Cleaning New Black Leather Seats, Dash, Armrests

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music_man185

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I just purchased a 2020 Lexus RX350. The entire interior is black. I'm guessing it's a mixture of leather, vinyl, and plastic. The seats are ventilated and perforated. The owners manual suggests using a diluted mixture of wool detergent for the seats. I'm guessing this would be a "Woolite" type of product? Would this be OK to use across the entire interior? Or is there a better all in one product I can safely use? I was looking at something like the Chemical Guys Total Interior Cleaner as something I could use on the go, or for quick cleanups between more detailed cleanings. Would this be safe for use on all the interior surfaces, including the leather? I wouldn't use it for the seats, but just some of the leather dash/armrest areas.

I'm a total newb, but from the many hours of research I've done, it seems like my leather is still new enough to not need conditioning. I would be fine just cleaning for a couple more years. Is this true?
 
Look into Griots Interior Detailer, TWHS Inside Job or CarPro InnerQD. Lots of options here for you if you're not treating your car like a trashcan.

I don't do much deep cleaning on my newer interiors but I try to make sure what I do use leaves behind some protection.

I did buy PBL Leather Balm from here and I use it about 2x a year (have a 2020 and 2018 vehicle) just to stay ahead of it and not be in need of a deep clean + condition later on. I'm not an expert but I think simple maintenance now will save headaches later.

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Get yourself some colourlock mild cleaner and some colourlock leather shield.
 
music_man185 said:
I just purchased a 2020 Lexus RX350. The entire interior is black. I'm guessing it's a mixture of leather, vinyl, and plastic. The seats are ventilated and perforated. The owners manual suggests using a diluted mixture of wool detergent for the seats. I'm guessing this would be a "Woolite" type of product? Would this be OK to use across the entire interior? Or is there a better all in one product I can safely use? I was looking at something like the Chemical Guys Total Interior Cleaner as something I could use on the go, or for quick cleanups between more detailed cleanings. Would this be safe for use on all the interior surfaces, including the leather? I wouldn't use it for the seats, but just some of the leather dash/armrest areas.

I'm a total newb, but from the many hours of research I've done, it seems like my leather is still new enough to not need conditioning. I would be fine just cleaning for a couple more years. Is this true?
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Congrats on your new car!

Leather - You are correct in assuming that your "leather" will be a combination of vinyl and "coated" leather. As such, I'm not a fan or using leather creams, balms or lotions that really don't work on modern automotive "leather" surfaces. I know the brand is not sold here, but Colour Lock products are for leather and leather only. As The Guz mentioned, get yourself some Mild Leather Cleaner to prepare the surface for some Leather Shield. With Leather Shield, this is used for the first 3 years of the cars life and protects against wear and abrasion and would be applied every 9 -12 months. After 3 years, you then switch to Leather Protector, using the same cleaning before application.

General Interior Cleaning - I think you need two products here, a cleaner and a detailer. The cleaner would be used on dirtier surfaces, I like P&S Express for this. As for the detailer, grab some Carpro InnerQD or Meguiar's Quick Interior Detailer. These would be used to do a quick wipe over to remove smudges and dust and can be used across all interior surfaces including leather, screens and plastics. You can also use a rinse-less wash product like ONR, N-914 or Capro ECH2o for this role.
 
For just pure cleaning I like P&S Xpress. Very strong undiluted and cleans well at 2:1 and even 3:1. Check out some reviews…


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Went over to Amazon to order some P&S Xpress. There just happened to be a review from a RX350 owner who said that it removed the dye on his seats and showed pictures. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? If it wasn't the fault of the P&S, what would have caused it?
 
Musicman185 said:
Went over to Amazon to order some P&S Xpress. There just happened to be a review from a RX350 owner who said that it removed the dye on his seats and showed pictures. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? If it wasn't the fault of the P&S, what would have caused it?
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Could be protective coating wore off or could be the seats were dyed before he purchased to cover up damage. Seats in my Camaro are aniline which is pretty sensitive and it cleaned them no problem. I used it 1:1 product:distilled water.

P&S says safe for all surfaces.


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Musicman185 said:
Went over to Amazon to order some P&S Xpress. There just happened to be a review from a RX350 owner who said that it removed the dye on his seats and showed pictures. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? If it wasn't the fault of the P&S, what would have caused it?
Click to expand...

I took a 'walk' over to Amazon and saw that review.
The damage is just one one small section of a seat and seems to have a relatively hard cutoff line.
If it was the product causing the damage, I would expect it to be more blended into the rest of the seat (if that makes sense).
I agree with Coatingsarecrack, it appears it was previous damage that may have been covered up.

Here's the picture.

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Coatingsarecrack said:
Could be protective coating wore off or could be the seats were dyed before he purchased to cover up damage. Seats in my Camaro are aniline which is pretty sensitive and it cleaned them no problem. I used it 1:1 product:distilled water.

P&S says safe for all surfaces.


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Click to expand...

So emailed P&S and the don’t recommend for aniline leather. I have used a few times at 1:1 with no I’ll effects but will switch to different cleaner.

If not safe for aniline I wouldn’t use on repaired leather.


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Coatingsarecrack said:
P&S says safe for all surfaces.
Click to expand...

Coatingsarecrack said:
So emailed P&S and the don’t recommend for aniline leather.
Click to expand...

Gotta love it when they talk out of both sides of their mouth… lol.

I’ll stick to my original recommendation, Blackfire Leather Complete. There’s just something about that stuff, it’s able to clean even moderate grime if you need it to while somehow managing to be much milder on the surface than APC @10:1. Anyone who’s tried both side by side knows what I’m talking about.

It I had a brand new car, this is what I’d use. [and don’t forget to vacuum 1st]

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Ultima Interior Shampoo Gel is a mild cleaner that is great for leather, plastic, vinyl etc. I use it with a Sonax leather brush to gently clean the leather seats of the Buick and the truck. It is best to clean one small section at a time and then remove the foam with a plain white terry towel. You can easily see what has been removed from the surface. After a good cleaning, I usually treat the surface with Gyeon Q2 Leathershield.
By the way, this car is 9 years old.

Ultima Interior Shampoo Gel, interior cleaner, upholstery cleaner
GYEON Q2 Leather Shield

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