Most Effective Leather Reconditioner

[Striker]

I try not to make things overly difficult whenever I can. I often will take a leap of faith - except that one time that brake parts cleaner ate the finish on my valve covers but that`s a different story)

My pal uses autoglym on his ram and loves it. He has the top of the line limited with much nicer leather than found in any of my cars.


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[Accumulator]

Striker- From what I can tell, your mindset is such that any Leaps of Faith you take related to caring for your leather will turn out just fine. IMO the chances of some Catastrophic Mistake are minimal, especially since AutoGlym is simply a very good product line.

[Stokdgs]

From as far back as the early 2000`s in my experiences, Autoglym has always been a great name in the Auto Detailing Industry here and in Europe for much, much, longer..

I absolutely loved their Interior Shampoo and purchased gallons of it before all of a sudden, Autoglym disappeared from every Detail Supply place that I frequented..
If you can ever find any of it, you will be simply amazed at how great this one product works..
Dan F


They also make a great Leather Care product and I am down to my last, several year old bottle...

[Striker]

I just walked past a whole pile of autoglym leather care. Never knew it was good stuff as no one ever talks about it.


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[Pats300zx]

From as far back as the early 2000`s in my experiences, Autoglym has always been a great name in the Auto Detailing Industry here and in Europe for much, much, longer..

I absolutely loved their Interior Shampoo and purchased gallons of it before all of a sudden, Autoglym disappeared from every Detail Supply place that I frequented..
If you can ever find any of it, you will be simply amazed at how great this one product works..
Dan F


They also make a great Leather Care product and I am down to my last, several year old bottle...

I am with you Dan on Autoglyms leather conditioner. It`s a really great product and just works. I am down to the last of my ancient bottle as well.

[kestrel452]

OP here...

Finally received the car on Friday. I put a generous amount of Leatherique rejuvinator oil on the seats to soak in overnight, only for them to still be sticky the next morning. Applying that stuff is somewhat of a battle, it`s like liquid brake pads for your microfiber. I finally took some CG leather cleaner to it and wiped off the seats. After that, I put CG leather conditioner on them, which was far easier to use. It also had a fantastic leather scent to it, unlike the somewhat nasty smell of Leatherique.

Though I`m left wondering what either of them actually did for the leather, as it didn`t seem much different afterwards, and the slight wrinkles on the left bolster of the driver seat didn`t appear improved (though maybe that`s expecting too much). The leather in the car is immaculate on the whole, and my aim is to keep it that way. I`ll probably just stick with the Chemical Guys brand leather conditioner from now on...

After I get the car back from the body shop that`s giving the exterior an all-over machine polishing, I`ll lay down another coat the leather conditioner, let it soak overnight, and follow up with CG`s Leather Serum. Seem like a sensible plan???

[Lonnie]

kestrel452:
If you found something that works for you on your particular vehicle`s leather, keep using it. Keep us informed on how Chemical Guy`s Leather Rejuvenator works on your leather.
This thread has a plethora of information and opinions on "proper" leather care and seems to take on a life of its own on what works, what does not, use conditioners, don`t use conditioners.

Here`s a recent "experience" of mine on black leather in a 2014 Ford Explorer. I cleaned it using Megs D101 APC (Yes, this is "contradictory" to what I SHOULD do, but it was in the interest of time, and it works well) I bought some Griot`s Leather Conditioner locally OCT at Advanced Auto to replace the Lexol Leather Conditioner that has received a "do not use on leather" reviews within this particular thread. When I applied it to the seat, it smelled like a urinal! It was BADDD! Apparently, the Megs APC and Griot`s Leather Conditioner are not compatible. It must be the "conditioner" in Griot`s is a ureic-based compound/chemical to leave the leather slightly acidic, but it did not "play" or smell "pleasant" after using Meg`s D101 APC. It did leave the leather looking very nice, perhaps a little more "shiny" than natural, but it worked. The Griot`s leather conditioner could have been used by its self as one-step cleaner and conditioner on the leather, and maybe that is what I will do in the future OR I will use Woolite soap to clean dirty leather, then use Griot`s.
Now, does Griot`s Leather Conditioner have a bad smell by itself, OR do I have a bad production batch? (Remember, I am the forum member who raised the question about Meg`s Quik Interior Detailer smelling like vinegar that WAS a bad production batch that they took care of for those who noticed a similar experience.) Don`t know!
What I do know is DO NOT use Megs D101 APC and Griot`s Leather Conditioner together. Yes, the smell will dissipate rather shortly after doing so (2 hours), but the initial smell is less-than "pleasant". Live and learn.....

