Hey Mike! Leather question...

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king-david

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Well I suppose I'll accept well thought out answers from others as well :).

I've seen a few tv car restoration programs where the antique seats are essentially massage with this, almost peanut butter, textured conditioner. All I see everywhere is Pinnacle wax, and a few others that are definitely more liquid. I just bought a 95 BMW 525it and while there are no cracks or holes... I don't believe anyone has ever treated them. I like the results that thicker solution gives and I'm curious if anyone knows what it is? Or is it an unnecessary step? Thanks!
 
no I myself was thinking about getting it just haven't heard anything on it on here yet, hopefully this will bring up some good discussion on this product
 
Skimmer0220 said:
no I myself was thinking about getting it just haven't heard anything on it on here yet, hopefully this will bring up some good discussion on this product
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Well maybe I'll be the scapegoat... I'm not a pro tho.. So might not be the best example.
 
I think that is is meant more for untreated leather that would be in older cars, maybe.

HUMP
 
most modern cars have treated/coated leather.. you shouldn't need anything like that
 
As said. That car was old, uncoated leather. Your seats have a urethane layer over the leather so treating the "rubber" coating wont do anything. You need to just keep clean with a dedicated leather cleaner like leather master foam cleaner, then use leather master protectant (which is not a "conditioner", just a product that helps repel dirt and stains, it contains wax)
 
Skimmer0220 said:
so the coating from the factory should resist water?
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If the coating is still intact, then it should repel water. You could expect intact leather on unused seats (maybe rear seats and passenger seats). One particular school of thought would suggest that: you should expect that the driver's seat, steering wheel and shift knob have been worn and likely "crazed" to the point where they will absorb water. You can perform a simple test by dabbing some water on the surface (a few drops) to see if it is absorbed. This may not be a perfect indicator as soiling on the surface can inhibit absorbtion. It is best to clean the surface completely, then test.

As previously stated, conditioners are hit or miss on leather panels depending on the topcoat condition. Topcoat or not, a conditioner should provide some benefit around perforations (stitching), but whether or not it is worth the effort is up to you.

This all goes out the window when dealing with analine leather (ford king ranch).
 
dfoxengr said:
Your seats have a urethane layer over the leather
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The way the above sentence reads, and I see people post this a lot, it creates an image in my mind that looks like an actual clear membrane sitting on top of the leather in the same way you would think of a 3M clear plastic protection film lays on top of the paint on the front of a car.

Is there anyone else besides me that gets this type of mental image when someone describes coated leather as have a unique, dedicated layer of "something" on top of the actual leather?


I know I've NEVER seen any leather seats with any type of de-lamination of a dedicated layer of urethane or some other coating coming OFF the leather.

Seems that if there was a dedicated layer of something coating over the leather then at some point some of use would have seen some type of de-lamination?

My point is that I think it's too easy for people to get the wrong idea about coated leather.


:dunno:
 
Audios S6 said:
If the coating is still intact, then it should repel water. You could expect intact leather on unused seats (maybe rear seats and passenger seats). One particular school of thought would suggest that: you should expect that the driver's seat, steering wheel and shift knob have been worn and likely "crazed" to the point where they will absorb water. You can perform a simple test by dabbing some water on the surface (a few drops) to see if it is absorbed. This may not be a perfect indicator as soiling on the surface can inhibit absorbtion. It is best to clean the surface completely, then test.

As previously stated, conditioners are hit or miss on leather panels depending on the topcoat condition. Topcoat or not, a conditioner should provide some benefit around perforations (stitching), but whether or not it is worth the effort is up to you.

This all goes out the window when dealing with analine leather (ford king ranch).
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I'm going to have to say my rear seats have lost that coating then, even though they never get used because I have major water damage from some seats that barely got wet
 
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Maybe this will hep. Here you can see part of the coating separating from the leather - likely from something jagged digging into it. This picture is from Google.

The way I look at it is, you are treating or protecting the black urethane coating that can be seen partially peeling off. How porous it is, likely depends on how warn it is I'm guessing
 
When I look at the ripped leather in the picture, it looks like the leather is ripped off, not a coating?

If that's the coating then I think this clears up some confusion as I think some people think or thought the "coating" was a clear coating over colored leather.

But if the picture you posted is of the "coating" coming off the leather then this makes more sense, this would mean they take leather and heck with whatever it looks like because it's going to get a paint job so to speak and that's what the coating is, an artificial layer over the leather that "looks" like leather. By applying an artificial layer of this stuff over real leather they can control 100% the appearance of the leather and that makes sense because cows and their hides don't produce a uniform textured pretty appearance after they're skinned.

I sometimes think engineers are over-engineering things that are better left alone. Like the old saying,

If it ain't broke, don't fix it...


Or like what my wife says about me,

If it ain't broke, fix it until it is...

I think car manufactures should bring back Naugahyde



swanicyouth said:
I'm guessing
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I do a lot of that...


:D
 
Exactly Mike. I think of it as a color over a colored hide. Youre probably spot on with the consistent appearance as well. Like how the vinyls have a texture stamped into them.
 
Well for really dry seats with no luster... Would it be a good idea to remove the layer, use this type of conditioner/moisturizer, and then add a coating back? A lot of work but the results would be fantastic I believe.
 
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