Clear Coated Leather - Fact vs. Myth

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imported_doug

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In the "I hate Porsche Owners" thread, Intel486 said:



I just know, with lexus leather, if you apply a conditioner to their newer cars which have clear coated leather, then it will make the leather softer, weaker and it will stretch it out, as in the leather is now baggy on the seats instead of being pulled tight. It will also promote tearing along the seems. You should just use a leather cleaner on them.
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I am still skeptical, but I'm not suggesting he is wrong - only that I am not convinced yet. Intel, can you tell me - did you experience this first hand, or did you only hear about it? ALL leather stretches - and the softer it is (such as in a Lexus) the more prone to stretching/tearing it is going to be - regardless of what you put on it. I have the "supple leather" option in my Porsche - many Porsche-o-philes say it will stretch/wrinkle and look like hell after a while. I've been keeping it treated (Meguiar's Medallion Leather Care) and so far so good.



SO - what I'm really looking for is an absolute, positive, informed, objective source of truth about this issue:



  1. Is there truly such a thing as "clear-coated" leather?
  2. Assuming answer to 1 is yes, is there any reason to care for it differently?
  3. Assuming answer to 2 is yes, why?



Please- do not answer if your only knowledge of this is hearsay. I want "nothin' but the facts, ma'am."



(Intel - I tried to PM you but your box is full.)





Thanks
 
I'm pretty sure my Volvo has clear coated pieces

on the sides of the seats. I think this for the side

impact air bags to assist their deployment.



Maybe someone can elaborate.
 
1. Yes, there is coated leather. Look at a seat under lighted magnification and you will see the coating.



2. Since the leather is coated more cleaning is required than conditioning. To help prevent UV damage to the protective coating dress with a PDMS dressing like 303.



3. The coating was designed to keep stains and things off the leather, too keep unwanted moisture off the leather and to help "lock in" oils to prevent the leather from becoming dried out. The coating has small holes that allow the leather to "vent". These holes will also allow conditioner to reach the actual hide, but once conditioned the coating will hold in the oils of the conditioner much more than a non-coated seat would, it locks the oils in. Thus, you don't need to condition them nearly as often as a non coated seat. Uncoated leather tends to abrade very easily, the coating will keep the seat looking good for a very long time.



:xyxthumbs
 
When I bought my Leatherique products, I was told by the sales rep that most of the "ordinary" leather conditioners out there plugs up the pores of the leather and eventually can lead to making the leather dry out quicker. She made no distinction between "coated" or "uncoated" leather with regards to this.



After using Leatherique, I can say that there is definitely a difference in the feel of the leather vs other products. Theirs is a two step process that softens the leather first and soaks the dirt and other contaminants to the surface which is then cleaned off with a cleaning and conditioning solution. It worked wonders on my leather seats in the Mustang. I have not used it yet in the BMW....I am fairly certain that they are clearcoated, but not sure about the Mustang.



H
 
Second the vote for Leatherique! I ordered it after Showroom suggested it. It's amazing stuff. Much better than the other leather products I've tried. It worked so well on my seats that I have used it on most of my other leather products. The way the Pristine Clean alone brought one of my briefcases back to life is simply amazing. It's great!
 
carguy,



I would agree you can condition coated seats, just much much less than a non-coated seat. I would say 2-3 times per year would be more than enough. :up
 
Ron K made this verry clear. Most leather today (besides your Conolly hides ect) is clear coated to make the leather more durable so your Joe Six Pack whos never even heard of a leather conditioner doesnt complain to the car manufacturer that his leather has dried out. So you want to treat clear coated leather with a PMDS dressing. Also, DavidB mentioned that most modern leather is also water tanned (or something) so a water based dressing such as 303 is actually a good leather conditioner. As far as an feeder iol type conditioner harming leather. RonK said that the softening experiences is actually bad. The oils are probably softening the clear coat (trying to turn them back into cure oil).
 
rd_volvo said:
I'm pretty sure my Volvo has clear coated pieces on the sides of the seats. I think this for the side impact air bags to assist their deployment.



Maybe someone can elaborate.
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Your Volvo has clear coated leather on the seat faces, ie the parts you sit on. The sides, and backs are true vinyl. Soft like leather, but still vinyl. The door panels are also vinyl.
 
I do not really want to say who I heard it from because well...



ummm *cough* ummmm.



OK I'll say it but Valugard can still S my C.



I heard it from Ron Ketcham.



And I'm 99% sure he knows what he is talking about. If you don't know who he is then look on autoint's webpage.



Carguy, I'll empty some PMs out right now. Thanks
 
I used Leatherique on our Mercedes Benz ML320 which i believe is clearcoated leather and it really made a difference in the feel of the leather. Some rough spots that were in the leather are now as smooth as butter. I used to use meguiars on it but it made no dent on those rough spots. I love leatherique!
 
Carguy, I'm assuming you've tried a search for darbh's multiple posts regarding this subject? There have been a few unresolved threads about the subject that darbh and others have played a huge part in and I would highly recommend checking those out.
 
Intel486,



What's the deal between you and AutoInt? I noticed this is not the first time you have bashed them on the forum, I recall a post saying "We all hate AutoInt" that was removed. How about describing the motivation behind the comments to the rest of the board?
 
AlBoston said:
I used Leatherique on our Mercedes Benz ML320 which i believe is clearcoated leather and it really made a difference in the feel of the leather. Some rough spots that were in the leather are now as smooth as butter. I used to use meguiars on it but it made no dent on those rough spots. I love leatherique!
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Al, thanks for the info. I have a 2002 C240 with MB Tex (Seating surfaces are clearcoated leather and the side bolsters are vinyl). How often have you used leatherique on your ML? Have you noticed any stretching or small tears in the leather? How often do you use leatherique in a year span?



Thanks!
 
ShowroomLincoln said:
Intel486,



What's the deal between you and AutoInt? I noticed this is not the first time you have bashed them on the forum, I recall a post saying "We all hate AutoInt" that was removed. How about describing the motivation behind the comments to the rest of the board?
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Basically the whole upper management of their company are jerks and only care about their big accounts and could care less about us, the small detailers.



A Few people around here know the whole story. You'll have to find one of them. There are some email communications even those people don't have. Just don't use Valugard products.
 
Basically the whole upper management of their company are jerks and only care about their big accounts and could care less about us, the small detailers.
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Hmm, I have found just the opposite. I am not a "large account" by any means and the people at AutoInt always have time for me. Their entire staff has been nothing but helpful and polite, especially Ron Ketcham. He has answered every question I have ever asked and is even nice enough to meet with me at their offices. As a novice Ron introduced me to much of thier upper management and they seemed quite polite and were not "jerks" at all, in fact Ron and the guys went out of thier way to show me around.



Perhaps you just had a bad expierence, maybe you should chalk it up to that and move on.
 
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