Coated or non-Coated Leather (how to tell?)

[moriah]

As you can see, I`m new here.



I just bought a 2004 Honda Accord EX with leather. The leather is not the perforated kind that is in the 2006 model I test-drove, and it is dry and in some places it looks like some of the grain has been worn off (the side of the passenger seat nearest the window...) It looks great in the back, but I want to prevent any more damage to it.



The trouble is, all of the advice I`ve seen about treating and conditioning leather depends on if it`s coated or non-coated leather.



How can you tell what kind of leather you have? My dealer was no help... "Huh?" was his response to my question.



Honda has also apparently stopped selling their branded interior leather cleaner/protectant. So that won`t be any help -- I figured I could use what they say to use on OnwerLink and be good... heh. Wrong!



I appreciate all of you helping out a gal who has a nice leather interior for the first time...



(Oh, paid $13.5 for it, with 53,600 miles -- 4k under blue book! :dance: )

[AutoCadillac]

Drop a few drops of water on the leather. If they sit there as a bead, it`s coated. If it is absorbed into the leather, it isn`t.

[brwill2005]

Definitely coated leather.

[moriah]

Thank you both for answering my question! You were right, from the water drop test it is coated leather. (I did it in the back, where it`s in better shape, rather than in the front where it`s not and where I`ll see it more often...)



Now I can protect the leather, hopefully improve its condition a bit, and at least keep it from getting worse! (Only someone nitpicking could tell now... but it`s my car, I`m going to nitpick a bit.)

[imported_DetailDan]

Unfortunately, conditioning wont bring the leather back. Rather itll just keep help keep it from getting worse. You should look into getting some Leatherique.

[moriah]

Is Leatherique safe/effective on coated leather? That`s part of the reason I asked about coated vs non-coated, I`d read a few horror stories about it on coated leather. But if you guys say it works, I`ll trust you -- perhaps they didn`t apply it correctly or it looks bad until you re-clean and re-condition it?



I can tell the people who had this car before did not garage it -- the faceplate on the aftermarket DVD system had actually *melted* due to heat. Needless to say, it will be garaged from now on.



Thanks for all the help!

[gmblack3]

I have used leatherique on coated leather many times w/ very good results. Never had a problem at all.