Protecting armrests and leather from sweat and oils

[wadams]

I`m new to detailing and have 2 questions:



1) After working out at the gym, I normally drive home in a sweaty shirt. I realize that I should probably change into a dry shirt, but I usually forget. Is this something I should be concerned with as far as the leather of the seats go? Will a standard leather protectant prevent any issues?



2) I usally keep my cars for 8 - 10 years. On my previous cars I have noticed that the armrests (both the driver side door and the center console) slowly become darkened and dirty over time (from both dirt and oils I`m assuming). What`s the best way to prevent this from happening?



Thanks for the advice!



Wayne

[tt72]

Hi Wayne, Look I`m new to detailing but I think it is important to keep sweat off of leather. I have a vette & it`s hot in the interrior even w/ the AC. I keep a spray bottle of distilled water in the car and use it if I get sweat on the seats or arm rests. I also carry some leather conditioner in the car along with some M/F cloths and a 5% woolite-distilled water solution.



When I wash it weekly I have a 5% solution and 10% solution that I use on the interrior. If one don`t do it then the other usually gets it done. I also use a conditioner after using a cleaning solution. Sometimes a spray of distilled water seems to get it done if I get it quickly. I think sweat is ph+ so it attacks leather but I`m not sure. I just figure it can`t be good for any interrior surface.



Tom

[Accumulator]

I`d try to keep it off the leather inthe first place. Besides toweling off, you could try to keep a piece of towel/etc. between your arm and the leather. Or keep a long sleeved t-shirt/sweatshirt in the car to wear on the drive home. I do stuff like this when I take the dogs for a run in the summer, but then the minivan doesn`t have leather either.



When we travel down south in the summer we take cars with leather interiors, and this can be a real issue, no way to keep it off then. I`ve never had any problems from just cleaning the leather really well and retreating it, but I`d still rather not sweat on it in the first place.



If you do what you can to limit the exposure and clean/treat it regularly, I think you should be OK. We keep some of our cars a long time too and the leather armrests in my `85 Jag are a little worn/burnished from all the contact, but they aren`t discolored.

[Don]

About the only thing I can think of is to make sure you clean and condition your leather frequently.