New posts (Nov 2011) on Autopia Detailing Wiki

There is a great deal of conflicting information on leather care being put out by leather experts themselves who use baffling pseudo scientific techno speak as another marketing ploy, which makes it difficult to find a definitive, unbiased answer. Here is one definitive truth –you are dealing with the leathers finish, not the hide itself.

The use of oils, replacement of fat liquor, oil-based conditioning, proteins or the adjustment of pH levels is totally unnecessary; the surface ...

Leather naturally absorbs and retains moisture vapour, meaning it’s also susceptible to losing the moisture necessary to keep it pliant and soft. One of major attribute is its ability for transpiration (allowing the movement of moisture back and forth (evaporation and hydration), which it does even better than wool. This means not just its permeability to air but its permeability to water vapour, on the other hand, whilst it absorbs water vapour it doesn't readily absorb liquid, so a light rain ...

a) Finished leather - unless a Premium Leather option was purchased the type of leather upholstery used by 95% of OEM is a multi stratum covering over the leather hide; the top strata is the surface pigmentation (colour) and an abrasion resistant urethane.

b) Covered leather – see (a) above

c) Pigmented leather – a spray-on colouring applied to a leather surface. More often pigmentation is applied to a urethane, which provides an even colour to the upholstery as ...

Surface preparation is one of the most important steps when polishing to achieve a flawless finish. Regardless of how clean you think your paint is, there are still contaminants stuck on the paint that you need to remove before waxing or polishing your paint. Road film, oil, tar, grease, water spots and other environmental contaminants bond to the paint and glass surfaces and are difficult to remove. Glass and especially the windshield and rear window on trucks and SUVs are prone to these surface ...

Provided the paint finish has been rinsed adequately (See Drying a Vehicle ‘sheeting’ water) there should be no dirt residue.

Water is a good solvent but a very poor surface lubricator. Try using a drying aid type detailer (Dodo Juice USA Time to Dry, Finish Kare FK425, Autoglym Aqua Wax or Car Plan Demon Shine) diluted 1:1 with distilled water, which provides lubricity to the paint's surface, in tandem with a damp waffle weave towel (wet, wring and then wipe) when drying your car ...