Leather cleaning, didn't go as planned.

N

noz85

Member
So I bought some dodo juice super natural leather cleaner as it came highly recommended. I also bought the dodo juice soft brush with the drill attachment. Again, highly recommended. So I set to cleaning the red seats in the Z4 e89. Now I don't know if I was paranoid or imagining it but it seemed like rather than cleaning the seats up and making them look better, it made it look duller and some red colour bled on to the bristles of the cleaning brush. I could have sprayed more product on to the seat and really dug in and tried to power through but I was more concerned that I was going to be doing damage, so I stopped.

I wouldn't say I went hell for leather on the seat. Not at all. I was pretty cautious really. So I bottled it at this stage and just gave it all a hand clean with micro fibres, with the dodo super natural cleaner.

It was probably a mistake to take the soft brush to the seat. It's not made a mess, but there is definitely a slight dullness to the area where I used it. Even using only the microfibres going for a quick hand clean some red came up from the seats. Wondering if coming back to the previously brushed area by hand may help lift the dullness off.

Any thoughts?
 
Hmm, not sure colour bleeding is an expected outcome, unless maybe the seats have been cheaply recoloured in the past and you’ve simply lifted some of that…

Never used dodo… tend to use Autoglym leather cleaner and leather cream. Never had any colour lift with either. In fact just cleaned (Friday) and treated (Saturday) our Mercedes. Definitely cleaner (fresh water bucket evidences), softer, no colour loss and no shiny finish either (which some products leave).

I think you’re right to stop. Hopefully someone on here can give you proper guidance on what next. Alternatively speak to a local expert (apologies, that’s not meant as a slur on anyone on the forum) and get their opinion. Advice is free; you can then decide what you want to do next…
 
I think that clean leather is dull leather.

Certainly when mine go shiny I know it’s time to clean and the shininess goes.
 
Search for woolite on here. I used that method and have never looked back. Some people argue over dilution ratios, I think I did 7:1 (water:woolite) in a spray bottle and a manual brush. I think a drill brush would be too harsh, you don’t need it for this.

Method:
Mix the woolite 7:1 water to woolite in a spray bottle
Prepare a pure water spray bottle also
Spray woolite solution over the seat
Manually brush, not too harsh
Wipe with micro fibre
Douse seat with pure water
Can either brush again or just wipe away.
Leave seats to dry, maybe 15 mins.

Results:
Very good matt leather finish.

You can do all the seats using this method and see if the part you did still stands out. If so… (or worth doing anyway periodically…)

Get a leather dye touch up stick from ebay, apply liberally to seats and use a damp microfibre for application. Work into the seats. Leave for 24 hours.

This is a good result and doesn't cost too much. Clean prior to this.

I’m no expert, but I have done both of these methods for a good looking interior.
 
I think using the drill was a bit too aggressive, you should be very gentle with your leather. As mentioned above, it may have been recoloured in the past, which is what you may have seen on the brush. If it hasn't been recoloured, then you've gone through the top sealing coat to the colour coat underneath.

Remember that modern automotive leather is sealed, so all you have to do is keep it clean, it doesn't need "feeding". Good advice on cleaning above. And if it's too shiny, it needs cleaned.
 
Deepseaskateboard said:
Search for woolite on here. I used that method and have never looked back. Some people argue over dilution ratios, I think I did 7:1 (water:woolite) in a spray bottle and a manual brush. I think a drill brush would be too harsh, you don’t need it for this.

Method:
Mix the woolite 7:1 water to woolite in a spray bottle
Prepare a pure water spray bottle also
Spray woolite solution over the seat
Manually brush, not too harsh
Wipe with micro fibre
Douse seat with pure water
Can either brush again or just wipe away.
Leave seats to dry, maybe 15 mins.

Results:
Very good matt leather finish.

You can do all the seats using this method and see if the part you did still stands out. If so… (or worth doing anyway periodically…)

Get a leather dye touch up stick from ebay, apply liberally to seats and use a damp microfibre for application. Work into the seats. Leave for 24 hours.

This is a good result and doesn't cost too much. Clean prior to this.

I’m no expert, but I have done both of these methods for a good looking interior.
Click to expand...

I can't wait to try your woolite idea. In the past I've used the many brands of leather conditioner. Only to find that leather seats are painted and these conditioner products only evaporate onto the windshield and are a PIA to clean off.
 
javis20 said:
Deepseaskateboard said:
Search for woolite on here. I used that method and have never looked back. Some people argue over dilution ratios, I think I did 7:1 (water:woolite) in a spray bottle and a manual brush. I think a drill brush would be too harsh, you don’t need it for this.

Method:
Mix the woolite 7:1 water to woolite in a spray bottle
Prepare a pure water spray bottle also
Spray woolite solution over the seat
Manually brush, not too harsh
Wipe with micro fibre
Douse seat with pure water
Can either brush again or just wipe away.
Leave seats to dry, maybe 15 mins.

Results:
Very good matt leather finish.

You can do all the seats using this method and see if the part you did still stands out. If so… (or worth doing anyway periodically…)

Get a leather dye touch up stick from ebay, apply liberally to seats and use a damp microfibre for application. Work into the seats. Leave for 24 hours.

This is a good result and doesn't cost too much. Clean prior to this.

I’m no expert, but I have done both of these methods for a good looking interior.
Click to expand...

I can't wait to try your woolite idea. In the past I've used the many brands of leather conditioner. Only to find that leather seats are painted and these conditioner products only evaporate onto the windshield and are a PIA to clean off.
Click to expand...

It’s a very cheap and effective way of getting that matt leather finish, as from factory. It also works on the steering wheel etc.

It’s not my idea, I found it out from others on here, but I can vouch for it!
 
Gonna have to give this woolite a go. Any tips for getting in to the leather without doing harm? The drivers seat is quite dirty as you'd expect from 70k miles of denim clad ass cheeks on there 😂😂

As you know, leather isn't a flat surface and the texture of the surface can hold dirt. A tooth brush perhaps?
 
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