Most Effective Leather Reconditioner

[rlmccarty2000]

If you want a OTC (also sell it here) try Mothers. They have a leather cleaner that foams and a conditioning cream to follow up. The foaming action of the cleaner is one of the best I have found. I use this on my old 1993 Cadillac Deville that has real leather (many cows died for this boat). The seats are 23 years old and are soft and supple.

[Striker]

Nice. Thanks for the consideration!


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[RippyD]

But my #1 choice, for the rare occasions when I actually treat it, is the unscented stuff from Leather Doctor. I forget the product numbers, but both the "draggy feel" and the "smooth feel" (or whatever he calls them) protectants come in unscented versions.

Looked at the Leather Doctor web site. That guy has about 50,000 products. I think the stuff you referred to is Protector-D (draggy) and Protector-S (silky). Based on these I suspect you have aniline leather in your Audi. Guessing most of the rest of us do not have aniline leather.

Need to do more reading.

[Accumulator]

Looked at the Leather Doctor web site. That guy has about 50,000 products. I think the stuff you referred to is Protector-D (draggy) and Protector-S (silky). Based on these I suspect you have aniline leather in your Audi. Guessing most of the rest of us do not have aniline leather.

Need to do more reading.

Ah yeah..."silky" feel. That`s it. Subtle diffs but they`re there.

Actually, I do *not* think the 2000/2001 Audis have analine leather. It seems like all the other German cars I`ve had and the same stuff that works so well in the Audis also works fine on the Tahoe (though I seldom use Leather Doctor stuff on that vehicle). The "Connolly" leather in the `93 Audi is different and I`ve never tried the Leather Doctor stuff on that one or the Jag (same Connolly leather).

Email/etc. Roger and ask *him* what to get for the vehicles in question, that`s what I did (and why I can be completely happy with my results despite still not knowing as much as I should about the leather interiors in my vehicles ).

[Lonnie]

If you do need to clean/wipe down COATED leather, like that found in most less-expensive vehicles, try Woolite soap. Yes, the clothing soap made for wool. I got this tip from long-time Autopian (now MIA) Scottwax. I think it was he who got this info from a GM Cadillac Technical Service Bulletin (TSB....or maybe the owner`s manuals) to use this on their leather interiors from the late 60`s, early 70`s. Works OK for something over-the-counter and cheap.

Some of you use Meg`s Detailer Line D101 APC for cleaning interiors, including leather. BE CAREFUL not to use too strong a dilution ratio or it can remove the dye. 10:1 in recommended for cleaning leather. If you use the same ratio as that for cleaning tires or wheel wheels (3:1 or 4:1; IE, the same spray bottle) you may be asking for trouble. I found this out the hard way cleaning a LazyBoy leather chair in my home. Just my experience.....

Seems to me that vehicle leather cleaning and conditioning topics is one of the most controversial subjects in this forum and keeps coming up. There was a leather "expert" from England, named Judy (I think) who used to give good, sound advice in this forum (in my estimation) and she was raked-over-the-coals, burned-at-the-stake, for some of her opinions and advice by the less-informed and "uneducated". It just seems like there are a lot "different" leather cleaning products on the market these days.

Roger Koh (like Kohl`s department store, but without the "l") is the founder of Leather Doctors and a world-leading expert on leather care and developer of chemical leather-care products. As Accumulator said, he is "difficult" to order from, being in British Columbia, Canada, and somewhat expensive. That said, for those of you who have Ford Trucks with the King Ranch Leather interior (or detail such trucks from time-to-time), he has a kit that is designed specifically for that leather. Truck interiors have been literally ruined by the wrong application of so-called "leather cleaners" used on this particular leather.

[RippyD]

Email/etc. Roger and ask *him* what to get for the vehicles in question, that`s what I did (and why I can be completely happy with my results despite still not knowing as much as I should about the leather interiors in my vehicles ).

I did so this morning. He got back to me ridiculously quickly. He didn`t tell me what leather the seats have. He did tell me what products to use if they were semi-analine vs. protected vs. perforated. I still have to figure out what`s what. And in both cars the middle of the seat is perforated and the edges are not. I`ll send him pics and see if that helps. And I`ll keep reading. If the car companies would just tell us what`s in there it would be easier. Chances are both cars have protected leather that`s more like vinyl than anything.

[Accumulator]

Be careful using APCs on leather, they`re often alkaline which is the exact opposite of what you want for leather (which oughta be left a little acidic according to Roger). Not slamming it, I`ve used OptiClean and others myself....before I got the Leather Doctors stuff

RippyD- Glad to hear he got back to you promptly!

I`ll try to remember to go out to the shop and see which of his products I have..I`m quite certain that I didn`t get "anything special" though. IIRC I`ve only used the Cleaner..well, maybe two different Cleaners, the Rinse Agent, and the two Protectants.

For the perforations (haven`t dealt with those for a while...) the trick IME is to use a minimal amount of product, and I do mean *MINIMAL*. Again, I wonder what Roger will say about that..hope it`s not something like "remove the leather from the seat and treat it", he can be pretty big on high-user-involvement processes that I`m not gonna struggle with.

And as I keep saying, even the "coated, so nothing penetrates" types of leather *have* benefitted from using those products that "shouldn`t work", at least after the leather got a bit broken-in. But the Protectants work great IME no matter what, look/feel great and I`m confident that their protective qualities are top-shelf.

Lonnie- Yeah, those King Ranch interiors are apparently easy to [mess] up! I wonder...are *those* analine leather?

