Need help with seat stain

My neighbour has a 2019 Honda Accord with a seat stain. She says: "The car had only 17,000 miles on it with every detail added......so I`m guessing that the lady lawyer spilled either coffee or coke in the seat & simply traded for a new one with a clean seat?? I noticed the stain coming up through the seat a couple months ago. `The seats are leather. `I had a car detailer down on Apple Way take a look at it. He used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser & a spray bottle solution of some kind & it helped, but didn`t last all that long. At TJ Maxx I found some pure Castille soap that I`m tempted to try...but haven`t yet."

Is it real leather or coated leather? I have a feeling that the leather is stained and won`t be able to be cleaned.

It`s going to be coated leather.

I would try any of the reputable leather/interior cleaners in the store here or the sister store and start there. Slowly, not a ton of pressure because you do not want to remove the coating or the coloration of the seat.

If it`s coated leather and perforated, the stain may be coming through from the backside of the leather. I don`t think you can draw it out through the top.

I sure wouldn`t touch it with a Magic Eraser again! That "detailer" sounds like a...[INSERT pejorative HERE] since your neighbor didn`t even receive a decent explanation about what was done and why ("...solution of some kind"?!?).

If the stain can be cleaned off the top/seating surface, only to reappear later, it`s coming from underneath that surface. In that case I myself would be thinking about the leather coming off so the underlying foam/etc. can be accessed directly. No, I probably wouldn`t try to DIY that, but I bet many here would.

If the stain *cannot* be cleaned off the top/seating surface, then as wannafbody said it could simply be stained to the point where it would need to be recolored (and "good luck with that"...it`s always been hit/miss for me).

Hey, it`s a nice newer car in otherwise great shape. There`s always *some* reason why it was on the used-car market and maybe the stain is it. Since a new oe seatcover is probably still available, worst case is that it just gets replaced. Still a lot cheaper than buying a new car over it the way its previous owner might have done. As I always say, "it`s easy for me to spend somebody else`s money!" but IMO it`s a Q of spending $ vs. spending (perhaps lots of) time.

What about steam cleaning?

Did that detailer use the Magic Eraser on the bolster? Unless its a shadow of some kind, it looks like that part has had some of the dye removed, and you`re likely looking at having to replace the seat cover, or at the very least, having it dyed. At the risk of asking a disgusting question....does the stain have any kind of a smell to it, which might lead you to what it is?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcgreen

What about steam cleaning?

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My experiences with the Honda/Acura Line is that they use a thinner slice of leather than for example, the German marques..
Then they perforate that thinner leather which makes it much more fragile, and of course, there is less surface area for the color coat to adhere to..
Perhaps it can take someone rubbing something abrasive on it, but I would never consider doing that to this car ever..
Yes, perhaps lightly hitting it with steam may help, but I would not do that without having my extractor in there at the same time, to immediately, carefully, using best judgement on how much extraction water lift is at the tool, see if the stain can be lifted up and out..
Again, its perforated, on top of being a thin slice, so be gentle, have great lighting, and see how it goes, good luck !!!

Just thought of something - is that stained area wet or damp?
In my experiences with some vehicles where the windows were all left open overnight during a rainstorm, the seat foam, can absorb a huge amount of water, and it will absolutely NOT want to release it easily..
For that issue I had to use my Mytee HP60 extractor on the seat foam for hours to slowly but surely extract a LOT of water out of every square inch that was flooded..(gallons) Then, I had to blow really nice floor fans on all the areas with heat lamps, to eventually get all the water out of those seats foam.. No, I couldn`t put the seats outside, it was in WA where it can rain forever sometimes..
Dan F

It`s so easy to do damage with a (potent) steamer...I`d sure be careful trying that on leather.

Stokdgs is correct: If the spilled liquid has been absorbed by the underlying foam, it will continue to come through until it is removed , or more precisely extracted, from that material substrate in the manner that he has described. It is a lengthy, time-consuming process and to have it done professionally may be your best solution.

The other, more expensive option is to find an identical colored seat from a salvage yard and replace it with that. The good news is you have a better chance of doing so, considering the Honda Accord is a popular vehicle model sold in high numbers for any given year. The bad news is that EVERYBODY want those parts, so finding such a seat may be a needle-in-a-haystack and when you do find one, you`ll pay-through-the-nose to buy it.

By the way, the Honda Accord is the most-stolen vehicle in America for the above reason. Chop shops can make huge profits from its parts or when theft-damaged cars are shipped and sold overseas in shipping containers because of its broad desirability and modest purchase price.