Forget the Gliptone
Discussion
Hi Guys n Gals,
I may be teaching granny to suck eggs here, so forgive me if this has been discussed before.
Ive had several cars in the past, that had a leather interior and over the years, ive gotten through most of the products out there pertaining to leather care.
Having recently bought myself a 996tt, i was once again stirred into finding a good product to treat my leather with.
I had several reccomendations for Gliptone, as being "the best" and "it smells fantastic".
Well, to be honest, I found it to be no different to most of the other leather care products out there, except to say that it has a rather pungent smell which is a cross between new leather and the crotchpiece of a pole dancers leather thong.
So the hunt resumed.
Finally I took a step back in time and looked at some of the REAL leather care products that leather workers and "country folk" use.
I found an old fashioned product by the name of "gold soft leather and saddle soap" on ebay (very cheap) and ordered it up. I'm sure that any horsey ppl out there will already be sniggering at my find as they have probably been treating their saddles with it for years.
Its a bit like whipped vaseline in consistency and looks like a nightmare to apply. Wrong. It gpoes on with ease and its amazing how much of it the leather can absorb.It has 2 effects on the leather. Firstly it lifts the dirt (far better than leather cleaner) and secondly, being Glycerin based, softens and feeds the leather.
Ive found with the White leather care emulsions that you can sometimes get a slight white haze showing on the leather after a few days as the emulsion rises to the surface and dries. This is most noticeable on the thinner leather Around the door and dash. Ive had no such issues with Saddle Soap.
After applying the soap and allowing a few minutes for it to soak in, a quick buff reveals a lovely eggshell glow with a depth of colour that exceeds that of Gliptone. The leather also feels supple, not slippy and not sticky, so its great on the ole steering wheel.
Finally, My leather smells like proper leather now, rather than the more manufactured smell that Gliptone brings with it.
I may be teaching granny to suck eggs here, so forgive me if this has been discussed before.
Ive had several cars in the past, that had a leather interior and over the years, ive gotten through most of the products out there pertaining to leather care.
Having recently bought myself a 996tt, i was once again stirred into finding a good product to treat my leather with.
I had several reccomendations for Gliptone, as being "the best" and "it smells fantastic".
Well, to be honest, I found it to be no different to most of the other leather care products out there, except to say that it has a rather pungent smell which is a cross between new leather and the crotchpiece of a pole dancers leather thong.
So the hunt resumed.
Finally I took a step back in time and looked at some of the REAL leather care products that leather workers and "country folk" use.
I found an old fashioned product by the name of "gold soft leather and saddle soap" on ebay (very cheap) and ordered it up. I'm sure that any horsey ppl out there will already be sniggering at my find as they have probably been treating their saddles with it for years.
Its a bit like whipped vaseline in consistency and looks like a nightmare to apply. Wrong. It gpoes on with ease and its amazing how much of it the leather can absorb.It has 2 effects on the leather. Firstly it lifts the dirt (far better than leather cleaner) and secondly, being Glycerin based, softens and feeds the leather.
Ive found with the White leather care emulsions that you can sometimes get a slight white haze showing on the leather after a few days as the emulsion rises to the surface and dries. This is most noticeable on the thinner leather Around the door and dash. Ive had no such issues with Saddle Soap.
After applying the soap and allowing a few minutes for it to soak in, a quick buff reveals a lovely eggshell glow with a depth of colour that exceeds that of Gliptone. The leather also feels supple, not slippy and not sticky, so its great on the ole steering wheel.
Finally, My leather smells like proper leather now, rather than the more manufactured smell that Gliptone brings with it.
ed that one Henry-F said:
A lot of leather products specifically preclude the use of Saddle soap. If you are going to use it make sure you test a patch on an area where it won`t matter if the colour comes off, (and bear in mind the rear of the front seats can sometimes be plastic).
Henry
Fair comment.Henry
Ive been using a light coloured microfibre cloth to apply the soap and having done an entire car interior, the cloth is slightly dirty but shows no signs of colour coming off. Its been done for a few days now and I dont arrive home with a black ass having been for a longish drive. ( perhaps i'm not visiting the right places)
Silver993tt said:
I had absolutely no problems with Gliptone, it returned my leather pretty much back to it's original mat finish. It's a two part process that many get wrong, first cleaner and then feeder 
I just use the cleaner..surely the feed is "snake oil"..inst leather effectively sealed when "connolised". How can it absorb anything if its already sealed off?Paracetamol said:
Silver993tt said:
I had absolutely no problems with Gliptone, it returned my leather pretty much back to it's original mat finish. It's a two part process that many get wrong, first cleaner and then feeder
I just use the cleaner..surely the feed is "snake oil"..inst leather effectively sealed when "connolised". How can it absorb anything if its already sealed off?Maybe it gives the surface layer a seal after it's been cleaned. Bit like a wax after paint cleaner on the surface of your car
Edited by Silver993tt on Wednesday 1st August 16:10
Two points really, the first is that I've found Gliptone to fetch the colour off my 993 seats - thought it was dirt at first (probably was) but then realised it was the colour when I did it again. Second, I use a saddle soap spray (that my missus uses for saddles) for curing leather squeaks. It's much better than silicone spray and lasts permanently. I think it's because it's glycerin based which I believe was the main ingredient in some anti-squeak solution porsche dealers use.
Bluey Green said:
Two points really, the first is that I've found Gliptone to fetch the colour off my 993 seats - thought it was dirt at first (probably was) but then realised it was the colour when I did it again. Second, I use a saddle soap spray (that my missus uses for saddles) for curing leather squeaks. It's much better than silicone spray and lasts permanently. I think it's because it's glycerin based which I believe was the main ingredient in some anti-squeak solution porsche dealers use.
When I 'Gliptoned' my Classic Grey leather, the first treatment, the cleaner, brought out a slight brown colour on the white cloth I used. This was definetly a few years worth of dirt. The leather was a much richer grey colour after this process. Are you sure that your leather wasn't 're-connolised' at some point? If this wasn't done properly, the dye coming off might be what you're seeing.Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff