail order part doesn't bother me too much.

yeah, i just talked to nick and he said heather helped you out the other day. their service is great, isnt it? dont sweat it about the mail order. i usually get my packages from them within two days. the funny part is that i always get an email conformation shipping number within minutes from hanging up the phone. you're gonna love dealing with them. good luck