Meg's D181 Leather Cleaner (no conditioner)....any experiences?

[JCDetails]

Hey all,

Right now my leather cleaner of choice is Gyeon Leather cleaner. While I love that it works well, it's not terribly economical for lower cost production jobs.

I'm not interested in a cleaner/conditioner product. IMO most leather needs no conditioning with the poly coating they all get now and conditioners only add to the shine effect I'm usually trying to get rid of.


Neither product is terribly expensive and I could probably get a few cars out of a 500ml bottle of either. However, I can get D181 for a hell of a lot less money than I pay for Gyeon leather cleaner. Gallon for gallon, the Gyeon is roughly 5x more expensive not the least of which I'm sure is due to having to buy it by the 500ml bottle. A gallon of D181 is probably enough to last me an entire detailing season.


So with all that considered, who uses or has used d181 and do you think it compares to Gyeon leather in terms of results?

[Natron]

We use it daily. For me it has been the best cleaner compared to multiple apc's and a few other leather cleaners. I am hoping to someday find an APC that cleans as well to reduce cost. The search continues. P.S. I have not tried the Gyeon, sorry.

[The Guz]

It works great. It is a tad bit stronger than Gyeon Leather Cleaner.

[Eldorado2k]

We use it daily. For me it has been the best cleaner compared to multiple apc's and a few other leather cleaners. I am hoping to someday find an APC that cleans as well to reduce cost. The search continues. P.S. I have not tried the Gyeon, sorry.

What’s your opinion of Megs D101@10:1 compared to it. I have both and I find them kind of similar.

[JCDetails]

Thanks guys.

One thing I love about the gyeon is the frothing/foaming action with a horsehair brush, detail brush or TRC leather scrubbed. Does d181 do the same?


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

[OCD-tailing]

I agree with The Guz--it works great. I used it almost exclusively for 2+ years when I was doing production detailing and it never let me down. On really filthy seats I attached a brush to my drill and used it to clean the leather and it did wonders. I still use it on some maintenance customer vehicles but generally I will use Leatherique since I am doing more custom jobs now. I have never used Gyeon though.

[Natron]

In multiple side by side comparisons, the 181 cleaned leather substantially better. Enough of a difference that I have been willing to pay the big difference for over 2 years now. On lightly soiled leather, the 101 will do fine, but on the heavily soiled seats, the 181 saves time. We use about a gallon a week. On a side note, at MTE I found out Megs is bringing an improved APC plus back. We will do more side by side comparisons with it when it does. To answer JCDetails, it froths up a bit, but I haven't used Gyeon to compare.

What’s your opinion of Megs D101@10:1 compared to it. I have both and I find them kind of similar.

[JCDetails]

I received the 181 yesterday and tested it on my office chair but without a brush. Has a slightly citrusy but soapy smell to it. It was able to easily pull a good amount of dirt and leave a nice matte finish with just a white terry interior towel.

Tomorrow, it’ll get to stretch its legs on a Mercedes glk and a caddy Escalade that I’m working on. I may also do a side by side with the gyeon soon trying to get blue jean transfer off my wife’s cappuccino (basically white) Lincoln interior.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

[Eldorado2k]

I received the 181 yesterday and tested it on my office chair but without a brush. Has a slightly citrusy but soapy smell to it. It was able to easily pull a good amount of dirt and leave a nice matte finish with just a white terry interior towel.

Tomorrow, it’ll get to stretch its legs on a Mercedes glk and a caddy Escalade that I’m working on. I may also do a side by side with the gyeon soon trying to get blue jean transfer off my wife’s cappuccino (basically white) Lincoln interior.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

I’m interested in the updates.

[JCDetails]

Quick update on the 181. I used it exclusively on the two vehicles yesterday, some unfortunate and unexpected setbacks meant I didn’t have time to do a comparison between it and the gyeon, or take many pics. I’ll get that done on my wife’s car soon.

D181 when used in combination with the leather scrubber I bought elsewhere seems, to me, to work every bit as well if not better in some situations than the Gyeon.

I personally prefer a leather cleaner with no conditioners and one that will foam up when worked. I do believe the foam helps lift dirt from the leather and it looks cool if your client happens to take a look while you’re working, similar to a foam cannon wash.

181 has a similar citrusy smell to the gyeon but has a soapy element to it that gyeon does not. I don’t know whether that reflects a difference in ingredients and what effect that has.

The Escalade was first, black interior and belongs to my uncle who takes really good care of it. He initially didn’t even think he wanted the interior done but I did it at no extra charge since it’s my uncle and I wanted to play with the 181 anyway. I sprayed it with an HDX spray bottle and worked it with the TRC leather scrubber. It was then removed with Amazon basics white cotton terry facecloths.

My uncle’s reaction after seeing the color of the towel after just the drivers seat bottom was an emphatic “holy s**t”.

181 left the leather in both vehicles soft and matte, the way I like it vs conditioners that leave it shiny. It didn’t seem to be able to pull out ingrained dye transfer on the 2012 GLK, but absolutely obliterated a blue ballpoint pen mark in the passenger seat.

Given the difference in cost per gallon (gyeon being 5x more costly), not sure if I’ll be purchasing any more gyeon. I’m totally satisfied with d181.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app