303 on leather

N

newguy

New member
do any of you guys/gals use 303 on leather? would i be better off using Meg. gold class leather conditioner? also, can meg. leather conditioner be used on a reg. vinyl dashboard and trim?
 
I use 303 on coated leather. 303 recommends Aerospace Protectant for finished leather. If a water drop just beads on the surface of the leather it's finished leather. If it soaks in it's unfinished leather.
 
All these 303 formulas -- I hope I ordered the right one. One said it's pure (dilute it 10:1 or more) another was for general lifting of stuff, etc.

I got the general 303 one.
 
I visited a pro detailing website last month, can't remember which one. They were against using an all in one protectant (such as armorall or 303) for leather, even though it says it is ok.

I would get a dedicated leather conditioner. In the long run, you're better off.
 
HondaMan said:
All these 303 formulas -- I hope I ordered the right one. One said it's pure (dilute it 10:1 or more) another was for general lifting of stuff, etc.

I got the general 303 one.
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FWIW, It would seem that you are looking at the cleaners in the 303 product line. Hopefully you were wanting a cleaner and not their protectant.
The protectant is just that. It is not a cleaner and the cleaner doesn't do anything but clean.
I think Newguy was referring to the protectant, not a cleaner.

Charles
 
newguy said:
do any of you guys/gals use 303 on leather? would i be better off using Meg. gold class leather conditioner? also, can meg. leather conditioner be used on a reg. vinyl dashboard and trim?
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Our Pontiac has coated leather and I alternate between 4 Star Leather Conditioner and 303 Aerospace Protecant.
The following is from an earlier post.

CharlesW said:
Anyway, Woolite & water, 6:1 seems to work good for cleaning. It also makes the cleaning solution pretty economical, a plus for a pro.
The rest of my routine may not be as practical because of the time involved.

Weekly
1. I wipe the entire seat with the Woolite/water solution which includes the leather and the vinyl areas. I really don't know on the Pontiac what is leather and what is vinyl.
2. I wipe the same entire area with a cloth dampened with just water and wipe it dry to remove any soap residue from the Woolite mixture.
3. I then apply 303 to the entire seat and buff it off thoroughly.

Once a month
I do steps 1 and 2, but for the 3rd step, I apply 4 Star Leather Conditioner to all of the front side of the seat. Some of that area is leather, some is vinyl. I put it on all of it.

Seems to be working for me. The seats in the GTP still look new, including the side bolsters. The car is about 57 months old with 43,000 miles on it. It is driven everyday, just not a long distance.
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Charles
 
According to 303 the coating on the coated leather seats is actually vinyl. Using a leather conditioner on vinyl is not good for it. The conditioners can't penetrate the vinyl to get to the leather so it does no good for the leather. The leather conditoners are filled with oils that are harmful to the vinyl top coat. I have yet to hear a good explanation of how leather coated with vinyl can benefit from a leather conditioner that can't penetrate the vinyl to get to the leather in the first place. Even so I continue to hear people recommend to use leather conditioner on coated leather. Makes no sense to me.
 
Anthony A said:
According to 303 the coating on the coated leather seats is actually vinyl. Using a leather conditioner on vinyl is not good for it. The conditioners can't penetrate the vinyl to get to the leather so it does no good for the leather. The leather conditoners are filled with oils that are harmful to the vinyl top coat. I have yet to hear a good explanation of how leather coated with vinyl can benefit from a leather conditioner that can't penetrate the vinyl to get to the leather in the first place. Even so I continue to hear people recommend to use leather conditioner on coated leather. Makes no sense to me.
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You could be 100% right, but if the leather conditioners were all that bad for coated leather, wouldn't at least one of the manufacturers mention that their product should not be used on coated leather? To the best of my knowledge, none make that distinction.
Don't many of the vehicles with non-coated leather still use vinyl in quite a few areas, backs, skirts,etc. :dunno

Anyway, it seems to be working for me and while I'm not necessarily recommending leather conditioner for vinyl, I would like to hear from a manufacturer of a leather conditioner that using it on vinyl is detrimental to the vinyl. Until then, I think I will probably continue with my present routine. An interior that still looks new at about 58 months and 44,000 miles makes me think it's not all bad.

Interesting discussion. Any more thoughts/comments?

Charles
 
[sarcastic] If it has a clearcoat, we shouldn't have to do anything to it, right? The clearcoat is the protection. That's the same thing that's over our paint...............[/sarcastic]
 
CharlesW said:
You could be 100% right, but if the leather conditioners were all that bad for coated leather, wouldn't at least one of the manufacturers mention that their product should not be used on coated leather? To the best of my knowledge, none make that distinction.
Don't many of the vehicles with non-coated leather still use vinyl in quite a few areas, backs, skirts,etc. :dunno

Anyway, it seems to be working for me and while I'm not necessarily recommending leather conditioner for vinyl, I would like to hear from a manufacturer of a leather conditioner that using it on vinyl is detrimental to the vinyl. Until then, I think I will probably continue with my present routine. An interior that still looks new at about 58 months and 44,000 miles makes me think it's not all bad.

Interesting discussion. Any more thoughts/comments?

Charles
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Hi Charles,

I'm just passing on what 303 said to me on the phone. When they say the leather conditoner is bad for the vinyl they don't mean that if you apply it your seats will fall apart two days later. It's more of a longer term thing. Like when they say certain tire dressings are bad for your tires. The damage doesn't happen over night.

