Best (Coral) Dakota Leather Cleaner?
Discussion
Afternoon all.
I have a 10k miles 440i with Coral (red) Dakota Leather. The leather is starting to discolour - primarily, I guess, from dye from dark jeans.
Has anyone got a recommendation for a cleaning product I can use to restore the leather to its original colour please?
I'm really quite disappointed - I had Cinnamon Dakota in my previous 640d GC, which is/was similarly 'light' in hue, but which had no discolouring at all after 30K or so.
Anyone?
I have a 10k miles 440i with Coral (red) Dakota Leather. The leather is starting to discolour - primarily, I guess, from dye from dark jeans.
Has anyone got a recommendation for a cleaning product I can use to restore the leather to its original colour please?
I'm really quite disappointed - I had Cinnamon Dakota in my previous 640d GC, which is/was similarly 'light' in hue, but which had no discolouring at all after 30K or so.
Anyone?
I use the liquid leather stuff in my Z4 - Champagne Nappa leather - comes up a treat and lasts for ages.
You can send them a colour sample if they don't have it in stock.
I bought the kit - https://www.liquidleather.com/leather-care-c57/kit...
You can send them a colour sample if they don't have it in stock.
I bought the kit - https://www.liquidleather.com/leather-care-c57/kit...
Get something like Doctor Leather spray or wipes and dye block. All leather is either totally coated or semi aniline, very few use aniline leather now.
You need to clean the coating regularly as jean dye is very aggressive against the coating. The coating usually needs hydration as opposed to conditioning as little to no oils can actually get to the leather pigment layer.
For me get LTT leather care or Dr Leather.Clean regularly and every so often use the sealant/dye block to protect and hydrate the surface coating.
Do not use conditioners as they will simply sit on thw surface and could attract more grime ironically. Do however regularly clean the surface and remove jean dye.
Seat design could play a part in the level and amount of transfer you are seeing or different jeans which leak dye at different rates
You need to clean the coating regularly as jean dye is very aggressive against the coating. The coating usually needs hydration as opposed to conditioning as little to no oils can actually get to the leather pigment layer.
For me get LTT leather care or Dr Leather.Clean regularly and every so often use the sealant/dye block to protect and hydrate the surface coating.
Do not use conditioners as they will simply sit on thw surface and could attract more grime ironically. Do however regularly clean the surface and remove jean dye.
Seat design could play a part in the level and amount of transfer you are seeing or different jeans which leak dye at different rates
Swissvax leather cleaner a soft clean shoe brush and a damp microfiber cloth.
Follow what you see on the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXGNRgjYn8
Follow what you see on the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXGNRgjYn8
I use the French brand 'Avel' for all our leather furniture and it does wondrous work.
To get leather clean their soap does amazing work if you're prepared to put in some elbow grease. We picked up a pair of Knoll Barcelona chairs from the 60s before mid-century modern became fashionable. They were covered in stains include ink and were in a bad state. A few hours of the soap and a coat of one of their renovating creams and they looked almost new.
I suspect that unless the leather is dry the soap would be sufficient. My understanding is that most new car leathers are coated so the dirt is probably surface-only.
(If you're putting in an online order their Saphir Medaille D'Or shoe creams are the best there is.)
To get leather clean their soap does amazing work if you're prepared to put in some elbow grease. We picked up a pair of Knoll Barcelona chairs from the 60s before mid-century modern became fashionable. They were covered in stains include ink and were in a bad state. A few hours of the soap and a coat of one of their renovating creams and they looked almost new.
I suspect that unless the leather is dry the soap would be sufficient. My understanding is that most new car leathers are coated so the dirt is probably surface-only.
(If you're putting in an online order their Saphir Medaille D'Or shoe creams are the best there is.)
BMW leather, these are the boys to go to. Excellent cleaning products, but also do quality recolouring and repair kits too.
Funiture Clinic
Funiture Clinic
Leather furniture is very different from automotive leather though. Car leather is pretty much either pigment coated or semi aniline at the top end (there is the odd exception using aniline, but it is pretty much just RR fully, Bentley even use semi-aniline in places from what I have heard).
The PU coatings are in general very good at what they do ensuring you can use the leather regularly with little actual cleaning in day to day use, unlike aniline which requires more care and nourishment hence why conditioners are useless and pointless products. The coating only needs hydration and if you want on certain colours a dye block or sealant to provide further hydration, but critically provide an additional barrier between dye, mostly from jeans. That is where people tend to end up having problems is that they leave dye for a slightly prolonged period and it will have effectively "eaten" the coating away leaving the very vulnerable colour layer exposed.
I know some hate "Dakota", but for those that are less careful or have less time then it can be seen as more "robust" as it is fully coated with no real way for anything to pass through the coating. There is a lot of discussion as to the exact "nature" as to whether it i split grain etc. but lets not get into that!
Nappa and Merino are both semi aniline, I think a number of years back there was Merino which was aniline. Problem with these is they need more cleaning and more often, as well as being less robust, although are more luxurious to the touch
Swissvax, Colourlock and a few others are also based in the same HQ location
.
Worth a watch from Darryl from Dr Leather on Car Leather...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n82wsgfZQo
The PU coatings are in general very good at what they do ensuring you can use the leather regularly with little actual cleaning in day to day use, unlike aniline which requires more care and nourishment hence why conditioners are useless and pointless products. The coating only needs hydration and if you want on certain colours a dye block or sealant to provide further hydration, but critically provide an additional barrier between dye, mostly from jeans. That is where people tend to end up having problems is that they leave dye for a slightly prolonged period and it will have effectively "eaten" the coating away leaving the very vulnerable colour layer exposed.
I know some hate "Dakota", but for those that are less careful or have less time then it can be seen as more "robust" as it is fully coated with no real way for anything to pass through the coating. There is a lot of discussion as to the exact "nature" as to whether it i split grain etc. but lets not get into that!
Nappa and Merino are both semi aniline, I think a number of years back there was Merino which was aniline. Problem with these is they need more cleaning and more often, as well as being less robust, although are more luxurious to the touch
Swissvax, Colourlock and a few others are also based in the same HQ location
.Worth a watch from Darryl from Dr Leather on Car Leather...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n82wsgfZQo
Edited by Ninja59 on Wednesday 21st February 08:51
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff