dirty old leather seats

S

sraCnaelCI

New member
Hi I've been lurking for a couple weeks and just started doing some jobs at a friends shop. He has said that he uses steel wool on leather when its really soiled and stained. At first I thought he was crazy but then I tried it today on an abused Yukon and with amazing results. So has anyone else tried this? If so what are the pros and cons of doing it and is there anything a bit less scarey I could use to get the same results with as little effort as the steel wool. Any tips on not destroying the leather while using the steel wool besides use light pressure and keep it wet ( with cleaner).

Thanks
 
Thats what I thought , but I keep it wet and it didn't do anything but clean like a 50 gal drum of elbow grease. It was the extra fine stuff and felt soft to the touch, not like the stuff I've used in the past to remove rust, but it was real steel wool. The seats turned out awesome,I followed it up with some Lanolin leather cream and it was real nice.
 
some times it's ok, most of the it can screws up the leather bad!



a less "scary" and still great way to clean leather is a Magic Eraser

(always do a test spot first the ME is less abbrasive but still abbrasive)
 
I have used steel wool on leather seats many times on all of the auction cars I used to work on. This is not something you should get in the habit of doing. After a while, or even the first time doing it can easily remove the dye on the leather. I suggest a good brush with your choice of cleaner instead. Steel wool is a great trick, but I would only use it on a car that is a beater or a car that is going to the auction or something.
 
RickRack - Ever try a Scotchbrite pad on auction vehicles? I've used it on alot of trim panels, but not too much on leather.
 
Maybe 0000 grade steel wool would work. But there are much safer methods to do the same job. Might require just a wee bit more elbow grease but still. I personally use a citrus leather cleaner with my ME and then after it all I go back and re-condition the leather to protect it again.
 
I thought the ME had some type of bleach in it. I must be wrong about that. Would one of those green kitchen type scotch brite pads work without harming the leather?

By the way thanks for your input:xyxthumbs
 
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