Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil

[98LowRanger]

So I read the manufacturers instructions on how to apply this product, but I had a few questions that maybe you guys can answer.

1) I know the rejuvenator oil hydrates as well as brings the dirt out of the leather, but is there any benefit of cleaning the seats (use of steam, Folex, and a brush) BEFORE applying the rejuvenator oil??

2) They recommend the leather to be "warm". So after applying the rejuvenator oil I should set the seats in the sun for a few hours? Also they say they can be warmed with a hair dryer, not getting the seats too hot of course. What do you guys do or is this step not truly needed?

3) After the rejuvenator oil and Prestine Clean are applied, can I apply a coating like PinnacleBlack Label Leather & Vinyl Coating or Gyeon Q2 Leather Coat immediately after?

[rbss]

1.Vacuum and use a soft brush

2. I like to apply liberally by hand in pull the car out in the sun for 24hour if possible

3. One of the coating companies I have talk to did not recommend using a coating after leatherique or any type of leather conditioner.

[markiteight]

So I read the manufacturers instructions on how to apply this product, but I had a few questions that maybe you guys can answer.

1) I know the rejuvenator oil hydrates as well as brings the dirt out of the leather, but is there any benefit of cleaning the seats (use of steam, Folex, and a brush) BEFORE applying the rejuvenator oil??

Just a light vacuum to get loose dust/dirt off the seats. Rejuvenator Oil is is step one of the cleaning process, so no need to pre-clean.


2) They recommend the leather to be "warm". So after applying the rejuvenator oil I should set the seats in the sun for a few hours? Also they say they can be warmed with a hair dryer, not getting the seats too hot of course. What do you guys do or is this step not truly needed?

Temperature isn't the only factor. It would be more accurate to say the seats should rest for a few hours in sauna-like conditions. You can put the car in the sun with the windows up, but don't put the seats in direct sunlight. I removed my seats and put them in a spare room with a heater. That worked well. If warm sun or a spare room aren't available, a plastic bag over the seats and a hair dryer has been suggested.


3) After the rejuvenator oil and Prestine Clean are applied, can I apply a coating like PinnacleBlack Label Leather & Vinyl Coating or Gyeon Q2 Leather Coat immediately after?

Not a good idea. Leather is fibrous and porous and needs to breathe to remain healthy. Sealing the leather cuts off its ability to breathe and it will actually rot internally (this according to Leatherique). Their recommendation for best leather maintenance is a once monthly wipe down with Prestine Clean and a twice yearly application of Rejuvenator Oil.

[s14rl]

Just a light vacuum to get loose dust/dirt off the seats. Rejuvenator Oil is is step one of the cleaning process, so no need to pre-clean.



Temperature isn't the only factor. It would be more accurate to say the seats should rest for a few hours in sauna-like conditions. You can put the car in the sun with the windows up, but don't put the seats in direct sunlight. I removed my seats and put them in a spare room with a heater. That worked well. If warm sun or a spare room aren't available, a plastic bag over the seats and a hair dryer has been suggested.



Not a good idea. Leather is fibrous and porous and needs to breathe to remain healthy. Sealing the leather cuts off its ability to breathe and it will actually rot internally (this according to Leatherique). Their recommendation for best leather maintenance is a once monthly wipe down with Prestine Clean and a twice yearly application of Rejuvenator Oil.

I'm in a similar position to the original poster - have both Leatherique and the Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating. It sounds like the recommendation is to pick a path (Leatherique OR coating but not both) and stick with it. For 1.5 year old black leather seats that have never had products applied but still look new (minimal use), what do you guys suggest?

[blkSRT]

Is there really a benefit to putting oil on modern coated leather?

[Bus_Driver]

From my understanding, oil on coated leather attracts and holds dirt, which is bad. If you're referring to Leatherique Rejuvinator Oil, Leatherique claims NO OIL in it's Rejuvinator product.

[blkSRT]

OK so how does the rejuvenator 'oil' penetrate modern automotive coated leather?

[rbss]

I have had good luck on older coated leather. Todd helme has a good post about Leatherique.

