May have damaged leather

[Shtexas]

So my dad asked me to clean the interior of his car which hadn't been cleaned in almost 2 years. He has the same car as me only one year older. His leather is black while mine is a lighter color. He has a 2011 Grand Cherokee limited.

Everything was going fine until I went to clean the leather. It was pretty shiny and had obvious dirt and grime on it. I wiped it down first with a damp cloth before I started the actual cleaning. I used the same cleaner that I do on my leather when it needs a deeper cleaning, the Griot's interior cleaner. I spray it on, agitate it with a soft brush, then wipe it off. There was a lot of grime coming off so I sprayed it on again light agitated it and wiped it off. After that I wiped it with a damp microfiber and saw what looked liked grime and dirt still coming off. I wiped a couple more times before I got nervous that it might be the leather color coming off. This has never happened on my leather with the cleaner. I stopped and decided to ask here before I went any further. The leather has never been repaired or redyed.
I did the normal test spot and it was fine. No discoloration or anything.
Could the leather really be that dirty? I have a hard time with the black leather and seeing how much grime is left during cleaning.

Any help is appreciated.

[sproketser]

Please post pics , might help you here . Hope you ll get it fixed .

[theblob640]

Try a soft brush and agitate the cleaner. I find using the brush isn't very aggressive on leather yet it helps the cleaner get into the pores and the suds it creates lifts out the dirt and deep cleans the leather.

[Shtexas]

Here are some pictures I just took of the leather. It was the side bolster of the passenger seat.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/bolster2.jpg

It was getting a little dark outside so I used a light to help with the pictures.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/closeup.jpg

Closeup Shot of the bolster above.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/bolster.jpg

The outside part of the bolster is what I cleaned and had the black coming off of. Even after this I tried to clean it a little just with a damp microfiber and it still came off black.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/towel.jpg

[MarkD51]

I don't know, to me it looks pretty damn good! :-)

I would assume with this type of leather finish, that dyes as well as dirt can slightly bleed out with cleaners, so this characteristic probably isn't uncommon.

The trick is probably knowing when to stop, especially if you are using some strong, or high concentrate mix APC's.

I would stop at this point, and then rely on leather conditioners to finish the job. I think many of these Leather Conditioners, as simple as plain old Lexol gotten anywhere also may have some small amount of cleaners-soaps in them that will help lift dirts, but not additionally harm the leather.

When you "strip" a leather with a straight cleaner, such as you did, I'm sure no matter what, it will then sort of look lackluster, dull, and it now then needs to be "fed".

As soon as you put some good conditioner on the leather, I'm sure it will look just fantastic! Mark

[MarkD51]

I would think any leather finish, would be akin to being like a single stage paint finish. Without being treated, sealed, and protected for any length of time, the finish, due to UV degradation would eventually turn chaulky, cloudy looking, and perhaps this can be expected.

For sure, any leather is an SOB to keep in tip top shape. That no matter how much you care for it, with people getting in and out constantly, this rubs off many protectants, and then often leaves the leather bare to exposure.

Plus, there's so many products on the market that aren't actually ideal for leather, as well as many "wrong" products in use, such as the horrid "Armor All".

I'm an offender as well, using such crud (Armor All) in a pinch in the past.
But no more. Mark

[Pureshine]

Put a small drop of water on the seat and if it soaks in its not treated. If its not treated then is dye coming off.

[judyb]

This certainly looks like pigment coming off rather than dirt.
If it is then the leather will need refinishing otherwise it will wear very quickly.
Microfibres are not recommended for cleaning leather as they can 'grab' finish and remove it if it is weak.
'Conditioners' will not help and could make refinishing a problem
Hope this helps
Judyb

[Shtexas]

My dad is going to bring the car by the house again later. I'm going to try the water drop test to see if the coating is gone now. From what I saw though any liquid was staying suspended above the leather. I'll definitely stay using the soft terry cloths to clean any leather as well, and just get a dedicated leather cleaner.

I'm assuming like most newer cars that the "leather" is really a mix of vinyl and leather. Are leather cleaners safe to use on both parts?

[quantim0]

Griots Interior Cleaner pulls the blue dye out of my GTO seats even though they are coated. I just use Megs APC 10:1 now and have not had an issue on any car with it.

[Shtexas]

Griots Interior Cleaner pulls the blue dye out of my GTO seats even though they are coated. I just use Megs APC 10:1 now and have not had an issue on any car with it.

Definitely not using it on leather anymore then, thanks. Would it still be safe to use on the plastics and dash?

[quantim0]

Definitely not using it on leather anymore then, thanks. Would it still be safe to use on the plastics and dash?

I haven't seen an issue with it when working on plastics and dashes. At least in my limited experience with the product on 3 or 4 cars.