One thing I`ve always wondered about regarding Woolite- how do you rinse it off? Even at a very diluted mix, that`s just not something I`d want to leave on my leather (I do use Woolite in the laundry so I`m familiar with it). But then I`m so "leave it clean!" about the rinsing that unless I`m using Sonus I`ll generally reach for the Leather Doctors Rinse Agent, which does leave things slightly acidic.

And yeah, Judy was a Leather Industry Pro who certainly knew her business..her approaches often reminded me of Roger`s even though there were differences. She did indeed get flamed by a lot of people for some reason.

[Bill D]

Roger used to post here too. Maybe he too got flamed a lot and so he stopped?

[Striker]

It wouldn`t shock me that she got flamed. I think people just loooove seeing some greasy ass product on their leather that`s shined up to a new degree vs something that works.

I tried ordering the product from NY as mentioned further up in this thread. 60 bucks for shipping to Canada! No ty.




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[RippyD]

Lonnie- Yeah, those King Ranch interiors are apparently easy to [mess] up! I wonder...are *those* analine leather?

Not Lonnie, but per the recent reading I`ve been doing the answer is yes, aniline leather.

[RippyD]

Be careful using APCs on leather, they`re often alkaline which is the exact opposite of what you want for leather (which oughta be left a little acidic according to Roger). Not slamming it, I`ve used OptiClean and others myself....before I got the Leather Doctors stuff

Makes sense after doing some reading. Most leathers seem to be in the 3-4 pH range (please correct me if wrong). Some people recommend going to town on car leather with APC and a brush. So many divergent opinions... Will be interested to see what Dr. L has to say. I sent pics of my seats and some cracks in my Rover seats. btw, I`m not expecting a personal consultation from the guy - I get that he`s in business to sell product, not to email me all about the specifics of my cars.

And as I keep saying, even the "coated, so nothing penetrates" types of leather *have* benefitted from using those products that "shouldn`t work", at least after the leather got a bit broken-in. But the Protectants work great IME no matter what, look/feel great and I`m confident that their protective qualities are top-shelf.

What I`m reading is that the coating on car leather is breathable and water permeable, and that leather needs to be hydrated. So water based conditioners can work. Oil based conditioners are bad for car leather. Please don`t ask me to explain - I`m just regurgitating what I`ve read.

[RippyD]

RippyD- Glad to hear he got back to you promptly!

After seeing pics of my seats he recommended aniline leather products. Seems odd to me, but I know nothing about leather. I asked him to pls confirm. If so, I`ll give them a try.

UPDATE: Roger corrected recommendation to perforated leather. Products seem to be the same except different hydrator version. This guy is very responsive.

And Accumulator... I`m taking your personal guarantee that this stuff will make my seats look better than new, darken the increasing amount of grey hair I have, and make my kids behave better. If this doesn`t work out I`ll expect you to clean, polish, and coat the wheels on my SUV.

[Accumulator]

RippyD- Heh heh, that "personal guarantee" thing is a big part of why I keep stressing the "YMMV!" aspect of this stuff

Ya know...I`ve had a scad of cars with leather interiors, currently have five (only three are actually in-use). But I`ve never put much thought/effort into the whole Leather Interior Treatment thing. Don`t know from Analine/etc. leathers, don`t give much thought to coated/not...just somehow muddle my way through perfectly well despite this appalling ignorance. I`m sure not recommending this sort of approach to anybody else though!

Three leather interiors in daily drivers: `93 Audi (NEVER treated in any way for first 15 years) ; `00 A8 (six-figure miles) ; `00 Tahoe (six-figure miles) with leather that was stiff, peeling, and horribly cracked when I got it (still cracked with that same degree of peeling but not a *bit* worse after years in my hands), those are all used very hard but the leather in them simply isn`t deteriorating despite my negligence.

Here`s what I got from Leather Doctor:

-Auto Pigmented Leather Care Kit AP3 w/Buttery Feel 76 and Draggy Feel 79 Protectants
-additional Cleaner 3.8
-additional Rinse 3.0

[Stokdgs]

If there will ever be a place to learn Leather Science then perhaps we will be able to know definitively, that coated automotive Leather does absorb moisture, and here, you can see its absorption rate through an electron microscope or something..

The only leather experts that I have ever read up on all say that coated/treated/ leather does indeed absorb products, and it is needed to keep the leather pliable so it will wear longer..

The RATE at which it absorbs anything is the part that hangs up a lot of folks probably, and I guess if I poured an amount of water on a leather seat and it all seemed to run off quickly, it would seem possible that coated leather does not absorb any moisture at all..

But then why is it that coated, and treated with conditioners, seats that have been subjected to daily use, lots of hot days in the sun, lots of things spilled on them, etc., years of getting rubbed on by people sitting on them, etc., look and feel so much better than seats that have gone through the same scenario but have just been used, and never had anything applied on them???

I have seen enough of the same kinds of leather in many similar vehicles to be able to see and know the difference between those that perhaps had something good or bad, slathered all over them periodically by well meaning people, and then, the leather in similar vehicles where absolutely nothing was ever done to them...

If there is an error for either of the 2 camps - I have always chosen to error on the side of applying the best possible product on leather that will safely remove the embedded gunk and then leave enough moisture for however long it lasts, to hopefully keep it more pliable and resistant to wrinkles that eventually lead to cracks in the surface which then shows the color breaking up and the real color of the hide underneath...
Dan F

[Striker]

Sonax and leather masters seem like good products. Mike Philips at auto geek just reviewed the new sonax cleaner and conditioner. I`ve got the trans am with the thick leather seats which never gets driven anyways and the new fiesta with super stiff leather.


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