Protecting armrests and leather from sweat and oils

W

wadams

New member
I'm new to detailing and have 2 questions:



1) After working out at the gym, I normally drive home in a sweaty shirt. I realize that I should probably change into a dry shirt, but I usually forget. Is this something I should be concerned with as far as the leather of the seats go? Will a standard leather protectant prevent any issues?



2) I usally keep my cars for 8 - 10 years. On my previous cars I have noticed that the armrests (both the driver side door and the center console) slowly become darkened and dirty over time (from both dirt and oils I'm assuming). What's the best way to prevent this from happening?



Thanks for the advice!



Wayne
 
Hi Wayne, Look I'm new to detailing but I think it is important to keep sweat off of leather. I have a vette & it's hot in the interrior even w/ the AC. I keep a spray bottle of distilled water in the car and use it if I get sweat on the seats or arm rests. I also carry some leather conditioner in the car along with some M/F cloths and a 5% woolite-distilled water solution.



When I wash it weekly I have a 5% solution and 10% solution that I use on the interrior. If one don't do it then the other usually gets it done. I also use a conditioner after using a cleaning solution. Sometimes a spray of distilled water seems to get it done if I get it quickly. I think sweat is ph+ so it attacks leather but I'm not sure. I just figure it can't be good for any interrior surface.



Tom
 
I'd try to keep it off the leather inthe first place. Besides toweling off, you could try to keep a piece of towel/etc. between your arm and the leather. Or keep a long sleeved t-shirt/sweatshirt in the car to wear on the drive home. I do stuff like this when I take the dogs for a run in the summer, but then the minivan doesn't have leather either.



When we travel down south in the summer we take cars with leather interiors, and this can be a real issue, no way to keep it off then. I've never had any problems from just cleaning the leather really well and retreating it, but I'd still rather not sweat on it in the first place.



If you do what you can to limit the exposure and clean/treat it regularly, I think you should be OK. We keep some of our cars a long time too and the leather armrests in my '85 Jag are a little worn/burnished from all the contact, but they aren't discolored.
 
About the only thing I can think of is to make sure you clean and condition your leather frequently.
 
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