Honda Seats

[roguish-desires]

Hey everyone, this is my first post so I'm open to constructive critism on posting!

Last fall I detailed my sister's 2005 Honda Odyssey mini-van. I am an enthusast and this thing was in terrible condition. She had done nothing with it since it was new. I spent over 40 hrs on it and got the exterior about 80% corrected (all by hand) and the interior looked almost new.

The van has a gray leather interior and when I got it the carpet appeard dark gray, the ashtrays and armrests were full of stale cheetos, gummi-bears, Mike and Ikes, etc. and the headliner had all sorts of black marks on it. The leather was a sickening caramel brown color. I rented and extractor and got the carpets to lool almost new. I used a 1:1 ratio of Purple Power and a scrub brush on the entire interior and headliner. It came out awesome. I then protected the leather and interior with UIGP.

Well it's been about about 5 months and I finally saw the van again. I was shocked! The seats had returned to the caramel brown color while the rest of the interior still looked pretty decent.

Any thoughts on why the seats turned brown? Anyone else experience this type of problem?

Thanks!

Kurt

[ExoticAutoDetai]

I have always used purple power I love it is not expensive and is great.

But I never had that brown problem thing. Could it be maybe you didn't suck out all of the water & degreaser? Maybe you didn't dry it well.

Always vacuum real good before spraying down degreaser.

Exotic Auto Detail via tapatalk

[roguish-desires]

Yeah the Purple Power is great! That was my first time using it but not the last! LOL!

You may be right about rinsing but I did follow behind with a bucket of clean water and a sponge. Changed water often as it got dirty pretty quickly! Followed up with a cotton terry towel to dry.

I still think it's got to be something that the leather or tanning process is generating.

I've owned and done leather seats before, none this atrocious though!

Any other thoughts?

Kurt

[Flash Gordon]

Hey everyone, this is my first post so I'm open to constructive critism on posting!

Last fall I detailed my sister's 2005 Honda Odyssey mini-van. I am an enthusast and this thing was in terrible condition. She had done nothing with it since it was new. I spent over 40 hrs on it and got the exterior about 80% corrected (all by hand) and the interior looked almost new.

The van has a gray leather interior and when I got it the carpet appeard dark gray, the ashtrays and armrests were full of stale cheetos, gummi-bears, Mike and Ikes, etc. and the headliner had all sorts of black marks on it. The leather was a sickening caramel brown color. I rented and extractor and got the carpets to lool almost new. I used a 1:1 ratio of Purple Power and a scrub brush on the entire interior and headliner. It came out awesome. I then protected the leather and interior with UIGP.

Well it's been about about 5 months and I finally saw the van again. I was shocked! The seats had returned to the caramel brown color while the rest of the interior still looked pretty decent.

Any thoughts on why the seats turned brown? Anyone else experience this type of problem?

Thanks!

Kurt

Kurt, if its been 5 months, and from the condition you describe it was in when you first cleaned it, I would say those brown stains are probally new funk. 5 months in mini van age is equivalent to all of eternity for a car that is properally mantained. How was the condition of the rest of this monster?



Thats a very smart sounding answer Roger :)

Unless I'm mistaking though, it sounds like the OP said the brown stains were there before he ever cleaned them with Purple Power... Maybe I'm wrong :o

[Flash Gordon]

What you said makes sense in therory. Unfortunately reality -vs- science doesn't always pan out exactly how you would expect it to.

I can tell your a very well educated man. I always look forward to your posts with great intrest

[Flash Gordon]

O.K. Then. Your right, and I'm wrong :)






Its just wax...Its just wax...Its just wax...Its just wax...Its just wax...:cool:

[Lasthope05]

Does your sister have kids that play sports? If so, one reason could be body oils and sweat from them. I know the two main reasons for excessive soiling is product residue attracting and holding onto dirt and body oils on seats.

[AeroCleanse]

I use GTechniq L1 on leather after I clean them. I haven't use UIGP, but most leather care products often need more frequent application, esp in the minivan situation.

[Flash Gordon]

Oh yea, theory means so little to me, I don't even know how to spell it ;)

Nice to meet you Roger. My name is Flash :)

[roguish-desires]

Sorry eveyone,

I was reading through the link Roger originally posted. I actually inderstood the theorys and approaches presented even if I didn't understand all the technical chemistry.:wow:

Now to answer some of your questions.


Thats a very smart sounding answer Roger :)


Unless I'm mistaking though, it sounds like the OP said the brown stains were there before he ever cleaned them with Purple Power... Maybe I'm wrong :o

Yes the seats were uniformily brown before any Purple Power was used.


Does your sister have kids that play sports? If so, one reason could be body oils and sweat from them. I know the two main reasons for excessive soiling is product residue attracting and holding onto dirt and body oils on seats.


Kurt, if its been 5 months, and from the condition you describe it was in when you first cleaned it, I would say those brown stains are probally new funk. 5 months in mini van age is equivalent to all of eternity for a car that is properally mantained. How was the condition of the rest of this monster?

Yes she has three boys ages 15 and twins age 12. They play every sport imaginable and the twins finally understand that showering is a good thing! The rest of the vehicle is still in pretty good shape. New funk may be a possibility......

Roger, after reading the aformentioned thread, I am not ruling out your theory entirely. My question then becomes, "Can I clean the seats with an appropriate ph leather cleaner to restore the seats to their gray appearance or do you recomend using the acidic 2.0 rinse to neutralize the existing alkaline nature of the seats before re-cleaning?"

:thankyousign:

[Roger Koh]

I was reading through the link Roger originally posted. I actually inderstood the theorys and approaches presented even if I didn't understand all the technical chemistry.:wow:

Roger, after reading the aformentioned thread, I am not ruling out your theory entirely. My question then becomes, "Can I clean the seats with an appropriate ph leather cleaner to restore the seats to their gray appearance or do you recomend using the acidic 2.0 rinse to neutralize the existing alkaline nature of the seats before re-cleaning?"

:thankyousign:


You may have 2 levels of cleaning/rectification to think about, with color refinishing as the last resort.


First, is to strip all foreign contamination that may obscure the true color down to the OEM finish. You may have a choice of using a leather-safe system or any alkaline products that ends immediately with a pH 2.0 acidifier rinse to return the leather finish to pH 3 – 5 [6].


Second, is to do a test to see if the original color can be reverted back.

A pH 3.5 leather tannin stain remover and a pH 1.3 leather tarnish stain remover is recommended for the test – it’s like trying to un-cook a cooked egg.

It is a simple test, just by placing one drop of each product at different location and inspect if color change take place after natural drying; a third test is to placed a drop of the pH 3.5 first, follows by a drop of the pH 1.3 to act as an accelerator to see how the side effect will response.


Lastly, all is not lost if you take the refinishing route and we can discuss how best it can be done.


It would be better to show us some pictures, so that help will be more specific.

[roguish-desires]

Thanks Roger!

At this point I'm going to start out easy and try a leather safe cleaner to see if I can get the color back.

If that doesn't work, I'll try:


a more alkaline product such as a diluted Purple Power
followed by multiple rinsings
cleaning with a leather safe product (hopefully to insure PH is between 3-5)
No conditioner or dressing.
Let me know what you think!

Pictures aren't available until sometime next week. They have the van on a spring break vacation.

Kurt