Leather seat cleaner

[BigBrad]

I had another fellow detailer call me this morning and say that one of his customers wanted him to use lighter fluid to clean the leather seats on his BMW.. He said the customer Did it and the seats came clean! Have any of you ever hear of this...?

[richy]

The leather in most vehicles is coated. That means they were shot with a clear coat similar to what's on the paint. However, it is nowhere as thick or as robust as the exterior paint clear. It must be treated gently. Lighter fluid is just a solvent that flashes/evaporates quickly. Dry cleaning solution is very similar. I would suggest against it. Try a damp mf with hot, hot water first and then dry with another mf. If that doesn't work, I have great results with Optimum Power Clean at 3:1. Wipe it down with a damp mf after and then with a dry one. That should do it. Steam and OPC is the most powerful combo you can get for leather, but not everyone has a steamer. AutoGlym's interior pad is another fantastic tool for getting stains out of leather. I would follow it up with UIGP for the win.

[neat e34]

Swissvax recommend this before using their leather healer (dye).
However in that case it's no problem if some colour is removed from the leather...

[BigBrad]

Richy, I agree with you. I dont think i would try it myself.. Just wondering if anyone else had heard of doing that. I just got my steamer in last week so I'm good!!

[killrwheels@autogeek]

Id just use Leathermasters STRONG if needed ..

[A-train]

What would you do in a situation like this? If you dont agree with his methods and have no idea what it will do to the seats. Do you go through with it and not worry about it since its his idea and your not liable or tell him no and have him take his business elsewhere and lose a customer ?

[BigBrad]

Well in this case he said the customer did it, to show him how.. So I guess if the customer does it then it's ok to do it..

[A-train]

Yeah I suppose. If he's paying then whatever he wants to do !

[Mobile detail]

I have heard of this but always thought that it was an urban legend lol. The craziest thing I saw was when I was working at a body shop doing their non production details, was they used paint thinner to remove stains from the interior. To my surprise, it actually worked and didn't pull any of the color out of the fabric. They said you can use it watered down and it will get the stains off coated leather but there is no way in hell that I would try that.

Gotta love the old timers and production detailers, what ever it takes to make it look good when it leaves the shop, and not whats best for the longevity of the vehicle. I love it when they compound the whole car and go over it 2-3 times at speeds of excess of 2200-2800 rpm with 3m compound then topping them with a glaze. I will say, when the cars leave, they look super shiney.

[Meticulous-Detail]

Originally Posted by richy

The leather in most vehicles is coated. That means they were shot with a clear coat similar to what's on the paint. However, it is nowhere as thick or as robust as the exterior paint clear. It must be treated gently. Lighter fluid is just a solvent that flashes/evaporates quickly. Dry cleaning solution is very similar. I would suggest against it. Try a damp mf with hot, hot water first and then dry with another mf. If that doesn't work, I have great results with Optimum Power Clean at 3:1. Wipe it down with a damp mf after and then with a dry one. That should do it. Steam and OPC is the most powerful combo you can get for leather, but not everyone has a steamer. AutoGlym's interior pad is another fantastic tool for getting stains out of leather. I would follow it up with UIGP for the win.

I agree with Richy. I am going to pick up some OPC on the next order, but I just cleaned leather seats using Ultima Interior Shampoo Gel and AutoGlym's interior pad and was amazed at the results. Check out the photos here My new favorite 1 step killer combo!