Leather care

[beefyz]

Hi.... detailing/driving and have NEVER had leather anything. Recently got a new Chrysler 300, naturally all leather. What is the best product/procedure to care for it. I`m assuming leather`s biggest problem is it dries as it wears and that it will eventually crack/tear. So I guess it has to be keep pliable/soft ? Is there an all in one product or is it a 2 step process;first a dedicated cleaner & then a protectant ? Some recommendations as to your best product(s) Thanks.

[LeMarque]

Oh Boy ! You may have let the genie out of the bottle :-)

Try a Search, but here`s a fun read:

Leather Cleaner recommend

[Swanicyouth]

Trade it in for a car with cloth seating.

[beefyz]

Why did you even bother posting......very intelligent

[beefyz]

Le Marque.... Thank You... just what I was looking for.....

[PA DETAILER]

Detailer`s Leather Cleaner and Conditioner

One product cleans and protects. DONE!

[tropicsteve]

easy to use & won`t break the bank.
Lexol Leather Care Kit 16 oz.
Meguiars D180 Leather Cleaner & Conditioner 128 oz.

[jfelbab]

My favorite over the past couple decades...Leather Masters Strong Leather Cleaner mixed 50/50 with mildly hot water for the cleaner and Leather Masters Protection Cream for the protection.

[Accumulator]

beefyz- Welcome to Autopia!

Heh heh, few things get these forums stirred up quite like the topic of leather care!

With 99% or more of auto leather being "coated" in one way or another, most "treatments" are a waste of time ad money and actually attract/retain dirt, and dirt (and the abrasion from it getting rubbed in) is what kills leather IMO. OK, some older leather (e.g., my Jaguar) is different, but that stuff is quite uncommon.

(Note that all but one of my vehicles have leather, so the following covers garage-queens to daily drivers, everything except that old Jag

99% of the time I just wipe my leather interiors down with an Interior Quick Detailer. No conditioning, no "treatments", not even any dedicated Leather Cleaner (though I do have a scad of all those products, they just sit onthe shelf most of the time). With all my leather interiors being pretty old now, I can say with confidence that this minimalist approach works great for me over time and many miles of use. I do something more involved maybe every other year, if that often.

Recommended for when you do need leather products- Leather Masters and Sonus. Recommended HIGHLY- stuff from Leather Doctor. I utterly despise Lexol, hate the stuff...but I`ll admit I haven`t tried it for a few years and maybe they`ve changed it. R

emember that bit about leather being coated- most Leather Products only contact the leather by geting through cracks/micro-fissures/worn-through areas/etc. in the coating, otherwise they just sit on top of it (the coating). When those compromises in the coating become more extensive, the rules can change a little and the "conditioning" can be more important and beneficial. But even with my old Tahoe (*really* compromised leather!), I hardly ever need to do much of anything, and people predicted that leather would fail many years ago...hasn`t happened yet.

[beefyz]

Thanks again to all !

Hey ACC... nice to still see you around ! i`m really not a new member, joined back in `05 or so. Just haven`t posted for awhile. Retarded, oh I mean retired, then moved to another state, etc etc yada yada yada, and now getting back into the swing of things.

[WaxAddict]

Unlike the dash, the products you use on coated/painted leather seats just wear off onto your clothing, as you squirm around and get in and out. So on a new car, yeah, what Accum said.

The enemies are UV and dirt/sand. Debris collects in the seams then gets spread around, sanding away at the leather.

[Ronkh]

The sun is the devil

[bmwsf]

My apologies for interrupting this thread, but I`m a new user and can`t figure out how to post a new thread. I can send private messages and post replies but how do I start my own thread? Thanks in advance.

[Accumulator]

The sun is the devil

But fortunately not a whole lot of UV radiation makes it through today`s autoglass. There`s still heat to consider, at least in some locales...