Accidental discovery resulted in showroom-matte seats

[brettka7]

I have tried countless leather cleaners over the past 6 months trying to get these seats showroom fresh and so far, nothing had made a dent. They are ‘clean’ but stay quite shiny.


I remembered I had Leatherique, so on a whim I decided to try it on my passenger seat. Then I realized I only had Rejuvenator and was out of Prestine Clean.


The strongest leather-safe cleaner in my arsenal to get the Rejuvenator oil off was Meguiar’s D101 APC. Used a horse hair brush to scrub the Leatherique off after 24 hours of soaking into the leather.


It seems I’ve accidentally found my ideal solution to get leather back to factory matte. Even when I’ve tried Prestine Clean, I’ve been left with a slight sheen on my leather. This is the first time a front seat has ever matched my nearly unused rear seats.


The photos speak for themselves. If anyone knows a reason this could be bad for leather, I’m open to feedback!

I can’t seem to upload photos here directly, so apologies, but here’s an Imgur link:

Leatherique + D101 - Album on Imgur (https://imgur.com/a/4yeKkpP)

[FUNX650]

I remembered I had Leatherique,
so on a whim I decided to try it on
my passenger seat.

Then I realized I only had Rejuvenator
and was out of Prestine Clean.

The strongest leather-safe cleaner in my
arsenal to get the Rejuvenator oil off was
Meguiar’s D101 APC.

It seems I’ve accidentally found my ideal
solution to get leather back to factory matte.

Even when I’ve tried Prestine Clean, I’ve
been left with a slight sheen on my leather.

This is the first time a front seat has ever
matched my nearly unused rear seats.

If anyone knows a reason this could be
bad for leather, I’m open to feedback!

•To begin with:
-You didn’t say what type of Leather
you were working on;
-What was D101’s dilution ratio?
{And as to D101’s safeness on
leather? Link please. TIA.}

Then, after taking a closer look at the
results of the two products you used I’ll say...

•By leaving a matte factory appearance/finish:
D101, a highly alkaline cleaner (pH13), does
appear to have removed all of Rejuvenator’s
“fatty” residues—(see below SDS).

-What harm, if any, that could/may befall your
particular leather appointments after using this
treatment methodology—now or in the future—
is not discernible by me at this time.


•I just know that if I had treated auto leather
in this fashion, following it up with applying a
quality leather Protectant, such as the ones
offered by Leather Masters, would be ‘top’ priority!


In conclusion:
Even though you say it seems you have
found your ideal solution...I know that I
personally would be hard pressed to ever
use this combo on anyone’s auto leather.


Bob
________________________________________

•Leatherique Rejuvenator
Its SDS lists the ingredients as follows:
-Non Hazardous Ingredients—(Trade Secret)
-Inedible Animal Fat—(Trade Secret)

Note: Its pH is not supplied
____________________________________

•Meguiar’s D101
Its SDS lists the ingredients as follows:
-Water—(Trade Secret—>TS)
-2-Butoxyethanol—(TS)
-Mixed Alkyl Sulfates—(TS)
-Sodium Metasilicate—(TS)

Note: pH of 13
___________________________________

[brettka7]

This is the kind of reply I was hoping for here!

-You didn’t say what type of Leather
you we’re working on

It’s BMW Dakota leather from a 2017 M240i with 50,XXX miles

-What was D101’s dilution ratio?
{And D101’s safeness on leather?
Link please. TIA.}

Dilution was 1:10, and safeness on leather can be found on this very site!

Meguiar?s D101 All Purpose Cleaner combo pack (https://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-d101-combo.html)

•By leaving a matte factory appearance/finish:
D101, a highly alkaline cleaner (pH13), does
appear to have removed all of Rejuvenator’s
“fatty” residues—(see below SDS).

This is very possible. I’m in the belief that Rejuvenator doesn’t do a whole lot for coated leather. However, as leather wears and the coating starts to crease and incur micro-abrasions, I do believe Rejuvenator can get into the natural leather below the coating. On the flip side, I’ve used D101 on this leather once before, alone, and it didn’t do much about the shine. Rejuvenator made a big difference when left to sit for 24 hours straight.

•Meguiar’s D101
Its SDS lists the ingredients as follows:
-Water—(Trade Secret—>TS)
-2-Butoxyethanol—(TS)
-Mixed Alkyl Sulfates—(TS)
-Sodium Metasilicate—(TS)

Note: pH of 13

This one is very interesting to me because Rejuvenator prides itself in being PH neutral. It seems likely that Meguiars APC would dry leather out if used often. Hopefully now that I have 50k miles of shine off my leather I can keep it shine-free with a dedicated leather cleaner. I looked at some Meguiar’s leather cleaners and found PH of 11-12.5, which is still quite alkaline. Leather Masters strong cleaner is still PH 7.5 - 8.5. Even the soft cleaner is PH 6.5 - 8.5, which was surprising to me.

D101 diluted 1:10 results in a PH 11.959 according to chemistry calculators found online.

For what it’s worth, I always wipe my seats down with a damp towel to remove the cleaner residue once they’ve been cleaned. Hopefully with the cleaner only sitting on the surface for minutes, it prevents any non-PH neutral chemicals from damaging leather.

[FUNX650]

Hopefully with the cleaner only sitting
on the surface for minutes, it prevents
any non-PH neutral chemicals from
damaging leather

IMO:
The benefit to be gained from applying some
of LM’s Protectant, posthaste, to the now very
clean...but also very moisture-impaired-looking
leather...can not be stressed enough.


Bob

[Desertnate]

I've found a good application of a MILD dilution of an APC does wonders on leather. Especially heavily used leather touchpoints like the steering wheel and shift knob (if you have a manual).

I don't remember the ratio, but Poorboys World APC works well for this too. On the bottle they have a dilution ration for leather and delicate surfaces, so I mix up a special spray bottle just for that use. Works great.

[TTQ B4U]

[COLOR=#000000]I have tried countless leather cleaners over the past 6 months trying to get these seats showroom fresh and so far, nothing had made a dent. They are ‘clean’ but stay quite shiny.

Optimum Leather Protectant Plus leaves a perfect non shiny or greasy matte finish just like OEM.

72011