Cleaning and Feeding leather Seats

[Fat Boy Chim]

Hi,

Thanks to a very nice PHer (thanks Chimjunkie)i have now fitted a pair of Very Good secondhand seats to the Chim, and I am hopeing to keep them in the condition they are now,

Question is what is the best product to Clean and Feed / Condition the leather?

Thanks in advance...

Steve

[Mark V8]

Gliptone Cleaner and Gliptone Conditioner. Around £10-12 for both. Lovely new leather smell....
HTH....

[Chimjunkie]

Glad you are happy Steve! Has the colour of the stitching caused any issues?

Jon.

[Fat Boy Chim]

Not at all jon, looks great, many thanks for you help and reply to my thread.

How's your project going? I have been following your threads, But i don't think i would be as brave as you with what you have done, Looks Bloody good though.

[Chimjunkie]

Going well thanks. Got both new seat mounts bonded in and drivers seat completely fixed in. Carpets are in. Carbon fibre lower dash is trimmed, drilled and bonded to the dash electrics shelf moulding. Should be going in tomorrow! Cant wait! Carbon door panels look the nuts too.

[tyre_tread]

Leatherique range is brilliant stuff. Hard to find in the UK but the USA site is here: http://www.leatherique.com/

Google Leatherique and read soome of the write ups!

[Zumbruk]

Any saddlery shop will sell you saddle soap and hide food. Clean with the saddle soap on a damp cloth, then allow to dry and feed with the hide food. S'what we do with our leather 3 piece, now 25 years old and still going strong.

[David H]

tyre_tread said:

Leatherique range is brilliant stuff. Hard to find in the UK but the USA site is here: http://www.leatherique.com/

Google Leatherique and read soome of the write ups!

Liquid leather is fine but Leatherique is amazing if applied correctly, I'm with this man

Also UK stockist are around these days:

http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/leatherique-prestine-cl...
http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/leatherique-rejuvenator...

[Seasider]

Lux Soap Flakes then feed with Conolly Hide Cream

[tyre_tread]

Seasider said:

Lux Soap Flakes then feed with Conolly Hide Cream

I tries this route and then heard about Leatherique. I then used Leatherique on the same seats and the improvement was superb.

[Nuggs]

Mark V8 said:

Gliptone Cleaner and Gliptone Conditioner. Around £10-12 for both. Lovely new leather smell....
HTH....

[sjwb]

Never, ever, ever, use saddle soap on vehicle, or fine leather. It contains abrasives and harsh cleaners.
Connolley Hide food is the best and only product to use.
Try it on motorcycle leathers as well.
I have no association with the link but Jusy Googled it for an illustration.
http://www.motorcarsltd.com/gifts/connolly.asp

[LordGrover]

tyre_tread said:

Leatherique range is brilliant stuff. Hard to find in the UK but the USA site is here: http://www.leatherique.com/

Google Leatherique and read soome of the write ups!

I've done that and there are as many questioning it as praising it. E.g. Detailing World.

[Zumbruk]

sjwb said:

Never, ever, ever, use saddle soap on vehicle, or fine leather. It contains abrasives and harsh cleaners.

Nonsense.

[Chris71]

The Woolies kit seems to be quite well regarded.

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-108-featured-produ...

[sjwb]

Ah well Zumbruck, you know better that Rolls Royce.
The wealth of infomation out there is amazing; it makes one wonder how the motor manufacturers manage?

Edited by sjwb on Tuesday 5th February 12:20

[tyre_tread]

Chris71 said:

The Woolies kit seems to be quite well regarded.

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-108-featured-produ...

Tried it and wasn't impressed. Perhaps I shouldn't say that as one of my friends works there

[judyb]

The advice of not using saddle soap on upholstery and auto leather is absolutely correct.

Saddle soap is fine for saddles which are a very different product from the leather in cars and on suites and should never be used for cleaning as it is too harsh and abrasive.

Leather needs cleaning and protecting (not conditioning).

[cafcfan]

There is an article about this in the May 2007 Sprint magazine quoting a specialist from AJ Trimmers. Basically the article said to treat leather like you do your hands: wash with soap and water and then dry thoroughly. It added that you could then spray with Mr Sheen for added sparkle!
The guy also said he'd not found leather feed products to be any use and that wrinkles tend to disappear in the hotter summer months. (Unlike my face then!)

[judyb]

Unfortunately he may call himself a specialist but is not. This advice for cleaning leather is completely wrong.

Leather is not skin it is highly chemically processed dead skin and has nothing in common with our skin at all. Using Mr. Sheen or any other polish will damage the finish on the leather as it contains silicones which will completely block up the leather and not allow it to absorb moisture, this will lead to drying out and cracked leather.

The only bit he has got correct is that leather feed products do no good, they don't as they cannot be absorbed into the leather through thte finish and may lead to pigment cracking if used.

Edited by judyb on Tuesday 5th February 14:19