Hard leather. Any solutions?

Z

zamac_man

New member
I have black leather seats in a 94 mustang gt. The drivers seat is more or less shot, but the passenger seat looks ok. It has started to crack some, but nobody hardly even uses it. The leather itself is hard. I have never done anything other than clean them. I just got some meguiars cleaner/conditioner after it. This stuff is old and in a red bottle. I don't think it helped much though.



Is there anything that can be done to make this soft again?



Its not badly cracked, I feel like it needs a good conditioner.
 
You might want to try some Lexol or Surf City Garage conditioners. You're probably gonna end up using a lot of product to try to fix them, as most products are deisnged for regular usage ever few weeks/months.
 
the leather is becoming dehydrated and thats why its is harding. the thing to do is rehydrate it. water is your friend in this case. wipe it regularly with water don't flood the seat with water till it returns to its original condition.
 
Before I traded in my 16 yo car, I wanted to dress the interior a bit (to try to improve my trade-in value). I hadn't been exactly Autopian with the interior, I don't think I put anything on the leather seats until the driver's became cracked at maybe 10 or 12 years. There was some leather or faux-leather on the doors, and one must have been in just the right spot to get hit by the sun when I park at work or something, because it was just dried up and like a rock. I found I had a bottle of Lexol conditioner that I decided to try and use up on the interior, and I treated this door trim even though I was sure it was a goner. To my astonishment, the next day it was hydrated and was really indistinguishable from the other doors.



Summary: Lexol worked for me on hard, dried...er, leather?
 
hmm wd40. :LOLOL That does not sound safe, but I will look into it and the Lexol. I might try wiping them down with water a couple times a week first.
 
Leatherique. I might find that you will lose a bit of the black but Mustang leather is not exactly the nicest leather. Pleather comes to mind. But if you want to go a cheaper route then I would say deffinately Lexol. But make sure you use a very very damp rag. Water is your friend here and Lexol works great with a very damp rag.
 
Look into the Lexol line. They have high quaility products that will leave your leather feelings clean, soft, and supple. Additionally, the products smell great! A little on the expensive side, but worth it.
 
I had a similar problem when I bought my S2000. Red leather interior in the Florida sun. I tried a number of things, but finally, came to my senses and stopped by the local tack shop (Horse supplies). I talked to a very nice older lady about my problem, and she took me to the shelf and told me to use 2 applications of this stuff:



Effax® Leather Soft



The first application, soaked in like a friggin sponge. A few days later, I did a second application. Let me tell you, it was like a different seat. I used a few more times and the leather got buttery soft. Then I switched to my usual Lexol.



I understand Leatherique is excellent also, but I can't get it near me. However, there's a number of horse places around me with a variety of stuff to try.



I still have most of the Effax as I found I only needed it a few times.



Note that the Leather Balm from the same folks is apparently more common as this stuff is a liquid.



Either way, highly recommended.
 
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