This product was provided to me at no charge, and in exchange, I agreed to provide a review. I will try to keep this as objective as I can.

Pinnacle Leather Conditioner is a bit of a misnomer. On the back of the bottle it is billed as, "A luxurious moisturizing creme formulated to beautify, preserve, and protect all smooth leathers except suede." moisturizing I would consider as conditioning, but I'm in the camp that believes it's really difficult to moisturize coated leather. So I skipped to beautify, preserve and protect part; this I am all about, I want a leather protectant. I understand the product naming; just like most waxes at the store are really sealants, you need to appeal to people who are looking for a conditioner, but really need a protectant. I also see that this is for "all smooth leather except suede", so this should work fine for the coated leather of a VW passat, as well as my baseball mitt.

Another one liner from the bottle, "absorbs quickly with a non-oily finish". This is one that I've fallen victim to as well as many others, grab the leather conditioner and slather it on, only to end up with a tacky, oily mess on the seats. My nerves about this oiliness are now slightly dissuaded based on the copy, and, this is a PBMG product so you know Mike and Nick have tested it and I wouldn't expect them to release this product in that state.

First things first, you get a 16oz bottle in the typical black PVC with a flip top for dispensing. I felt like I over used the product a little bit because of the flip top. The product is very much a creme or lotion, about the thickness of yogurt actually. I think a particular spray head would work for this product, but wouldn't follow the branding of pinnacle. I may scavenge one from that other leather conditioner I have collecting dust. The product does have a leather scent (although not billed as such anywhere), it's not a bad smell and I think many people will be very happy with it. I don't personally like the 'synthetic' (for lack of a better term) leather smell, although a leather prodcut trying to smell like leather is not as bad as iron-x calling their scent cherry.

On to the application. I used a 2000 VW passat that's at about 140K miles, they owner does take good care of it, it's not driven very much but also hasn't had the leather cleaned in a couple years. I started with the Pinnacle Leather and vinyl cleaner. This was applied with a terry applicator and removed with a MF towel. Results were pretty good, I wasn't expecting there to be much to remove, but I was surprised by the filth on the towel. I did not follow this up with APC because the condition did not warrant it. I'm hoping (not really hoping) to get some more trashed leather to try it on.

Very respectable cleaning - this was the entire driver's seat



OK, now time to try the conditioner - oops, little too much product, I think a spray head would help here



Seat after just cleaning. Tough to see with the lighting, but it's clean and just beyond matte finish, right where clean leather should be.


And protected - not a sheen or satin look, but again, right where a new or protected leather should look.


The product was applied with another terry applicator, the amount form the picture was too much for the seat back, but not enough for the whole seat. It was allowed to sit for about 1 minute in 90*F heat, then removed with a new MF towel. I left it for another 10 minutes before asking the owner to have a seat. He is also familiar with the tacky feeling of using the wrong leather product. What we found was a squeaky clean leather, like the sound of a new couch. The best way to describe the feel is tactile, verging on the good version of draggy. The seat doesn't grab you with the oil and it's not super slick like some protectants.

With a retail of $35 for 16oz this is definitely not the most economical product. I don't see this being for production work. I think the 16oz is geared toward end users that will be doing several cars, 8oz even seems like a bit much for the average joe doing his single car, but I think 8oz for $20 would be a better fit for joe consumer. I think that the car enthusiast is really the market for this.

When I do interiors I'm not rushing or cutting corners, but I'm looking for ways to do thing efficiently. Typically I'm using a leather cleaner with a DA and cyclo brush to clean and a spray on protectant, often PERL. The pinnacle cleaner and conditioner products are adding a lot of cost and time to my process. For the therapy of doing my own vehicles this will be great and the 16 oz will last me a very long time. I don't think this is something I will use for business purposes unless it is a very interior focused job. I've had people specifically say they don't want sticky leather and they don't want slick leather....when that person shows up, reach for the revised pinnacle leather conditioner.

Pros
Just right finished look
Just right finished feel
The 16oz will last a very long time
Great for personal cars or interior focused work

Cons
Time for the regimen may not be conducive to some detailing processes
A smaller size may be more appealing to the public, 16oz is a lot of product for one car
Flip top was not the best delivery method for me