Leather treatment

[omegabri]

Evening all

I've gave my seats a proper good scrub today, and used Maguires spray leather conditioner. Pretty good, but I've found the seats strill a little slippery (which they were anyway)
Question:
What's your thoughts & recommendation on a leather conditioner and feed, but that leaves a nice grippy feel Matt soft leather finish.

Just pondering

Bri

 

[davidprice]

I like AutoGlym leather care balm.
It’s a cream rather than a spray.
Doesn’t make the seats slippery and leaves a lovely leathery smell.

 

[SV8Predator]

You can't "feed" modern leathers. From the Furniture Clinic site:

"Most leather produced for upholstery in cars and furniture is finished and has been for over 50 years. What this means is the leather is coloured and then sealed with a lacquer to help it wear. This lacquer prevents liquids from being absorbed by the leather and so will also prevent any leather food or hyde food from being absorbed too. Do a test – put a small drop of water on the leather, if it soaks in, so will leather food.

We have developed a product called Leather Protection Cream. This is what you should be using on leather. It helps maintain the lacquered coating on leathers, which will prolong the life span of your leather. Whereas if you were to apply a leather food, it would serve no real purpose."

https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/blog/leather-food/

 

[Pondy]

You can't "feed" modern leathers. From the Furniture Clinic site:

"Most leather produced for upholstery in cars and furniture is finished and has been for over 50 years. What this means is the leather is coloured and then sealed with a lacquer to help it wear. This lacquer prevents liquids from being absorbed by the leather and so will also prevent any leather food or hyde food from being absorbed too. Do a test – put a small drop of water on the leather, if it soaks in, so will leather food.

We have developed a product called Leather Protection Cream. This is what you should be using on leather. It helps maintain the lacquered coating on leathers, which will prolong the life span of your leather. Whereas if you were to apply a leather food, it would serve no real purpose."

https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/blog/leather-food/

I have also read that "Mr happy" and agree. But the lacquer does tend to wear off over time, which is why we get the famous 'bolster wear'. Once the lacquer has gone there is no replacement (unless you get it professionally re-applied maybe), so 'feeding' is needed to stop it from drying and cracking. Leather 'food' is only a mixture of oils to soften the leather, it doesn't really protect it.

Modern car leather is the cheapest, thinnest leather available (depending on the manufacturer and price of the interior). They have to lacquer it otherwise it would wear through in about 6 months.

 

[omegabri]

Never thought of whether it had a lacquer. I have nappa leather in my 5 series, which is lovely and soft, and takes on creams etc., but the seats in this Z seem to have a different finish. In fact, I even wonder if they might have some weather protection added to the finish, because they're in a convertible, which is causing them to act a little different with taking on supplementary treatments
I might give them a good scrub, and revert back to my Gliptone, and/or try the AutoGlym cream

Many thanks guy's

 

[omegabri]

Quick update.
I thoroughly cleaned both seats, using Gliptone gentle cleaning gel, and a bit of water. I agitated it up to a lather, using a detailing brush, and gave it a good rub, before wiping down with a microfiber towel. The transformation was superb! Beautiful unpolished soft matt leather.
I applied a very small amount of Gliptone GT11 leather cream after that. I'll leave it now until the morning, and check the final results

 

[Boyo]

Quick update.
I thoroughly cleaned both seats, using Gliptone gentle cleaning gel, and a bit of water. I agitated it up to a lather, using a detailing brush, and gave it a good rub, before wiping down with a microfiber towel. The transformation was superb! Beautiful unpolished soft matt leather.
I applied a very small amount of Gliptone GT11 leather cream after that. I'll leave it now until the morning, and check the final results

Good to know. I have ivory seats in mine and I am keeping a very close eye on them

 

[SV8Predator]

The transformation was superb! Beautiful unpolished soft matt leather.
I applied a very small amount of Gliptone GT11 leather cream after that.

The transformation was because you've removed all the gunk that has been applied before, Now you're back to the way the factory (and the leather manufacturer) intended.

But now you've added more gunk!

Was it off, it will only attract dust, grit and dirt, and prematurely wear your leather finish.

 

[omegabri]

But now you've added more gunk!

Was it off, it will only attract dust, grit and dirt, and prematurely wear your leather finish.

