Leather peels off when cleaning?

[Kombat]

Hi everyone, I just tried to clean the leather arm rest, which located on the driver door, I was using Sonax interior cleaner.
I used toothbrush on just few passes, the leather is peeled off!
Is it dirt or real leather ?
I am scared!
Please help!

Thanks!33261

[lawrenceSA]

It looks like the dye is coming off. Perhaps the bristles of the toothbrush are too aggressive....

[Evan.J]

Chances are that isn't real leather and probably vinyl with a leather texture. To me it looks like you may have scrubbed off the coating on the top with that stiff and aggressiveness of the tooth brush.

The Sonax Interior Cleaner alone would not cause this but adding in the tooth brush may have.

[Audios S6]

Chances are that isn't real leather and probably vinyl with a leather texture. To me it looks like you may have scrubbed off the coating on the top with that stiff and aggressiveness of the tooth brush.

The Sonax Interior Cleaner alone would not cause this but adding in the tooth brush may have.

Yup. Omit the toothbrush and go for a slightly longer dwell time and a microfiber towel. Another option is the soft gray cyclo brush on a DA polisher.

[Kombat]

Thank you so much, I think its layer of dye but not sure at the first. I rubbed it with Sonax interior sponge and the layer it came off, the leather look brighter and clean!
Update: while I was writing post, my friend just came and he told me that: the armrest was cloth and he bought fake leather to replace!

Again, thank you guys very much! I will be more careful when cleaning the interior!!