Help with interior leather please?

[Eldorado2k]

Cadillacs have the worst leather,nothing you can do with that other than try to camouflage it with conditioner or a dressing,or try to see if there is a interior repair guy and have him shoot some color on it but don't expect longevity out of the repair.

I disagree.. Up until recently the leather inside of Cadillacs' used to be just fine. Nowadays they use that dry course leather which I've never cared for.. The same kind of feel that Mercedes & BMW have. Dry, course, and cheap feeling.

The leather inside of my 97' Cadillac is still in fairly good shape considering how thrashed the whole car was when I bought it. I'm assuming that 97' Eldo you looked at had no tinted windows and was never cared for during its life in the hot Florida sun.

 

[judyb]

This problem should be easily fixable by a professional.
On the subject of how long it will last - please bear in mind that the leather got damaged in the first place by not being looked after correctly if the new coatings are not looked after either then of course they are going to wear in exactly the same way - nothing to do with the work or products but the 'aftercare'
Cheers
Judyb

 

[Wes8398]

This problem should be easily fixable by a professional.
On the subject of how long it will last - please bear in mind that the leather got damaged in the first place by not being looked after correctly if the new coatings are not looked after either then of course they are going to wear in exactly the same way - nothing to do with the work or products but the 'aftercare'
Cheers
Judyb

Thanks for chming in! And thanks for the PM; it was very informative. Do you mind if I copy/paste the content here for others to read/find in the future?

 

[judyb]

Hi
Thanks for the post
Please post away but if you can include all the copyright info I would be grateful
Cheers
Judyb

 

[Wes8398]

For the information of anyone who might find this thread in a search, etc. Here's what judyb has to say about this:

Hi

Thanks for your message



Unfortunately there is a lot of conflicting information regarding this issue!



CONDITIONERS & LEATHER



The facts are more to do with leather production these days.



Auto leather is generally made from chrome tanned leather

During the production of chrome tanned leather specifically during the retanning process 'fatliquors' are added to the wet blue leather. These fatliquors are bonded to the fibres of the leather as part of the process to keep it soft and supple and make it flexible. These fatliquors are good at keeping the leather supple for many years (I have spoken to tanners who say up to 30 years is the norm) and the fatliquors do not migrate as would be the case in veg tanned leather.

This is important to remember when discussing the conditioning of leather.



The tanners view on 'conditioning' leather is that this refers to the correct moisture content of the leather rather than the presence of oils or waxes



Auto leather will then generally be corrected and have a pigment coating applied with a clear coat finish on top of that.

Adding topical 'conditioners' to this modern coated leather is not only unnecessary but can be counter productive.



Early 'conditioning' products were produced for the saddle industry who use veg tanned leather that does require to be 'conditioned' with oils etc. but these have been brought across to the chrome tanned leather industry where they are not required.



Chrome tanned leather does not require 'conditioning' as they do not need replacing because they do not migrate in any way. Trying to add extra oils can also cause other technical problems with the leather such as 'spewing' (another story!)

Adding products that contain oils to a finished surface means that the oils simply sit on the surface of the leather as they cannot get to the leather itself and therefore will attract dirt to stick to it. Topical oil and wax products can also hinder repair work if and when it is required.



Dirt is the enemy of pigment coated leather as with constant abrasion it acts like a fine sandpaper which will help to break down the finish on the leather (which is there to protect the leather itself from wear among their things) so anything that attracts more dirt should be avoided.

As the 'conditioning' products are not actually of any benefit to the leather they are (however cheap) a waste of time and money. It is far more beneficial to use 'protectors' which help protect the surface coatings against dirt and make them easier to clean - this will prolong the life of the leather itself

©LTTLeathercare2016



Hope this goes some way to explaining the facts rather than the myths



Cheers

Judyb