Once the tiny amount of conditioner has fed the leather (should be good by the morning), I usually use a gentle Gliptone leather clean spray, and just make sure that there's nothing on the surface It'll be nicely fed, re-cleaned/wiped, subtle leather by the end of tomorrow

 

[Boyo]

But now you've added more gunk!

Was it off, it will only attract dust, grit and dirt, and prematurely wear your leather finish.

Once the tiny amount of conditioner has fed the leather (should be good by the morning), I usually use a gentle Gliptone leather clean spray, and just make sure that there's nothing on the surface It'll be nicely fed, re-cleaned/wiped, subtle leather by the end of tomorrow

Can you post a pic when it's finished

 

[coldel]

Whilst the lacquer is on there, feed and conditioners dont really do very much, they cannot penetrate the lacquer as that is the point. The main reason for lacquer wearing as well as constant abrasion is dirt, keep them clean and it extends the life.

Once you get the bolster wear the leather is clearly damaged, you cannot 'feed' it and grow it back :wink: you can repair it/colour it/seal it again though and reduce the wear marks.

Point is feeds/conditioners on modern leather seats is a waste of time and money, if anything it leaves a horrible residue on the surface of the seat and in fact attracts and retains dirt which will just agitate the leather. Just keep them clean, when they eventually wear, just get them repaired or do it yourself with the kits.

 

[omegabri]

Hard to get a correct exposure on my phone, but both seats are nice and clean, with a great none slip matt finish

Must admit. I'll probably just use the Gliptone gentle cleaning gel, with a bit of water, in future to keep them clean

 

[omegabri]

Drivers seat

 

[SV8Predator]

But now you've added more gunk!

Was it off, it will only attract dust, grit and dirt, and prematurely wear your leather finish.

Once the tiny amount of conditioner has fed the leather

But it won't feed the leather! What is it about this process that you don't understand?

 

[coldel]

This ^^^^

There is no feeding to be done. Most conditioners just sit on the seat and cause premature wear. It’s snake oil successfully sold in plain sight.

Keep the seats clean, vacuum and wipe it down clean, very easy way to keep seats in good condition

 

[omegabri]

But it won't feed the leather! What is it about this process that you don't understand?

You say that, but my car is a 2019. It had dry cracks in the leather around the bolster area. All are soft and subtle now. A quick wipe/clean the next day, and I now have 99% perfect seats. The conditioner had to have worked on those areas, so for that alone was worth the effort I'd say

 

[Boyo]

Your seats look like they have come up well from the photos - thanks for posting. At the end of the day its your pride and joy and you should do whatever you want to maintain/improve your car

 

[coldel]

If your seats leather is cracking after just 4 years then the likelihood is poor maintenance and lack of cleaning has caused damage. Being a roof off car the additional exposure to UV rays doesnt help the cause. As above if they are not cleaned regularly and 'conditioner' is used both act as an abrasive on the leather and will destroy the protective sealant.

Wiping a conditioner or 'feed' will not fix the problem, you cant 'grow' leather back, it died some time ago :wink: It might superficially look suddenly ok but you need to in effect repeat the process of colouring the leather and sealing it properly again then put in place a proper maintenance process - I have purchased a cordless rechargeable handheld vacuum cleaner along with a cleaner product I use to keep all the crap off. The seats on mine had very minor bolster damage and overall wear given the 115k miles on the 17 year old car, so obviously the previous owners had kept them clean and I intend to do the same

 

[omegabri]

Only having picked the car up, from BMW, last week, I can't comment on its previous cleaning regime. It only has 20k on it, but you could tell (even though BMW had cleaned it) that it was previously neglected - in comparison to my cars, at least!

I have to admit, my 2012 5 series Touring, now with 40k on it (I purchased as an ex demo car from BMW in 2013) has 'like new' nappa leather seats, with me using the exact same routine.........and thats my 'gone fishing' car, so see's the wear and tear of a van.

 

[omegabri]

Post by Boyo »

Your seats look like they have come up well from the photos - thanks for posting. At the end of the day its your pride and joy and you should do whatever you want to maintain/improve your car

Many thanks.......On to the bodywork now, and getting it polished, before ceramic coating