Leather care thoughts...

[George @ DU]

What is your typical leather care schedule? I'll typically use my leather cleaner every other month, then condition it twice a year. Curious on how often other members care for their leather. I'll often give it a wipe down during my quick interior clean ups and spot treat any stains.

George

[Mikeyc]

Personally, I feel like leather care maybe one my biggest detailing weaknesses. I've tried a lot of different products and some different techniques, but in the end I haven't been happy. I think I'm fighting a losing battle though. The leather in my car is pretty low quality (it's a Honda), it's a convertible so the leather really takes a beating, and I just never seem to clean and condition the leather as often as it needs it. I wash the car every week at least, but for some reason I never seem to remember to take care of the leather regularly.

[Kevin@DetailsIM.com]

Originally Posted by Mikeyc

Personally, I feel like leather care maybe one my biggest detailing weaknesses. I've tried a lot of different products and some different techniques, but in the end I haven't been happy. I think I'm fighting a losing battle though. The leather in my car is pretty low quality (it's a Honda), it's a convertible so the leather really takes a beating, and I just never seem to clean and condition the leather as often as it needs it. I wash the car every week at least, but for some reason I never seem to remember to take care of the leather regularly.

What products have worked better then others for you? If the weather holds up today, I am going to treat my interior w/ Leatherique. I have heard great things about this product.

[Mikeyc]

Originally Posted by Kevin@DetailsIM.com

What products have worked better then others for you? If the weather holds up today, I am going to treat my interior w/ Leatherique. I have heard great things about this product.

Leatherique is a very popular product. I've never tried it myself mainly because the "leather expert" over on S2KI.com is very anti-Leatherique. He works in the leather industry and swears Leatherique is bad for leather (and yes the company he works for sells leather cleaning products too). He doesn't really push his company's products so I take his advice on choosing chemicals for leather with only the tiniest grain of salt.

Over the years I have tried many leather products including . . .

Meguiar's
Mother's
Turtle Wax
Lexol
Pinnacle
Four Star
Zymol
Imperial

. . . and probably a few others I'm forgetting. The Four Star leather products are pretty good I've found. But, I feel like the leather conditioner doesn't last very long on my seats. I just applied some Pinnacle Leather Conditioner to my seats today for the first time. My initial impressions are very positive, but at $30 for a 16 oz. bottle it's pretty pricey.

[Greg @ DU]

Originally Posted by Mikeyc

Leatherique is a very popular product. I've never tried it myself mainly because the "leather expert" over on S2KI.com is very anti-Leatherique. He works in the leather industry and swears Leatherique is bad for leather (and yes the company he works for sells leather cleaning products too). He doesn't really push his company's products so I take his advice on choosing chemicals for leather with only the tiniest grain of salt.

Thats interesting to me because I've had nothing but great results with the Leatherique products. I guess I could see if you only use the Prestine Clean it may not have have enough conditioners to keep the leather well conditioned after years of use. However if at some point you include the Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil as well this produces outstanding results in my experiences. Did he provide any information on why this may be true?

Greg @ DU

[Mikeyc]

Greg,

I'm not sure why but Leatherique is really the only brand I ever see him blow a gasket over. I'll see later if I can dig up more info on why he hates Leatherique, but this was what I quickly found although I wouldn't call it scientific . . .

It can soften the finish, causing premature wear, it can ruin your clothes, and it does not moisteurize the leather nor protect it like a good conditioner will. I would personally stay away.

Also, I just want to add that the Pinnacle Leather Conditioner I applied this morning is GREAT. The leather is supple and it has a nice leather smell which is not quite as pungent as the leather smell of the 4* I was using before.

[Dogged]

I have tried three leather cleaner and conditioner products, Leatherique, Perrone, and Zaino. I think they all work well to clean and protect the leather. I have not had any problems with the Leatherique. Since I ahve a light colored leather in my car, I am zealous about cleaning any mark as soon as I notice it, and givng the leather a regular cleaning and conditioning.

Perrone makes leather upolstery aircraft, and markets its leather products to the aviation industry. I figured that if it is good enough for an expensive jet, it is almost good enough for my car.

As far as leaving a smell of new leather, I like the Zaino conditioner the best.

[derek80]

I use Leatherique about 2 times a year for deep cleaning. It is a bit messy, but does the job well. For regular maintaining, I use Zaino Z9, Z10. I fully agree with the smell .

[Queenskid24]

The rule for everyone entering my car is no food or heavy drinks so my leather only needs a simple armor all leather wipe and its as good as new, the only drawback to the wipes is that they last for such a small period of time on the leather.

[choppstixxx]

Poorboys World Leather Stuff works amazing, my leather is almost 4 years old and looks better than peoples brand new cars. It doubles as a cleaner and conditioner depending on how you use it. Lasts for awhile and keeps my leather soft and supple.

[TOGWT]

Scheduled Maintenance: Once every 30-60 days, Arizona, Florida and Texas, especially in summer, for northern climates between 90-120 days, use a leather conditioner to restore these natural oils and keep the leather soft and supple. (Criot's Leather Care, Autoglym Leather Care Cream, Zanio Z10 Leather in a Bottle or Zymol Treat leather cleaners are all good maintenance products)