Guide to Leather Care?

[saints]

What is a mild soap?

Ivory hand soap diluted in water is what most leather manufacturers recommend. Keep leather clean and hydrated and it will last a very long time. Once you start to see cracks in your leather the damage has already been done and will need to be repaired by a professional.

Creases will occur naturally from stress points depending on where and how you sit on it. Once you start to get creases it is really important to keep clean. Leather conditioners will only attract dirt and will act like sand paper in those creases and that is why it starts to crack and break down as the topcoat and pigment will begin to fail.

A protectant is recommended and there are a million to choose from. I have not tested many because I believe many are just not worth it. I use Leather Masters protectant for my personal use and have used some of their other products to repair different kinds of leather and find them to be high quality.

[FUNX650]

Ivory hand soap diluted in water is what most leather manufacturers recommend. Keep leather clean and hydrated and it will last a very long time. Once you start to see cracks in your leather the damage has already been done and will need to be repaired by a professional.

Creases will occur naturally from stress points depending on where and how you sit on it. Once you start to get creases it is really important to keep clean. Leather conditioners will only attract dirt and will act like sand paper in those creases and that is why it starts to crack and break down as the topcoat and pigment will begin to fail.

A protectant is recommended and there are a million to choose from. I have not tested many because I believe many are just not worth it. I use Leather Masters protectant for my personal use and have used some of their other products to repair different kinds of leather and find them to be high quality.

Amen, Brother.

It's the same sermon I've been
preaching...from time eternal.


Bob

[detailsbydennis]

Nothing worse is getting a car in my shop to be detailed. When there is evidence someone before covered leather and vinyl in silicone. On a tangent:
Often I see the coating on leather is cracked not the leather. Just an observation that intrigued me so I picked up a used seat that had cardboard hard leather seats from a Mercedes. I stripped the coating with a solvent. The leather under the coating was soft and supple. I resprayed a color coating from Leatherique. I wanted to see how durable this coating was before I offered it to my customers. I was impressed on the look and feel of the respray however not as durable as a coating from a manufacturer.

[saints]

Nothing worse is getting a car in my shop to be detailed. When there is evidence someone before covered leather and vinyl in silicone. On a tangent:
Often I see the coating on leather is cracked not the leather. Just an observation that intrigued me so I picked up a used seat that had cardboard hard leather seats from a Mercedes. I stripped the coating with a solvent. The leather under the coating was soft and supple. I resprayed a color coating from Leatherique. I wanted to see how durable this coating was before I offered it to my customers. I was impressed on the look and feel of the respray however not as durable as a coating from a manufacturer.

Unfortunately no, a respray will not be as durable as what comes from the manufacturer and will need to be touched up from time to time. Especially on high wear areas like in a car that is used on a daily basis and is subject to a lot of different extremes whether it be temperature, UV rays or just sliding in and out of the car. What it will do is add life back into something that has little life left. Of course proper care will also affect its longevity.

[larry33]

1. Do you mean this? Amazon.com: Ivory Original Liquid Hand Soap Refill, 48 oz: Health & Personal Care

2. And what would the dilution be? 3.And how wet would you apply it? 4. Just wipe off with dry cloth or a damp cloth? Thanks

[figgie]

Pinnacle Black Label Leather & Vinyl Coating

this is the bomb !!!!! check it out

I used this on my Wife's ATS and this stuff is great. Does not take a lot to protect!

[natewood70]

So what to do about seats with contrast stitching like my Audi RS7? Black seats with white stitching should I condition the seat or not? And how to protect the white stitching from changing colors?

My Chrysler 300S has white stitching to contrast the black leather and I use Pinnacle Leather Cleaner & Conditioner: Pinnacle Leather Cleaner & Conditioner - Agreed upon by leather care pros world wide, leather requires both cleaning and conditioning to keep it .

I haven't seen any color transfer into the white stitching since using it and it leaves a nice "leathery" (I guess you would call it that) smell after it's applied. Here's a picture of my seats a day after using it... not a close up or anything, but you can clearly see that the stitching still pops the way you would expect:



I like keeping it simple, and this really does the job well.

[Rob4092xx]

I use either Leather Master's cleaners or Woolite at 10 to 1.

What is a mild soap?

[flyboylr45]

Hey Fun.....the 3LT package available on a C7 does offer a full leather option. Go look at your MSRP sticker. If it says, "trim, leather," all you have are seats with leather inserts down the center pieces. If that doesn't convince you, call GM. Not your dealer as they have no clue.

Unless you got the "Custom Leather Wrapped Interior Package-AQ9" option with the 3LT, all you have are "leather trimmed seats" just like your MSRP sticker states!

In fact, page 212 of the C7 Corvette owner's manual makes it clear that the only way to clean and treat the seats is with water and a mild soap - no cleaners or conditioners! More specifically, the manual states, "Use a soft microfiber cloth dampened with water to remove dust and loose dirt. For a more thorough cleaning, use a soft microfiber cloth dampened with a mild soap solution. Wipe excess moisture from these surfaces after cleaning and allow them to dry naturally. Never use heat, steam, or spot removers. Do not use cleaners that contain silicone or wax-based products. Cleaners containing solvents can permanently change the appearance and feel of leather or soft trim, and are not recommended. Soaking or saturating leather, especially perforated leather, as well as other interior surfaces, may cause permanent damage."

Don't you think GM would recommend leather cleaners and conditioners if the material was in fact all leather?

I know I'm a little late on this thread, but since there was a discussion on the C7 here is the sticker from mine. Is there a special way to take care of the Napa leather inserts? I assume this is real leather. Any suggestions?

[judyb]

Most of what Rob said was correct
Modern finished chrome tanned auto leather does not require conditioning with anything containing oils, waxes etc.
Adding oils and waxes is counterproductive and protectors are far more beneficial
Just ne point leather in cars is not Aniline leather
Aniline leather is dyed with Aniline dyes and dies not have a coating of pigment on the surface
Aniline leather is Full Grain leather which has all its top surface intact
Auto leather is generally aniline dyed leather that has been buffed to remove imperfections n the top surface so is no longer Full Grain leather - this then has the pigments and clear coat finishes added to the surface which is why oils cannot penetrate the coatings

The fat liquors added to leather during the tanning process are good fr about 30 years and are locked in so do not migrate and do not need replacing

Nappa leather in its truest form was sheepskin - the term is now usually used to denote a fairly high quality leather rather than its original meaning so
Protect
Maintain with an all in one Coeaner/protector
Deep clean once or twice a year
Repeat

Hope this helps
Judyb