My new C63 AMG first detail ... leather help!

T

tglickamg

New member
Hey everyone, I am new to the forum. I have a C63 AMG Mercedes and am getting ready to detail it for the first time this week. The car has 2800 miles on it. Here are my questions.



Is it too soon to clean and condition my leather? One of the things that gets to me most in any car that I have owned is wear on the leather. Clearly this occurs as the car gets driven more - however, I always try to keep it to a minimum. With such limited mileage - is it too soon to clean my leather? I have read that leather should be cleaned every 3 months to keep it looking near perfect - but I want to gain a more definitive answer. What is the actual rule of thumb here? I am planning on using Zymol leather shampoo and conditioner (Zymol calls it 'Treat'). The leather does not look particularly dirty - only some slight wear on the seats and some oil build up on the steering wheel. Will I be doing my leather more harm if I clean it now than to wait until it is more noticeably dirty? Or am I doing a good thing by proactively cleaning and conditioning it every 3 months? Please give me some direction here! I don't want to over-do it! Thanks in advance guys.
 
tglickamg said:
Hey everyone, I am new to the forum. I have a C63 AMG Mercedes and am getting ready to detail it for the first time this week. The car has 2800 miles on it. Here are my questions.



Is it too soon to clean and condition my leather? One of the things that gets to me most in any car that I have owned is wear on the leather. Clearly this occurs as the car gets driven more - however, I always try to keep it to a minimum. With such limited mileage - is it too soon to clean my leather? I have read that leather should be cleaned every 3 months to keep it looking near perfect - but I want to gain a more definitive answer. What is the actual rule of thumb here? I am planning on using Zymol leather shampoo and conditioner (Zymol calls it 'Treat'). The leather does not look particularly dirty - only some slight wear on the seats and some oil build up on the steering wheel. Will I be doing my leather more harm if I clean it now than to wait until it is more noticeably dirty? Or am I doing a good thing by proactively cleaning and conditioning it every 3 months? Please give me some direction here! I don't want to over-do it! Thanks in advance guys.
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I have used FK1's #108 and Poorboy's natural Look weekly on an m3 and the leather looks brand new after 3 years.
 
First, love that car, good pick :drool:



Second, I've been using 1Z einszett Leather Care "Lederpflege" on the seats of my X-Type for the past 2 years, and they still look like new. I apply it quickly every week on the areas used most (mainly driver seat) and monthly on every inch of leather in the car. Usually I don't believe in one product for cleaning and conditioning, but I would never use anything else on my seats, it just works perfectly. The best thing about it is that it doesn't leave a greasy residue as others do, and it doesn't have much of a smell). My brother has been using it on his A4 for that past 5 years, and seats still look new.
 
Know the best thing for your leather, pure water, thats it. Just wipe over every week with a clean lint free cloth dipped in clean water and wrung out. Then wipe down with a clean soft paper towels. Just completed my course at LTT In Harrogate UK. All the oils in leather are removed in the tanning process, so you cannot replace it. Your car seat has a sprayed on colour coat, look at it under a microscope, you should be able to see where the animals hair folicles were, these will be filled in with the paint. Once clean I use LTTs leather protect. Its a mass consumer lie to try and put back the natural oils, these just lie in the pores and allow dirt to rest and build up, you then agitate this dirt with your clothes, result that scabby appearence on the bolsters.
 
Toby,

You can put oil in the leather if you apply it to the non-coated side.:)



I agree with the cleaning it with a damp cloth (Eagle Ottawa recommends the same), but sometimes that doesn't get down into the grain. That is why I recommend a delicate duty 3M scuff pad. I believe it was Ford who used to recommend the same thing.
 
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