what product do you guys think is the best option for taking care of leather?

im not talking about cleaning, im talking about keeping it soft and smooth, not greasy or slippery like armor all

i don't want to slide out of my seat and end up with my shifter in my ass because i want my leather to look and feel good

one more thing...softer leather is more important than good looking leather

 

Some guys will say Leatherique, others will say Zaino.

 

I use ACURA leather care products..... you can get em from the dealer.... you can ask the dealer to afford samples for you ... they come in small bottles i guess 8 oz

 

i've researched this before myself and leatherique has gotten great approval from everyone who has used it...I haven't used it myself but that's what I found when trying to find the answer to that question

 

i use woolite to clean the seats followed by meguiars gold class leather wipes to make them smell good...i follow the leather wipe up with a dry micro fibre wipe down...

 

Use water-based leather product (Leather Master Vital)

Always remember you are dealing with the finished coating on the leather and not with the leather hide itself

 

i've been very happy with poorboys leather stuff

 

Its about that easy. I see quite a few get carried away with "The best leather care product ever developed" philosophy. Your treating vinyl covered leather 95% of the time, or vinyl period. Frequent damp MF wipedowns and 90 day moisturizing or UV protection is really all you need.
I truelly believe alot of people consider the best smelling (artificial man scent) to really be the best leather care product. And quite frankly, you have all been fooled by scent-ual marketing!

Kind of like "it's expensive, it has to be good" theory.....Been telling you folks as long as I have been a member, more then what you need doesnt have to be expensive........Waffle Weaves come to mind here....

 

At least for my experience it makes a difference. I've been using 303 Aerospace on my seats, decided to use the Leatherique Combo and it's made the seats on my TL supple and very clean looking. Nice finish and no artificial scents.

 

I've used Lexol Leather Cleaner and Conditioner (they're two separate items) on my car. It doesn't leave a greasy feel like Armor All does. I hate that feeling...

 

where do u get that 303 stuff?

 

The most fundamental question to be answered before you clean or care for leather is to establish the type of leather used in the vehicle and / or finish applied (natural, pigmented, vinyl, urethane coated, and etc) as the methodologies are very specific for each type of leather and/or finish applied. Always remember you are dealing with the finished coating on the leather and not with the leather hide itself

The complex tanning process of chromed tanned hides results in the fat liquoring and oils necessary to keep the hide soft and pliable being locked in, the hide is then has a pigmentation coating (a water-based paint) to ensure a uniform colour. By-cast hides are further sealed by a durable polyethylene covering to protect the hide from abrasion from clothing as well as the dust / dirt introduced by the vehicle’s AC system.

Leather Finishes
Leather is a natural product, with a pH of 4.0 and comes from animal (bovine0 hides, which have been chemically processed (tanned) to preserve them. A properly tanned hide (or skin) creates strong, flexible material; resistant to decay. Most leather is tanned cow hide, which are laterally split, rendering an upper (Aniline) and lower cut (By-cast).

The majority (95% + ) of automotive upholstery is by-cast polyurethane covered leather, these leathers have aspects of a natural finish, but more uniform in appearance, by-cast will also stretch more than top grain leather and is therefore subject to show creasing. The upper portion is the top-grain, or Aniline, the lower portion is the split or by-cast. This cutting process creates different faces to the leather. The outside face of the top grain shows the natural grain characteristics, but is otherwise smooth, whereas, the underside appears as unfinished or suede


Myth buster - many leather products market themselves on how they feed leather. In fact your car's leather seats are first coated with a very fine emulsion to give them the desired colour and then a clear coat. So for best longevity you should be keeping that coating as well protected as possible. These same companies would also have you believe you should feed your vehicles polyurathane upholstery or the car's urethane paint finish with protein, collagen, or exotic oils...

 

 

i use woolite mix with water to clean and then protect with 303... gives it a nice clean and natural matte look...

tempted to try Leatherique, but i can't justify the price... if it were a Ferrari like the ones that Todd works on tho... that's a diff story...

 

IMO Leatherique is worth it. I had been using 303 exclusively on my 2G and it felt nice. I had some leftover Leatherique from a job and did my front seats just for the heck of it.

All I can say is WOW! My leather feels really good, went to a meet last week and secretly compared mine to other cars and there was a huge difference. There's even a big difference between my untreated back seats and treated front ones.

 

I use leather therapy for my car. They have a great line of products and extensive experience in the equestrian field...

 

I use the Turtle Wax Total Interior Care Spray. It leaves a really nice scent and if you use it on your seats, you will literally slide into your seats.

At least that's my impression of it. And it's off the shelves in most stores.

 

+1 Ferrari upholstery is natural (not urathene covered) that's the type of leather Leatherequi is formulated for

 

Can't remember if it was here or another forum, but I saw a thread about a guy who detailed exotics, and he used leatherique.

Damn, the seats looked GOOD after. Looked new and healthy...not slippery or oily.
Haven't used it myself though so I can't say from personal experience.

 

Ya but like posted in #18 above some exotics don't have coated leather. I know my son-in-laws 355 Spider doesn't

 

what ratio of woolite to water?

 

Like 1/2 tsp in a qt sprayer.

 

I use 6 to 1 .. water to woolite.

 

Wow, that strong Dale? Thats like a 1/2 cup in a qt sprayer? I mean thats stronger than what you would use in a washing machine.....

 

Ya been using that or 8/1 for a long time .. no issues ...

