Scrubbing Bubbles on leather???

[CleanFlow]

Wait a minute! Aren't you the dude that was going to detail thier gf's parents car?

This could get intresting

Haha! Maybe...

Since that's the case and with all the favorable comments, I will probably go with Lexol. And use Meg's APC+ if need be.

The problem with Leatherique is that I don't have all day to wait for the steps and stickyness and what not. She needs the car daily so I need something that will be quick to dry.

[Jomax]

Haha! Maybe...

Since that's the case and with all the favorable comments, I will probably go with Lexol. And use Meg's APC+ if need be.

The problem with Leatherique is that I don't have all day to wait for the steps and stickyness and what not. She needs the car daily so I need something that will be quick to dry.

One thing I hate about lexol is the smell. Could never get over it.




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[William D.]

Just going to chime in here for anyone who googles "scrubbing bubbles on leather" and reads this thread.

I too wondered how well this product would work, so I actually tried it. The leather in my Town Car is made by Connolly, so it is genuine leather, of very good quality.

Obviously, I didn't want to use my car's nice leather as a guinea pig, so I found another Town Car Cartier at the junk yard, and grabbed the leather cover off of it. The car had 205K miles on it, and the leather looked every bit of it:





Usually, when leather is like this, I dilute Woolite 4:1 and go to work. Unfortunately, it didn't do much for the leather itself. Fearing all hope was lost, I ran down to the local Dollar General and grabbed a bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner.

I simply sprayed it on, waiting ~10 seconds, and gave it a good scrubbing with a nylon bristle brush. (Like you would find in the housecleaning section of any store).

Here's during:



(You'll notice, that nasty black stuff is completely removed. Not sure what it was, but it was a bear to remove.)

The final product (I haven't cleaned the vinyl or "carpeted" areas yet.:



It makes quite a difference. As stated before, due to the nature of the product and the high PH (7+), I would recommend this ONLY on coated leather. If it is uncoated, or suede, it will likely damage it.

In addition, due to the high PH, I would recommend you use it only once. Do a deep clean one time, then regular maintenance shouldn't be a problem. Regular use of this will surely dry out the leather. After use, I would recommend going behind it with a PH balanced leather cleaner, then condition it thoroughly.


I'm going to attempt to "rebuild" this leather using the Leatherique system, repairing the cracks and such, to see how well I can do the task. If I succeed and it looks new, it'll likely go in my car, or be used as a spare for when mine wears out.

[Jomax]

1Z deep plastic cleaner cleans the leather just as good and isn't acidic. Also what works well and is cheap is APC+, dilute to how dirty the leather is. I'll take some pics of a F-350 I just bought, 13yr old leather that was probably NEVER cleaned, APC+ took all the dirt off. IMO leave the bathroom cleaners in the bathroom.

[William D.]

I'd be interested in seeing how it does, like I said, for a one time application, it does a good job. Tried it on my car earlier, genuinely surprised how well it works. Seats are currently soaking up some Pinnacle Leather Conditioner at the moment.

[Jason B]

Not a home cleaning tip, but I thought I would share... My one vehicle, (which is about 18 years old) with tan leather seats that I take very good care of. I am meticulous about it and clean it weekly. Over the years the tan leather seats have developed lines and have have embedded dirt that I have never been able to get out.

I've tried many leather cleaners, (Lexol, Meguiar's, etc) and none have touched the embedded dirt. So, the other day I youtubed some leather cleaning. Of course there were many that just said to clean with a leather product and then condition. Well, nope! I have been doing this for 10+ years with no results. I pulled up a You Tube video that was like a miracle. The guy on the video had a leather ford seat, half was uncleaned, the other half cleaned with Scrubbing Bubbles and a soft brush. The difference was amazing. He did state that this is not to be done often, just for a good clean every so often. I have Scrubbing bubbles. I went out to my car with the bubbles and a toothbrush. First target, my drivers seat. The dirt just poured out of the pores and cracks. I was shocked at how much dirt came out. My seats now look amazing! Sure, the wear lines on the sides are still there, but you cant see them. Of course you want to follow up with a conditioner, which I did.

I just had to pass this tip along. Hope it helps someone who is as fussy about their 4Runner as I am.



Below you will see the incredible before and after photos:

[eaglefan]

I don't doubt that the "Bubbles" work. However, the real question is what are the effects after cleaning with this product. I'm sure Zep purple would clean leather also, but there possibly be a degrade in the leather. Leathrique and Leather Masters do the job and do it really really well. Use the tool for the job.

[Jason B]

After, I cleaned off with water after, then conditioned with leather conditioner. Doing this every 5 years isn't going to hurt it. It takes forever to build up grime like this. All you gotta do is condition after to put the moisture back in. Tons of Youtube videos on this as well from many years ago, even posted by professionals. I'm very happy, and this doesn't need to be done often.

[Lakeside Detail]

OPC will easily remove ingrained dirt just like the photos above. I do it almost everyday!!

[FUNX650]

After, I cleaned off with water after, then conditioned with leather conditioner. Doing this every 5 years isn't going to hurt it. It takes forever to build up grime like this. All you gotta do is condition after to put the moisture back in. Tons of Youtube videos on this as well from many years ago, even posted by professionals. I'm very happy, and this doesn't need to be done often.

You poor misguided soul.

Bob