HOW TO: Maintain your leather seats so they never crack or age.

Used saddle soap and linseed oil on baseball gloves for years, upholstey is a little different but the sadde soap wil pull all kinds of dirt out of the pours and is safe. I detailedfor a couple years, the guy I worked for had been in business for 30 years and had cars that he'd taken care of since day1. He swore by avon skin so soft, spray it on a terry cloth towel, buff it into the seat until a shine came up. I'm a believer.

 

As above.

 

thank you for the tech

 

I know this is kind of an old thread, but since it has resurfaced,(no pun intended) In my experience I tried many products to soften the cardboard hard leather seats on my Imperial. Leatherique made them like new.

 

Ura is real good quality. Oakwood is the absolute best (aussie made) but harder to find.

 

Leatherique does not have any silicone in it.


Ago

 

thanks, i was wondering what to do with my sts and 62 lincoln seats. never thought of seats needing lanalin moisturizer.i used to just wash them with mild solution of water and dish soap.might not have been best thing to do in hindsight

 

Jagman...

As I was reading this thread I was thinking about my '67 XKE and about to mention Connolly Hide Food myself !! I used it on my XKE with remarkable results...just super stuff. (Connolly, as you know, also furnished most of the leather that went into the Jags. So they knew what they were doing.) You can see pix of my Jag in my "Albums" Section. Fastest car I've ever owned !!

NOW, on my '97 Olds LSS, I always use Eagle Ottawa's "Tanner's Preserve" Leather Conditioning Cream. I bought the Olds new, and it was recommended by the Olds Division at the time...and a sample came with the car. It is also perfect...can't say enough good things about it. Have used it for the last 16 years...and, hey, if you know me, you know I'm a real perfectionist about my rides.

BOTH of the above should help you preserve your leather

Thanks for the thread, Graham !

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

Thought Id bump this for anybody that hasn't seen it yet

 

As someone who makes his living selling custom leather goods, there is some good info in this thread. I'm going to throw out another option for those of you who really prefer to DIY. I use a mixture of liquid mink oil & beeswax to treat, restore, and seal all of my products (there may be more finishing beyond that, but EVERYTHING gets the oil/wax schmutz). The ratio is 2:1 mink oil/beeswax, melt it & mix together. When cooled it'll be about the consistency of vaseline--smear it over whatever leather needs restored and let it sit for a few hours/overnight. The oil will absorb, the beeswax will seal & protect--a light buffing with denim/cotton will remove any residue and leave a nice matte sheen.

 

I don't know if it makes a difference - but from my years in the chemical business one of the base ingredients in skin so soft is food grade mineral oil


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..............Ahhh, shaving cream with Lanalin, makes a good cleaner

 

Just thought Id bump this for anybody that hasn't seen it yet.

 

Thanks for the info Graham. I've got white leather seats in my 32 coupe and they need cleaning often. I use "Nifti" to clean but by the smell I would say they are petro-chem based and therefore a no-no? We don't have Simple Green over here so I will have to try something else.

 

My sofa and love seat in the house are probably 20 years old and a nice blue leather cover. About 6 moths ago I got tired of looking at the hard cracked seating surface and called the manufacturer in North Carolina and they put me on the supplier of the leather. They told me the same story. Clean first, die second if color has faded, then condition. They sold me some expensive Italian stuff to use. Will try some of the products here once I run our of the stuff I have. Look great now and will keep after it every 6 months or so from now on.

 

Personally, I've had great luck cleaning and preserving interiors using nothing but good old Goop hand cleaner in the white tub. Must be the regular, non-abrasive type.

Scrub it into the leather, or vinyl, using a soft bristle brush. Then using a micro-fiber towel rub the cleaner out of all the cracks and crevasses.
Once clean, coat the the seat with a fresh coat of Goop and let sit. After a few hours. Wipe off excess Goop. Easy, peasey and cheap too!

This is an awesome way to clean and care for those all white interiors us custom car guys love.

Oh, by the way, one of the main ingredients in Goop is lanolin.

 

There is a product for leather Leatherique . Contains no silicone. Hi-end foreign car people say its the best.

 

Yeah by all means dont use Simple green if you're unsure about it, or dont have access to it, its made in the States, so we have it here in Canada. Ive used it lots so Im quite comfortable with it, but there are many certified leather cleaners that would work far better. Like I said in the original post, dont use leather cleaner AND treatment, you need two separate chemicals. One for cleaning (as its a process within itself) and one for the moisturizing treatment.
http://autoobsessed.com/shop/leather-care-c-71.html?osCsid=57cltnp51k6b6pq2fldgtimrq1
Here is a link that some of you will find beneficial. I would personally stay away from the Autoglym products. Ive never had any luck with them in terms of leather care. The SwissVax stuff is quite expensive and not worth the added money as many Lexol products and the like work just as well for a fraction of the price.