 

ok i used something that no one has probably ever used but it is AWESOME!!!!!

i used mink oil because i loved how it made my baseball glove break in and feel really soft.

i gave it a try on my seats and i love it!!!!! it feels much softer. it has a very light gloss to it and it doesnt feel greasy, not one bit.

i rubbed it on my hands like lotion and rubbed it on the seats. i did this so it will not get stuck in the pores of the middle parts of the seats. if so its not a big deal just take a vacuum to it. a good technique is to rub alot on the head rests and then from there, rub some on the porferated parts of the seat. then rub your hands back on the head rests. back to the seats. and so on. the technique is kind of like baseball players keeping pine tar on their batting helmets and tapping it and rubbing it on their bats.

let it sit in the sun and melt and let the leather absorb it. the longer the better. i let it sit over night sometimes. just make sure that before you wipe it is has become a liquid. its kind of like animal fat, it melts into a liquid but is solid at room temp.

wipe it off after it has been sitting in the sun for a while only because it makes it easier to wipe off. use a soft cloth like a micro fiber towel to wipe off the mink oil.

keep the cloth NEVER WASH IT. over time it will collect lots of mink oil and u can rub it down when ever. i keep the cloth in the car at all times. i use it to wipe the dashboard, doors, center console, trim, just about anything except for windows.

best part is that it is very cheap (can be bought at walmart shoe section). it cleans. it makes the seats look good. makes them fee soft. and it is not greasy at all. it will also protect the leather against the sun and i will last longer.

i am so glad i did this because i hated how armer-all made my seats feel. it made them feel glossy and really slippery too. it made my seats feel like crappy pleather.

i cant wait for some of you to try this out and tell me what you think

 

^
Good post! Let's see if anybody else has tried this.

 

The mink oil is interesting, I might try that.

 

Just remember mink oil is more intended for uncoated leather; what works on a ball glove may not be the best for car seats.

Good reading here ...

The most fundamental question to be answered before you clean or care for leather is to establish the type of leather used in the vehicle and / or finish applied (natural, pigmented, vinyl, urethane coated, and etc) as the methodologies are very specific for each type of leather and/or finish applied. Always remember you are dealing with the finished coating on the leather and not with the leather hide itself

The complex tanning process of chromed tanned hides results in the fat liquoring and oils necessary to keep the hide soft and pliable being locked in, the hide is then has a pigmentation coating (a water-based paint) to ensure a uniform colour. By-cast hides are further sealed by a durable polyethylene covering to protect the hide from abrasion from clothing as well as the dust / dirt introduced by the vehicle’s AC system.

Leather Finishes
Leather is a natural product, with a pH of 4.0 and comes from animal (bovine0 hides, which have been chemically processed (tanned) to preserve them. A properly tanned hide (or skin) creates strong, flexible material; resistant to decay. Most leather is tanned cow hide, which are laterally split, rendering an upper (Aniline) and lower cut (By-cast).

The majority (95% + ) of automotive upholstery is by-cast polyurethane covered leather, these leathers have aspects of a natural finish, but more uniform in appearance, by-cast will also stretch more than top grain leather and is therefore subject to show creasing. The upper portion is the top-grain, or Aniline, the lower portion is the split or by-cast. This cutting process creates different faces to the leather. The outside face of the top grain shows the natural grain characteristics, but is otherwise smooth, whereas, the underside appears as unfinished or suede


Myth buster - many leather products market themselves on how they feed leather. In fact your car's leather seats are first coated with a very fine emulsion to give them the desired colour and then a clear coat. So for best longevity you should be keeping that coating as well protected as possible. These same companies would also have you believe you should feed your vehicles polyurathane upholstery or the car's urethane paint finish with protein, collagen, or exotic oils...

 

^
yeah it doesnt have as a dramitic softening effect as natural leather like a baseball glove but it works great.

it not like i did this today and just posted it. i first tried this about a month ago and have used it several times now. it makes the leather very noticeably softer. every time i get in my car, sink in to the seats, and feel the leather on the shift knob i say WOW. mink oil is good in many ways for leather. one i forgot to mention is waterproofing the leather. have not tested this out how ever but it bound to happen.

should i make a new post with the tips and instructions???

 

I'd be somewhat interested.

The other thing that came to mind is Neatsfoot compound (oil). Probably would have a similar effect as the Mink.

The only thing that is making me hesitant is the fact that in the above posts the seats are in fact clear coated, so the oil type product wouldn't be that beneficial...

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like conflicting information, but I kinda believe everbody (if that makes sense ), being that people seemed to have tried the oil based products like the mink, and seem to notice a differance, and others say just use a produt like 303 and preserve that clear coat.

Any insight?

 

Go to www.autopia.org and do a search ... there is 10,000 leather experts there but once you get down to the knowledgable ones .. your treating the coating .. not the leather ... so oils don't do any good.

or look here

http://detailingwiki.com/index.php5?...e_Leather_Care

 

well im not trying to protect the coating. i actually D-gaf the coating i just want the leather to feel soft and smooth and to last.

mink oil does just that and at a very low price and can be picked up where u buy all ur other stuff.

sure there must be better products but they can get pricey and complicated

 

Congrats to you, you have found something off the beaten path, and it works.......

 

Agreed it does however have the same disavantages as any other oil-based product on (urathene) covered leather.

Mink oil is a source of palmitoleic acid, which possesses physical properties similar to human sebum. Because of this, mink oil is used in several medical and cosmetic products. Mink oil is also used for treating/conditioning and preserving nearly all kinds of leather [Wikipedia]

 

What are these disadvantages?

 

Well, oil in general is a dust attractant. No one wants dirts embedded in the crevices and such amigo....

 

i use a leather car care kit sold at the dealership for $10 which comes with leather protectant, carpet spot remover and vinyl cleaner.

 

Im a soap and water kind of guy myself. Then a little 303 with a water damp MF towel.

 

i want to try 303 where do u get it from?