Tackling dirty leather

[Porkanbeans]

It`s been a long while since I`ve posted pics, but we finally replaced our stolen digital camera.



The better part of my day today was spent detailing this 2003 Ford Expedition with a whopping 74,000 miles already on the clock. Over time, 3 giant black labs and countless trips have taken their toll on the light tan interior. The leather was trashed to say the least. I figured this would be the perfect initial test for Top of The Line`s Deep Down leather and vinyl cleaner I received a week ago. So I mixed it 10:1 with water in a Zep Professional spray bottle (available at HD), grabbed a stiff brush and a few terry towels and got to work.



Here is the middle portion of the 2nd row seat. It was by far the worst of all the rear seats. Before:



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398421281NGkumD_ph.jpg



The same seat after:



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398422764ylfOpW_ph.jpg



And compared to the seat to the right of it:



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398422534ZbhbDv_ph.jpg



This is the passenger side 2nd row seat bottom. As you can see, it was pretty bad:



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398423013Cndjsn_ph.jpg



Here is a half clean and half untouched of the same seat after just one pass:



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398423235rKXErc_ph.jpg

[detailthis]

Big Difference! I found that Hi-temps leather cleaner and conditioner works pretty good as well.



Nice work!

[Porkanbeans]

This is the left bolster of the driver`s seat. The lighter area is clean after only 1 application of Deep Down.



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398422313YRGRPY_ph.jpg



The bottom of the same seat. The lighter area is clean.



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/3129/398422041LzJynL_ph.jpg



To acheive these results, all I did was spray a good coat of Deep Down on the seats, work the brush front to back, side to side, and in a circular motion in stubborn spots, and wiped the residue with a terry towel. It`s that simple. Some areas did require a second pass though. One tip I will pass along is to work in sections of the seat where it is broken up by the stitching. This will help from excess cleaner dripping down the seat and making run marks in the uncleaned leather that are a pain to match the rest of the seat to.



Overall, I am very pleased with Deep Down. Cleaning these seats seemed almost effortless. The Zep spray bottle I used is a pretty high volume sprayer, and that was key for getting even coverage of the cleaner. A stiff nylon brush is a must if you plan on trying to clean seats like this. I don`t know what I would`ve done without it. The one I use is a Rubbermaid Carwares interior brush I got at Target. It`s a great brush for use on everything on the interior.



I`ll have more pics of the rest of the detail later today. Thanks for reading!

[klnyc]

What conditoner are you using?

Nice nice btw :bigups

[Beason]

Nice work!! I also had luck with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but that seem like a better more cost efficent way to deal with it.

[Porkanbeans]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Right now I don`t have a conditioner, so for this particular job I found a bottle of Meguiar`s Rich Leather Cleaner and Conditioner and wiped the seats down with it. It turned out nice. You definitely don`t want to leave seats unconditioned after using this kind of cleaner with a strong dilution like I used. The seats had no shine to them and they felt very dry, so definitely use a conditioner.



Also, for the creases in the leather that hold dirt, all I did was run the brush up and down the crease line and they came out like new.