Review - Gyeon Leather Shield (Leather Coating)

[cwp2016nd]

If leather conditioners never make it past the top coating, then how do you explain this seat still feeling supple and conditioned 3 weeks later as it sits in my buddies garage? It looks and feels just like the day I conditioned it with D180.

And if it never makes it past the top coat, then how does the leather seat ever get to feel soft and supple, the way it does after applying leather conditioner?

I can't explain what you are feeling, but I can tell you I have never experienced a difference in the "suppleness" of any leather after applying leather conditioner. There is a plastic coating on modern day leather so all the "conditioner" is doing is providing some UV protection and possibly making it easier to clean in the future.

If you were to feel the seats in my Mother's 2014 Cruz with 130,000 miles you would think I condition them all the time. When in reality, I have only done it once or twice. They are super soft and supple. The only thing I do is clean them semi-regularly with APC diluted 10:1 and that's it. I do use an interior detail spray once in a while, but I mean once every couple of months.

Certain leather just feels nice and others don't. The leather in my 2016 Miata don't feel very soft. It's just the kind of leather Mazda used in these vehicles. That SS seat is probably the same leather used in my Mother's car and that could be why it feels so soft. I bet if you never condition the seat again it will still feel soft.

[Eldorado2k]

I can't explain what you are feeling, but I can tell you I have never experienced a difference in the "suppleness" of any leather after applying leather conditioner. There is a plastic coating on modern day leather so all the "conditioner" is doing is providing some UV protection and possibly making it easier to clean in the future.

If you were to feel the seats in my Mother's 2014 Cruz with 130,000 miles you would think I condition them all the time. When in reality, I have only done it once or twice. They are super soft and supple. The only thing I do is clean them semi-regularly with APC diluted 10:1 and that's it. I do use an interior detail spray once in a while, but I mean once every couple of months.

Certain leather just feels nice and others don't. The leather in my 2016 Miata don't feel very soft. It's just the kind of leather Mazda used in these vehicles. That SS seat is probably the same leather used in my Mother's car and that could be why it feels so soft. I bet if you never condition the seat again it will still feel soft.

Have you ever steam cleaned automotive leather seats? If so you’ll notice that sometimes [more likely than not] they’ll be left in what I like to call a state of shock from the aggressive cleaning the steamer combined with whatever cleaner you use with it.

They can feel a bit stiff and dry, but when you follow up the steam cleaning with leather conditioner as the final step it helps bring it back and remind the leather that it’s leather and not cardboard. It’s a well known process most people do after steam cleaning leather, even the anti leather conditioner people will do it. [I believe it’s even recommended on the back label of Megs D101 APC for that exact reason]

The most convincing example of leather conditioner making seats supple can be seen in any Mercedes or BMW that has their faux leather trim seats. It goes from looking and feeling coarse and dry to looking and feeling moisturized and supple without a doubt. And how could that happen if leather conditioner never penetrates the top coating? You can see and feel the difference.

[Eldorado2k]

They say the clearcoat paint on a vehicle is no thicker than a sheet of paper or a post it note... Well even after 25yrs. and aggressive wetsanding and numerous times of machine compounding and polishing, the clearcoat that’s currently peeling from my hood can be seen and it’s physically there and still about the thickness of a sheet of paper.





Now lets ask ourselves, have we ever seen even a slight comparison to that physical layer of clearcoat come from automotive leather seats? No. Can you peel the protective layer off of your leather seats if you tried? No. Can you even tell when you’ve accidentally cleaned too aggressively and removed it? No.
Yet people always seem to compare the coating on leather seats to the clearcoat that’s on your vehicles panels when IMO they shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence.

The leather coating is not impenetrable. I’ve seen enough with my own eyes and therefore refuse to believe that myth.

[cwp2016nd]

In my experience the coating does not allow any "conditioner" to penetrate the leather itself. BUT, to each their own

[The Guz]

Final update on how Gyeon Leather Shield has performed. I did not bother looking at the passenger front seat or the rear passenger seat as I am the only one that drives this car on a daily basis. As Jeff from Gyeon mentioned in his detailed image blog, I ended up just giving the passenger seats a light wipe down and topping it with some Gyeon Leather Coat.

Since the drivers seat is constantly used, I could tell by how it felt that the coating was starting to show signs of wear. This seat was coated 3 months after I wrote this review at 7/2017. It is now 12/18 and the water was still showing signs of some beading. The surface was not as hydrophobic after a wipe down with Gyeon Leather Cleaner followed by a damp towel.

Gyeon Leather Shield lived up to the 1 year claim and did a good job. I ended up reapplying it to this seat after the the wipe down.

Notice the lack of tight beading in these photos.





Compare that to the images on the first page of its strong behavior.

[SirFrederick]

Can Gyeon Leather Shield be used on ventilated seats?

[The Guz]

Can Gyeon Leather Shield be used on ventilated seats?

Should be fine. But you may want to double check with Jeff, I think his forum name is Jeff at Gyeon or contact Gyeon.

[BadgerRivFan]

Can Gyeon Leather Shield be used on ventilated seats?

Absolutely. Have been using it for two years now on my wife’s Buick LaCrosse with heated/cooled seats. My favorite leather product for new vehicles.

Highly recommend!

[SirFrederick]

Gyeon only recommends one coat. I was able to get a in touch with Jeff the rep from Gyeon to answer my question on multiple coats. He confirmed that one layer is all that is needed but that it can be layered for multiple coats. Thanks Jeff for getting back to me.

I was thinking of doing a second coat on the driver side seat only. Do yo know how long between coats? I wonder it's even worth it to do a second coat?

[The Guz]

I was thinking of doing a second coat on the driver side seat only. Do yo know how long between coats? I wonder it's even worth it to do a second coat?

One hour should be ok.