As far as the leather under the coating goes how does the leather dressing get to it? How can it do any good? The surface you are treating is not the leather but the coating on the leather. A similar situation is my clearcoated aluminum wheels. They are aluminum but I treat the clearcoat when I poilsh so I use a clearcoat polish. If I was to use a metal polish I would destroy the clearcoat. I don't use a metal polish just because the wheels are aluminum. The aluminum is not what I will be working on the clearcoat is. Not exactly the same thing as a leather seat but do you get my point?

I just finished reading the article on leather care at Properautocare .com (CMA) They say not to apply leather conditioner on vinyl coated leather. You treat it like vinyl and use vinyl dressing. Thats two sources that recommend this. (CMA and 303)
 
Another user of 303 on leather here. As far as using leather conditioners on vinyl this is a new one for me. I'm not saying this info is wrong, I just never heard it before.
I remember one of the sales reps from meguiar's saying their leather cleaner/conditioner could be used on leather or vinyl. Who knows though. As far as two sites claiming the same info, (303 & cma) maybe one of them copied/shared the info from/to the other person?
 
JaredPointer said:
[sarcastic] If it has a clearcoat, we shouldn't have to do anything to it, right? The clearcoat is the protection. That's the same thing that's over our paint...............[/sarcastic]
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Who said anything about leather having clear coat on it? I said coated leather and the top coat is a vinyl product. This is in no way the same things as the clear coat on paint.
 
III said:
Another user of 303 on leather here. As far as using leather conditioners on vinyl this is a new one for me. I'm not saying this info is wrong, I just never heard it before.
I remember one of the sales reps from meguiar's saying their leather cleaner/conditioner could be used on leather or vinyl. Who knows though. As far as two sites claiming the same info, (303 & cma) maybe one of them copied/shared the info from/to the other person?
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I thought it was pretty much common sense that you don't treat coated leather with a leather conditioner. Then I read this thread. So I gave CMA and 303 as examples of were people can get some info on this subject.
 
Direct from the 303 website:
What does 303 Aerospace Protectant do for leather?

303 Aerospace Protectant™ works on Finished Leather. "Finished Leather" is dyed the desired color and finished so it does not readily absorb water or other liquids. Auto upholstery and furniture are almost always finished leather.
303 Aerospace Protectant should not be used on absorbent leathers.

What are absorbent leathers?
Absorbent leathers include deerskin, suede, chamois and the like. To test if a leather is absorbent: if a drop of water soaks in and makes a dark spot, it's absorbent leather and 303 Protectant is NOT recommended!

303 Aerospace Protectant™ softens hardening leather and leaves a natural, lustrous, repellent, non-oily finish. Similar to vinyl, finished leather is degraded by sweat, body oils, suntan and other oils & lotions. (Two extreme examples of this are tack (horse leathers) and exercise equipment.

303 Aerospace Protectant super-repellent finish is crucial when it comes to finished leather. Besides protecting against sweat, body oils and lotions, 303'd leather is almost impervious to water & oil based staining agents.

The major benefit is UV screening. 303 is the most powerful UV screening formulation is very effective on the dyes used in finished leather.


303 and Anthony make for a pretty good case that the conditioners may not be the right product for use on the majority of the "leather" out there, but I admit I'm a user and seemingly get very good results. Seems we ought to be able to hear directly from some of the "Leather Conditioners", 4*, Megs, Zaino, wolfgang, pinnacle, etc.
 
Anthony A said:
Who said anything about leather having clear coat on it? I said coated leather and the top coat is a vinyl product. This is in no way the same things as the clear coat on paint.
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Anthony, I was kidding, hence the [sarcastic] tag. It was a joke, and in no way was I taking a shot at you. I thought the joke sarcastic tag would have given it away, but......

In any case, I was not trying to demean your knowledge. :)
 
laefd said:
Direct from the 303 website:
What does 303 Aerospace Protectant do for leather?

303 Aerospace Protectant™ works on Finished Leather. "Finished Leather" is dyed the desired color and finished so it does not readily absorb water or other liquids. Auto upholstery and furniture are almost always finished leather.
303 Aerospace Protectant should not be used on absorbent leathers.

What are absorbent leathers?
Absorbent leathers include deerskin, suede, chamois and the like. To test if a leather is absorbent: if a drop of water soaks in and makes a dark spot, it's absorbent leather and 303 Protectant is NOT recommended!

303 Aerospace Protectant™ softens hardening leather and leaves a natural, lustrous, repellent, non-oily finish. Similar to vinyl, finished leather is degraded by sweat, body oils, suntan and other oils & lotions. (Two extreme examples of this are tack (horse leathers) and exercise equipment.

303 Aerospace Protectant super-repellent finish is crucial when it comes to finished leather. Besides protecting against sweat, body oils and lotions, 303'd leather is almost impervious to water & oil based staining agents.

The major benefit is UV screening. 303 is the most powerful UV screening formulation is very effective on the dyes used in finished leather.


303 and Anthony make for a pretty good case that the conditioners may not be the right product for use on the majority of the "leather" out there, but I admit I'm a user and seemingly get very good results. Seems we ought to be able to hear directly from some of the "Leather Conditioners", 4*, Megs, Zaino, wolfgang, pinnacle, etc.
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laefd,

That article you posted is some good info on why 303 is good for finished leather. What is even more important IMO is why leather conditioners are bad for vinyl and the vinyl top coat on coated leather.
 
JaredPointer said:
Anthony, I was kidding, hence the [sarcastic] tag. It was a joke, and in no way was I taking a shot at you. I thought the joke sarcastic tag would have given it away, but......

In any case, I was not trying to demean your knowledge. :)
Click to expand...



No problem :)
 
Looks like I'll be considering a very good cleaning followed by 303 unless someone wants to chime in on why I should continue with Zaino or 4* conditioners.
 
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