Making leather softer

[zarbat007]

Hi everyone.



Some sections of leather in my 2002 BMW 530i are kinda hard, not soft the way I like it to be.

I don`t think I should go with leatherique since it requires heat (its getting cold in Canada) and I`ve read mixed reviews about it.



How does Leather master leather vital sound? Does it really make the leather softer?

And the leather master protectant... would you choose it over 303 for leather seats?



Thanks.

[AeroCleanse]

I`ve switched to GTechniq L1 for leather.

[detailman1]

check with wwwcolorplus.com She sells to world class collectors world wide.Best i have seen

[mhuf]

I swear by Leatherique, used it for 10 years on many cars. The heat thing is for really bad/hard leather. You have to be careful with the leather ... remember your threads that hold it together get soft too !!

couple of years ago I came up with a really good mix of leather softners that worked very well...trouble was...it also made the stiching

soft and it broke !

[zarbat007]

Thanks for reply everyone. I`ve never heard of GTeqnique or colorplus stuff. I`ve read several threads in bimmerforums about leatherique staining BMW leather.



What does everyone think of Leather Master leather vital and protectant?

[jfelbab]

Long time (15+ years) user of Leather Master products and swear by them. Vital will soften some leather but leather is made soft in the manufacturing process so if it was never soft you probably won`t make it much softer with Vital or any other conditioner. I`ve found BMW leather to be rather hard in general.



I especially like the LM Protectant. It has eliminated all my concerns of bluejean dye transfer and belt stain transfer on my ivory leathers. It dries silky smooth to the touch.

[zarbat007]

Thanks for reply.

However, I think the leather in my BMW should be a bit softer. Driver`s seat is softer than passengers, and some sections on rear seat (not the whole seats- sections) are harder than others.



Sounds like LM Protectant is a winner. But what about the leather vital? Does it really make the leather softer the same way leatherique supposedly does?

[gav'spurplez]

i have been using blue magic leather conditioner for my camaro and "detail" customers........ over the years it has softened up the top of my back seat in the camaro.

[Roger Koh]

Thanks for reply.

However, I think the leather in my BMW should be a bit softer. Driver`s seat is softer than passengers, and some sections on rear seat (not the whole seats- sections) are harder than others.



Sounds like LM Protectant is a winner. But what about the leather vital? Does it really make the leather softer the same way leatherique supposedly does?







Leather fibrous structure averaging 1mm in thickness is originally tannery softened by fatliquoring (fat, oil and water); without this “lifeblood of leather” the leather will remain stiff; as the leather age it becomes less soft as you have notice on the passenger`s seat.



“Driver`s seat is softer than passengers” may be true because of over stretching, compressing and flexing.



Thus the driver softer seat is the result of breaking of the interlocking fibrils (without the lubricating effect of the fat, oil and water); that weakens the leather strength thus makes the leather surface looser with ripples of creases.



Resulting in the thinning and weakening of the leather structure, where the usage depends.



The solution is to rejuvenate it with the original fatliquor to plump up the thickness and fullness of the fibrous leather structure.



A healthy leather would average 15% of fatliquor.



Unless rejuvenating oils or fatliquors can penetrate the fibrous leather structure; it cannot soften the leather for suppleness.



All products that lie on the surface will all go to waste.



If a product says…”except suede/nubuck”; than it is outright useless as the leather structure that need to be soften is mainly compose of the “corium” fibrous protein fiber; from the reverse suede side to the nubuck leather crust below the finishes.



We should separate the surface conditioning from the leather structure conditioning; and only discuss those products that can offer us some hope.



The effectiveness of softening “plastiky” leather poses more problems in softening them.



It had to depends on product dependant on heat or surfactantcy; physical condition of the leather like surfce micro-cracks, worn areas, needleholes, perforation; techniques like a sauna conditioning, controlled evaporation by cling wrapper, dwelling time, applying oil first and cleaning off excess, or using hydrator as the preconditioner prior to fatliquoring.



Then we are left with rejuvenating with oil versus fatliquoring to soften the leather fibrous structure.



Roger Koh

info@leatherdoctor.org