reducing the sheen/glossiness of leather

[lld]

I have a 1956 Continental Mark II, the interior is all leather. The leather was replaced around 20 years ago. The material is not vinyl and the glossiness does not appear to be from a modern surface treatment (we removed side panels, seats, etc and the sheen/glossiness is there even on pieces that are hidden and underneath and that would be very difficult and expensive to treat without dismantling the entire car). The leather has no tears, cracks, surface defects, etc but it looks too shiny.

Any suggestions on treatments that might reduce the sheen of the leather?

Larry

[Coach Steve]

You can knock down the sheen a couple of different ways. Neither of these methods are permanent but each will provide a dull-er finished product that will last for several weeks and they are easily performed so repeating the process when necessary is fairly easy.

The first way is to wash the seat with saddle soap. Using a soft brush dipped in warm water, dab the brush in the tin of saddle soap to coat the bristles. Softly scrub the surface spreading the soap around and occasionally dipping the brush in warm water. You want to create a lather even;y over the entire surface. Wipe the suds off the seat followed by wiping with a damp towel. Let the surface air dry and it will be noticeably less-shiny.

The next method is basically the same process but you're using a spray solution which will suds up simply by spraying the seat and brushing the product around with a damp brush. The product is Meg's Gold Class Leather & Vinyl Cleaner G18516 available at Walmart, Advance, etc. Cleans the leather well, smells good, it's cheap, and it leaves the surface somewhat dull and ready for a shine protectant but you won't perform that last step unless it's too dull.
Good luck and post your results and maybe even before and after pics.