OK, so here is what I am planning to do. Wipe down with damp cloth and apply 303 on pretty much everything except leather trim and glass. That includes any plastic, rubber, vynol, sides and back of seats, etc. On the perforated leather peices in the middle of the seats, doors, steering wheel, etc, I am thinking Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner.

Sound good? Anything I am missing or doing wrong?

Also, what are your thoughts on the following leather care products which I may use instead of Lexol...

Mothers, Meguires, Tannery.

Thanks.

 

I use Meguiar's leather conditioner and their vinyl and rubber protectant and have been very happy with the results. As I've mentioned before, when I first purchased the car, the leather seemed to be extremely dry. After using the leather conditioner it really made the leather feel a lot better. Hope that helps.

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Thanks for the response. Do you use the leather conditioner on the whole seat...or just the middle part and then use the vynol protector on the sides and back?

 

I've been using the leather cleaner/conditioner on the whole seat.

 

I use lexol products for the interior of my cars... but I don't like the shine so i tend to use very little and count on a damp cloth to clean the dash area. so if i use lexol on dash, i follow up with damp cloth to remove as much of it as possible.

 

For the front seats I use the leather conditioner only on the front and sides. The backs of the front seats I protect with the vinyl protectant. Basically, if I am unsure of whether or not a surface is leather, I assume it is leather and go with the leather conditioner. The vinyl protectant explicitly states not to apply to any leather surface.

To sum up, the surfaces that I believe are leather are:
- steering wheel perimeter
- shift knob
- console sliding cover (a little unsure if it is leather or vinyl)
- front portion and sides of the front and back seats
- perforated door panel inserts
- soft door rest "pad"

Hope that helps.

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I just cleaned my entire interior with 303. EVERYTHING. The dash, and doors came out great. The seats are a little too shiny and wrinkly now...so perhaps I did something wrong, or maybe thats how its supposed to look. I wasnt sure about 303 on leather, but the bottle says its ok so i gave it a shot.

 

does 303 make everything shiny? if so don't you find that a little annoying?

 

Not everything. The dash and doors look GREAT. But for the vynol parts of the seats..there are all those grooves so I had to use alot of 303 to make it even and now its shiney,more wrinkly, and more black. But I tried another leather product and it did the exact same thing. Anyways..i wanted to get some kind of protectant on there. It should dry out a bit and get less shiny.

But again...dash and doors look KICK ASS.

What leather product DOESNT make the seats shiny?

 

i sound like broken record, but try lexol's leather care products. It's a cleaner and conditioner combo... 2 bottles. I don't remember ever treating my car and then afterwards go... it's too shiny. I don't like products that make things shiny... such as the dash or seats.

 

303 should not leave a shinny look, it should be like a flat matte. When you apply 303 let it sit for like 10-15 mins (longer if it is hot/humid), then wipe if off with a dry clean cloth.

I've been using 303 on both my 02 TL and now 03 TL. The one thing I have changed is that I use Lexol Cleaner and Conditioner first, then I top it off with 303. Great results!

 

Thanks for the tip copland. A couple questions...

So you use 303 on everything then? Including leather?

If I did not wipe off after 15 minutes, is it worth doing anything now, or will it eventually evaporate?

Thanks.

 

I think adventually the slick fealing and shiny look will start to dull down as it gets use (read: sitting in ur seat, using the steering wheel, etc).

If wiping it down now doesn't do much, or if you have fingerprints that seem to be part of the seats now (happened to me and a few others, if you touch it before it is dry you will leave finger prints) I would treat it with 303 again. Wipe more on, let it sit, and wipe dry.

 

Oh, and yes, I use it for everything! Entire seats, both the leather sections (which on mine are only the performated parts), and the fake leather sections; steering wheel; shifter; door panels; entire dash (not the guages or NAV though ); door jams both rubber and rubber type seals; wiper blades; tires.

Basically everything except glass and rugs.

 

I have used a couple of different kinds of leather protectants but I found that the Armour All Leather Protectant wipes are the best. They are much easier to apply since they are wipes and not sprays or bottles or stuff like that. I highly recommend it. They also make pretty good vinyl and glass cleaners and protectants.

 

Thats interesting because I have those wipes. I used them once...and everyone on here freaked out like using armor all was a sin.

 

It may be because of the different types of leather and vinyl in different cars that some protectants don't work as well. I used the same stuff on my mother's Suburban on her leather seats and the protectant did not do much at all. Now that I think of it, it may depend on the leather or vinyl on which it is applied as to whether or not certain companies' protectants will work. So for Chevrolet and BMW I feel Armour All is the way to go. For Acura, well, it is still up in the air.

 

Other posters don't like Armour All because it tends to leave a finish that is sticky and shines. I used Armour All in my old Accord (which had materials that are similar to the TSX) and I didn't like the result. It did do a good job of cleaning the plastics inside the car, and also go rid of the dull faded look that the dash had gotten from the sun. But, the shine was really extreme. It resulted in a bright glare on the dash, and I promised myself I would never use it again.

I have a giant bottle of it left, but decided to abandon it in favor of Vinylex (which you can get at any Pep Boys). Vinylex seems to have brought out the color in the dash without increasing the shine. I like the end result a lot better.

But, as far as the leather wipes are concerned, those may work quite well. Its just that the protector products from Armour All tend to have side-effects (Shine, stickiness) that nobody likes.

 

People don't like Armor All because of its destructive nature.

source: http://www.properautocare.com/propvincar.html

Armor All contains petroleum distillates, so just substitute their name in the above quote and you get the idea