Did I push too far when cleaning leather...

[BMW530iE39]

Hello,

So the other day there was an accident in my car, I had a passenger with a butterfly knife open in there pocket (they forgot it apparently), and when a Prius Driver who was Texting changed lanes and then braked without signaling, I had to rapidly come to a stop, because of this the knife cut the passengers leg. I pulled over and helped them use the first aid kit to stop the bleeding with plenty of gauze, but when I returned to the car there was about 5 oz of blood and water on my seat.

Here's how I cleaned it up.


I first used a towel to sap up the mess, leaving just a thin film

I used a vacuum brush (like the ones they give you to clean carpet) with Chemical Guys Extreme Leather Cleaner, and I scrubbed with medium force, but there was plenty of cleaner so I figured it would be well lubricated.

I then used some AMMO Mousse, to moisturize the seat, let it soak for 2-3 min, then pulled up the excess.



Here's my issue, I noticed that the seats were really matte, I was wondering if it was because I have never really cleaned the seat properly. I normally use a boar's hair shaving brush, and I never really noticed the lather the shaving brush creating being ever dirty.

Below is a picture of the seat, I would like to know if I just didn't clean the seat properly, or if the brush damaged the leather finish. Compare the matte side on the right vs the shiny left/middle side.

Thanks,
BMW530iE39

[dfoxengr]

Yes, matte is because the seat is now clean of all oils. Clean the rest like this and the leather will be truly clean.

[lawrenceSA]

Here is a picture of some leather I cleaned up this past weekend.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Brandon%20M3/IMG_4732_zps290abba7.jpg

Notice how the clean side is matte and the dirty side shiny.

This is normal

Full write up here http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/76501-jerez-black-e90-bmw-m3-detailed-lawrence.html

[doogeem3]

Shiny leather, is dirty leather.

[JSou]

Amen.

[wdmaccord]

+1 on all of this. It looks like you take good care of your seats, but you have maybe never "deep" cleaned them like you had to on that one seat given the circumstances. Deep clean the rest of the seating surfaces and you should have a match. Make sure to put some kind of protectant back on after you deep clean.

[BMW530iE39]

Thanks for your help guys. I was really worried I damaged the seat, as the lather made by the CG Cleaner was really dark. I am going to clean them throughly next weekend, and post pictures.