King Ranch leather: My miracle project, and products/methods used

[kmh1596]

Hello all,

I did this project late last year, and wanted to share with the forum, as I know there are a lot of unknowns on how to work with (at least the early Generation of) King Ranch leather, as many detailers (hobbyist or professional) seldom come across them. After buying my 04 Eddie Bauer Expedition with a SHOT interior, I set out on a mission to locate a King Ranch interior. When I luckily came across an interior from an 05 Expedition King Ranch, I jumped on it. They only made the 03-06 Expedition body style in a King Ranch for 05-06, with not many produced in those years.

The condition of the seats when I received them was FAR from the condition shown in the pictures from the parts yard.

At least for the earlier generations, the King Ranch leather was an un-coated Analine Leather. Very susceptible to staining, discoloration, and you cannot necessarily use any leather cleaner and conditioner on them; the wrong conditioner will be the equivalent of dumping grease on them.

BEFORE:











Luckily, once I sent the pictures to the owner of the recycling yard that I bought them from, he insisted on refunding most of the order, stating that he had no idea why they even left their shop that way. Being that shipping was so pricey ($450 from VA to MA on a poorly-packaged pallet), he also said he did not want to pay to ship them back, because he knew what he`d be receiving: something they couldn`t resell.

So, it was a win-win situation if I could get them cleaned and conditioned without them getting any worse. I found a thread on an F150 forum noting a "spa treatment" to use on them. DISCLAIMER: I have heard from an equestrian friend of mine that soaking any leather (ie a saddle or saddle-like uncoated king ranch leather) with water or any kind of water/soap solution can dry it out and remove the natural oils from it. That said, it removes the oil and grease that was embedded from years of mistreatment also.

This included a capful of Baby Shampoo (tearless was recommended, not sure if it matters?) and a pan of water as hot as you can handle. Using 2 microfiber towels soaked in the solution, I alternated towels to be sure that each area was well soaked. The towels would come off of the seat very dirty, which meant it was working. With patience, I made my way through each seat (fronts, mainly, backs were okay) and the armrest (perhaps the worst out of everything due to skin oils, etc). I got to the point where I had two spots going at once, (4 towels total) and could alternate them as they cooled down, to be a bit more productive. The trick to part of this was that once you were happy with how they cleaned up, and/or confident that you had pulled out enough of the dirt and oils on the seat, was to coat them with the conditioner while they were wet (and pores of the leather open) to help in re-moisturizing them.

During one of the Spa Treatments:




As for the conditioner, I had seen very good results with people using Leather CPR, available at Bed Bath and Beyond, or getting a larger 32oz container on Amazon for ~$21.



After two spa treatments on the front seats, and three on the armrest, I was happy with the condition. I put another coat of Leather CPR on them, slathering it on wearing rubber gloves, and letting it soak in. After three leather CPR treatments over a week`s time (had not yet installed them in the truck), these were the results.

The seats were also represented as "Heated", but showed up non-heated. After the conditioning, I also added a Rostra Heated seat kit to the front--toasty warm!



Done and installed:







4 months later, still looking good!









So, while most will not have the luxury of time that I had, I just wanted a before/after to show what can be done with these seats. I felt that all was lost when I loaded them into my trailer from the shipping port where I picked them up. In fact, if they hadn`t been shipped to me from VA to MA, I would have gone home with nothing. These seats are gorgeous when they are maintained and cared for. I love my truck so much more with the King Ranch interior swapped in.

Here are two shots of the truck aftera long New England winter of salt; Blackfire Rinseless Wash and coat of Blackfire Crystal Seal. Can`t imagine how it will look when I get the time to actually correct and polish!







Thanks for checking it out, sorry for the book! I welcome any and all questions and comments.

[Todd@RUPES]

Very cool! Thank you for sharing. Have you considered a leatherique treatment for them?

[kmh1596]

Very cool! Thank you for sharing. Have you considered a leatherique treatment for them?

Hey Todd! Thanks for commenting! I have not yet tried it, but i understand that Leatherique is one of the few other conditioners that is okay to use on the King Ranch leather. Tough to beat the Leather CPR at $20 per 32oz bottle, though.

[Custom Care]

Wow, those seats look amazing and really set the interior off. Great job.

[Ronkh]

Nice job !!!

Did on a while back with baby shampoo and saddle soap

[kmh1596]

Wow, those seats look amazing and really set the interior off. Great job.

Nice Avatar! Here`s my DD:

[mrclean81]

I done a Super Duty a few years back with these seats in it. It had been taken care of and they were still a pita to clean. You did an outstanding job on them.

[Pats300zx]

Outstanding work !!!! I am sure the owner was thrilled with the turn around !!!!

[kmh1596]

Outstanding work !!!! I am sure the owner was thrilled with the turn around !!!!

I`m the owner.. and yes, I am thrilled.

[daveinsweethome]

nice reward for what i am sure was a hell of a lot of hard work.

[Trouble]

Excuse my poor attention span, but did I read all you used to clean these was a cap full of baby shampoo (tearless no less), a few microfibers and 1 quart of piping hot water

Incredible !

[kmh1596]

Excuse my poor attention span, but did I read all you used to clean these was a cap full of baby shampoo (tearless no less), a few microfibers and 1 quart of piping hot water

Incredible !

There were several sessions of the "spa treatment", with new batches of water, towels, etc.. as well as the Leather CPR at the end, and regularly, now.This was all over a week or two, but I`d like to think that this was a worse-case situation, as i`d hope that most are kept in better shape than these were.

[Bunky]

Real leather! Very nice work.

[dfbjr1]

I am really impressed. Nice work.

[ca.detailchick]

Came out fantastic !

I am still frightenend a customer will have these King Ranch seats ! Ive never had one yet.