Does Leatherique work on coated/pigmented leather (http://www.autopia.org/forums/interior-car-care/44334-leatherique-coated-pigmented-leather.html?highlight=leatherique)

[markiteight]

OK so how does the rejuvenator 'oil' penetrate modern automotive coated leather?

The answer to all your questions:

Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products (http://www.leatherique.com)

[Rob4092xx]

The three most common types of automotive leather are:

Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a pigment (colored urethane paint) to yield uniform color and then clear coated. This type of leather does not reveal scars, pores and blemishes and has an artificial uniform grain pattern embossed. It is typically the only real leather in the seat and located only in the center inserts of the seat. The sides, bolsters, etc., are vinyl painted with the same colored urethane paint so it matches the leather inserts perfectly giving the entire seat a "leather" look. This is what 99% of cars have including Corvette, Escalade, newer Ferrari and Lamborghini. To demonstrate this just put a drop of water on your seat and see if it soaks in. It will not soak in as the leather has a painted on urethane coating on it. If water can't penetrate the coating how can "conditioners" and "protectants?" Read on.....

Semi-Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a semi-transparent pigment then clear coated This type of leather may reveal some of the underlying scars and blemishes of the hide as well as some color and grain changes. Almost never seen in the past twenty years.

Synthetic: Much of the leather, and in some, all of the leather in many of today's vehicles is entirely synthetic or engineered leather. It looks like real leather but is really entirely synthetic. This is in use in some high ticket brands like Lexus, MB and Infinity for example. It is often difficult to tell what is real leather and what is engineered leather.

The bottom line is 99.9% of cars sold today have leather only on the middle insert of the seat bottom and back. The sides are completely 100% vinyl. The color and texture of the vinyl matches the leather inserts perfectly as they are all sprayed with a colored urethane coating. A perfect way to demonstrate they are vinyl is the water drop test outlined above. Another way is pull some of the seat siding out from underneath the seat. Notice there is a foam backing? Real leather (from real cows) doesn't have foam backing on it.

Have you noticed the change in new car window stickers when referring to the seats? They now call the interior "leather lined," or "leather trim." Just take a look at a new C7 Corvette window sticker. They don't say "leather seats" like they used to. Now the C7 window sticker says, "Trim, Leather." This is because only the center inserts are actually leather! The remainder of the seat is vinyl. Remember, vinyl has a foam backing on it.

Everyone seems to like the term "conditioner," but just what is conditioning? When leather professionals speak of “conditioning leather” they are usually speaking about leather hydration. Properly hydrated leather will be soft, plump and flexible making it resistant to creasing and cracking. Most traditional conditioners are typically oily or contain silicone, wax or things like Aloe or Neat's-foot or Mink oil. No protected, urethane coated, leather needs or benefits from these things. Conditioning products were initially designed for a much different type of leather like car seat who were 100% uncoated leather back in the 60's and 70's. Remember, none of these conditioners can absorb through the urethane coating making them useless.

Most oily conditioners leave a film on protected leather that can hasten the accumulation of soil. Conditioners do not penetrate the urethane painted top coat to condition the leather. True, some of the H2o in these conditioners evaporates and raises the relative humidity surrounding the leather which is beneficial as the leather will pick up the H2O through the process of transpiration, but a damp wipe down with a towel will do this as well and not leave that soil grabbing film. Keep in mind that the urethane topcoat was added to the leather for the purpose of preventing spills and liquids from getting to the leather, as well as hiding the leather’s underlying scars, and blemishes, while making the leather more abrasion resistant.

Leather conditioners do nothing to prevent stains or dye transfer. If your leather has developed cracks, using an oily conditioner may further degrade the adhesion of the painted topcoat around the crack and make the damage worse.

So how does this painted on protective urethane coating work and still allow the leather to stay hydrated? Much the same way as a rain coat would protect you from a driving rain. At the same time the rain is being repelled, you will begin to notice that your clothing is becoming damp due to the 100% humidity level. That's basically how your leather stays hydrated, at the molecular level. If you want to test this put a drop of water on your protected leather in an inconspicuous place and leave for 15-20 minutes and you will see that it does not soak in. That is the urethane top coat preventing the absorption of the liquid as it was designed to do. H2o is a small molecule when compared to an oily conditioner so if water is not being absorbed by the leather, the larger molecules of a conditioner certainly are not.