[Striker]

My shipment of leather masters came in and I used it on the fiesta st recaros.

It worked well. I think it definitely made them softer without a doubt.


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[Accumulator]

Striker- Glad to hear the Leather Masters worked well for you. Interesting that it softened them, huh?

[Striker]

I believe it did ya. They had the consistency of plywood before. Now it`s definitely better!


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[Accumulator]

That`s how it went with some of my leather interiors that [others] said "couldn`t be conditioned"

[Raymoche]

I believe it did ya. They had the consistency of plywood before. Now it`s definitely better!


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Having the same car and seats, I agree... Consistency of plywood and texture of plaster.

After rubbing them up in some leather cleaner and conditioner, its awesome, I think it will benefit more after another treatment down the road.

[Striker]

Yea I think I`m going to hit them with another dose of leather masters just to be safe.

Product works well.


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[RippyD]

Tried a bunch of different stuff, including Leather Doctor. Tried these on test patches and then full seats with 3 products based on patch results. Car is an `06 Land Rover LR3. (Grrr... can`t get bulleted list to work consistently.)

• Lexol cleaner and conditioner: Leather is rougher. Almost looks and feels dehydrated.
• APC only: Looks fine. Actually feels better than the Lexol treated patch. Seems dry.
• DG 203: Feels better than the other two. Slight satin finish.
• Shoe conditioner/cleaner: Leather feels and looks better than Lexol and DG 203. It looks more hydrated/swollen.
• Bick 4 conditioner: Worked similar to the shoe stuff. Leather feels softer and looks smoother.
• Bick 5: Similar to Bick 4, but less swelling of the leather.
• DG 221 leather conditioner: similar to the Bicks. Leather is a little less soft.
• Leather Doctor: Seats look fantastic and feel very good. They are less soft than the Bick 4.
• Polish Angel: Seats feel better than Lexol and DG 203. Unremarkable otherwise.

Leather Doctor seems to work very well. The seat I did with LD looks fantastic. The area treated with Bick 4 feels the best. Bick 5 and DG 221 are close in terms of feel. It could be the Leather Doctor areas look better due to the multi-step cleaning process.

In terms of smoothness of the seats, meaning less texture (which may indicate hydration) and stiffness, Bick 4 is on top followed by the shoe stuff. Leather Doctor, DG 221, and Bick 5 all had similar swelling and smoothness. Everything else left more texture in place and left the leather feeling more dry and rougher.

Either of the Bicks products and DG 221 seem like a bargain. Best looking: Leather Doctor. Best feel: Bick 4. Next best feel: LD, Bick 5, and DG 221. Leather Doctor likely isn`t usable by a detailer based on cost and the lengthy process/dwell times.

No idea which of these are good or bad for durability. I want to believe that Leather Doctor is better because it`s a multi-product treatment with different process for different leather conditions. But don`t know. I`ve found it nearly impossible to figure out what should work or not - too many divergent opinions. Note that Leather Doctor instructions acknowledge that their stuff won`t permeate car seats until there is "micro crazing" (a network of small cracks). This lends credibility both POVs that car seats are and are not permeable. Not that LD also recommends very long dwell times for some of their products.

The one consistent thing I`ve read about leather care in general and car seats specifically is that dirt is the enemy. So I`ll try to keep the dirt off first. My process going forward will likely be to wipe down the seats weekly with a damp MF towel. I will use a very dilute APC or DG 203 for occasional light cleaning. My guess is that had I done this from day 1 my seats would still look new.

Will try to post some pics when I get the time.

[Accumulator]

RippyD- Thanks for that good comparison! Especially appreciated the mention of the Bix stuff, which I hadn`t heard of.

Yeah, the Leather Dr. stuff (which I`m always raving about) certainly *is* pretty labor/time-intensive compared to simpler systems.