Ok, so for those who insist that their leather feels softer after using a conditioner I can suggest three reasons for this. The first is that the conditioner has left an oily film on the leather and it altered the "hand" or feel of the leather. It has not really done anything to the leather, as it can't get to the leather, but it makes the hand feel nice for a short time until it is rubbed off or evaporates.

The other reason is that the conditioner likely contains a good deal of water and that it is raising the humidity level in the proximity of the leather. If this happens, the leather may absorb the water molecules and plump up and feel softer. The thing about this is that a wipe down with a wrung out watered cotton towel would accomplish the exact same thing.

The third reason is that the term conditioner has no defined meaning. Who knows what is in the bottle labeled Leather Conditioner? What one company calls a conditioner another might call a protectant. The industry has too many vague definitions.

Leather is made soft in the tanning process and then sealed. You cannot add oils back through the urethane topcoat of protected leather. Leather becomes hard if it loses its needed hydration. Dry leather shrinks and feels hard. Much the same way a chamois gets hard when it is dry. Rehydrate the chamois and it becomes soft again. Rehydrate unprotected leather seats and they should soften to the degree designed in the original tanning process. Think about it.

I never use products that contain neat's-foot, mink, or other oils, silicone, aloe, or any other odd, useless item, but often the labels doesn't tell you what is in the bottle. This includes Leatherique, Lexol, 303 Protectant, Armor All, Zaino, etc., etc. In my experience, these products do nothing but sit on top of the urethane top coating until your clothing wipes them off. In the meantime, they collect dust and dirt which is then ground into your seats and stitching as you slide across the seat getting in and out much like sandpaper. 90% of your seat damage comes from this!

I vacuum the leather in my C6, Ferrari 360 and Lambo Gallardo and wipe it down with a wrung out watered towel weekly. That is it! Your leather will look like brand new for many years to come! My C6 is ten years old and the seats still look like brand new!

You are going to read a lot of people who make comments disagreeing with me. Just conduct the two above tests and make your own decisions. Does a drop of water soak into the seat or just sit on top until it evaporates? Does the backing of your seat material on the side pieces (bolster) have foam on the back? Remember, your seats may feel softer after applying a "conditioner," but go back in a day or two and see if they still feel that way. Once the conditioner dries on the seats and on your hands, this softness is gone! Lastly, if Corvette seats are 100% leather, why has GM changed their description on Window Stickers as "Trim, Leather?" Enuf said!

[Rob4092xx]

For any liquid to absorb into something porous such as leather that has not been coated with urethane, whether it be water, conditioners, soda pop, sweat, etc., the thickness of the liquid determines absorption. This is the principle of liquid "fluid dynamic," absorption and viscosity.

The study of liquid flow is called hydrodynamics. While liquids include all sorts of substances, hydrodynamics involve managing the flow of water.

The term viscosity is a measure of resistance to flow. It can be measured by observing the time required for a given volume of liquid to flow through an object. Thicker the liquid, higher the viscosity. Motor oil usually has two measurements. As an example, most cars not use something like 10w-40 oil viscosity. This means the oil is very thin when cold (10w) and thicker when hot (40).

The viscosity of a substance is related to the strength of the forces acting between its molecular units. In the case of water, these forces are primarily due to hydrogen bonding. As an example, honey is much more viscous because the sugars they contain are studded with hydroxyl groups (–OH) which can form multiple hydrogen bonds with water thus having much more viscosity.

In other words, the lower viscosity of a substance will flow and absorb much quicker than one with higher viscosity. Silicone leather conditioners have much, much higher viscosity than water. Water will absorb much quicker. If water will not absorb through the urethane protectant on treated leather and vinyl in your car, a thick, higher viscosity leather conditioner will not absorb either!

Again, place a drop of water on your leather seat. If it absorbs, go ahead and use all the leather conditioner you want and I will admit I am wrong. If the water drop doesn't absorb, do nothing more than keep your seats clean with an occasional mild leather cleaner and frequently wipe them down with a damp towel. They will last for years!