Leather care - conditioner, sealant, coating or water?

bob m

bob m

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Question is more about care of the the very popular coated leathers in today's cars. I know leather care is a topic with those who say just keep it clean (100% agree) and add nothing. And I also know it can be another detailing rabbit hole. But for those who want to do more, do you find a coating (Gyeon, Car Pro, etc) is preferable to a more traditional good interior detailer or a more leather specific product like from Colourlock?
 
Use a multi surface protectant like poor boys natural look, great stuff…
 
I think there is a lot of conflicting information out there about standard coated “leather” in most cars. Some say it can’t take moisture so conditioner doesn’t do anything. They use the fact that water sits on the coated leather surface. Yet some leather in the same class of car holds up better and some cracks pretty bad. Is that relayed to how it is cleaned or detailed or a remnant of environment such as sun/uv exposure?

Although some say a Woollite solution works well cleaning leather, I ordered Connolly Hide Cleaner and have already used it and it did well. I wanted something to protect the leather and I ended up with the Leather Doctor products but it wasn’t anything I read on AutogeekOnline or Autopia or similar though there were some positive comments on Leather Doctor as there were Leather Masters, Sonax Leather Conditioner, and many others. I haven’t received the products yet as I just ordered within the last week. However, what pushed me to order that particular product was what I read on the Leather Doctors forum for caring for car leather as well as some of the repairs. So I’d recommend you reading the Leather Doctors forum and see what you think for yourself.
 
Good question... and I think no real answer... but rather a zillion opinions.

That said, I don't really see the benefit of a traditional leather conditioner as the coated leather prevents its absorption.

Leather coatings - can't say.

Keeping it clean - always a good idea. But now, what is the best cleaner?

Yep... You're going down the proverbial rabbit hole alright.
 
Colourlock is good stuff. Their basic recommendation is leather 3 years or older go with their protector. Can be topped with shield the following day to add abrasion resistance and dye transfer protection. Less than 3 years go with shield.
 
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dgage said:
I think there is a lot of conflicting information out there about standard coated “leather” in most cars. Some say it can’t take moisture so conditioner doesn’t do anything. They use the fact that water sits on the coated leather surface. Yet some leather in the same class of car holds up better and some cracks pretty bad. Is that relayed to how it is cleaned or detailed or a remnant of environment such as sun/uv exposure?

Although some say a Woollite solution works well cleaning leather, I ordered Connolly Hide Cleaner and have already used it and it did well. I wanted something to protect the leather and I ended up with the Leather Doctor products but it wasn’t anything I read on AutogeekOnline or Autopia or similar though there were some positive comments on Leather Doctor as there were Leather Masters, Sonax Leather Conditioner, and many others. I haven’t received the products yet as I just ordered within the last week. However, what pushed me to order that particular product was what I read on the Leather Doctors forum for caring for car leather as well as some of the repairs. So I’d recommend you reading the Leather Doctors forum and see what you think for yourself.
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Yep, I'm reading up on a few of the products - no urgency as my car is only a few months old and have already applied a product - Nextzett Leather Care soon after I bought my car. Very nice product and if suddenly there were no other leather cleaning/conditioning products available in the entire world, I would certainly be more than satisfied with using it, but that lavender smell -phew! Good news it goes away in a 1/2 hour. But I am looking for something else/better - aren't we all.
 
I have alot of leather products including Gyeon Coatings etc but I find myself going back to Meguiar's G10924SP Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner and Conditioning Spray, 24 Fluid Ounces. Its like $14. It smells good, cleans conditions and leaves leather feeling supple. If you are looking for something new to try for small money give it try.
 
Leather Honey works well on neglected leather. It's a bit less effective on coated leather but it does help.
 
I used to do alot of testing when I 1st got back into detailing a few years ago back when I had my old Cadillac Seville.
1 of the things I tried once was aggressively cleaning my backseat with Meguiars Super Degreaser @4:1 w/horsehair brush just to see if it would ruin my backseat… Well it didn’t ruin it, but there was a price to pay in that I immediately found out that whatever coating was once on the seats was now gone because my white terry towels turned olive green during the wipe off part of the cleaning.

The other thing that happened was it left the seats very tacky to the point where I started to wonder if I had actually caused irreparable damage, fortunately they came back to normal after a few hours and some help of leather conditioner.

But the main point is that visually I couldn’t tell the difference the next day, meaning you can’t see the difference between when the coatings there and when it’s gone. I even tried inspecting near the headrests because I was certain I hadn’t really cleaned those areas with the SD and I was hoping to see a line where the coating was and was no longer on the seats but even under bright LED lights I could not tell.

So based on that I’m for using leather conditioners as at the worst they do no harm, and at best they’ll help condition parts of the leather seats where the coating has worn off because I’m convinced that original coating is nowhere near as durable as some people think. And once it’s gone, you won’t be able to tell.
 
I think the way to tell if the coating has worn off is by using an oil type product and seeing how fast it's absorbed. With a natural leather it will start to soak in immediately. Even on my 20 year old leather seats, oily products sit on the surface and slowly absorb but some will remain and will need to be wiped off.
 
Most auto leather is a finished leather with a pigment layer and a clear coat finish.
Auto leather is also chrome tanned.
Chrome tanned leather does not need the addition of oils/waxes as the fat liquors are sealed into the leather during the tanning process. Most leather finishes will allow the absorption of moisture (which is needed) but oils etc will not reach the leather itself so sit on the surface and attract more dirt which is what we want to avoid.
Keeping your leather clean is essential to prolong the life of the coatings designed to protect the leather itself and the best way to do this is to use a protector and clean regularly
 
judyb said:
Most auto leather is a finished leather with a pigment layer and a clear coat finish.
Auto leather is also chrome tanned.
Chrome tanned leather does not need the addition of oils/waxes as the fat liquors are sealed into the leather during the tanning process. Most leather finishes will allow the absorption of moisture (which is needed) but oils etc will not reach the leather itself so sit on the surface and attract more dirt which is what we want to avoid.
Keeping your leather clean is essential to prolong the life of the coatings designed to protect the leather itself and the best way to do this is to use a protector and clean regularly
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What kind of protector would you recommend? If leather conditioner is out of the question, do you recommend something like a spray wax that’s typically used on exterior paint? Or an interior protectant such as 303 Protectant? Or a different type of product?

What about an older vehicle with seats that are a bit worn and creases are visible and the seats are noticeably dry to the touch, would leather conditioner be of benefit in those cases?

Here’s the drivers seat of my 2000 Cadillac Deville for example.

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Auto LeatherGuard is one of the best protectors there is. This is a specialist protector developed for auto leather .
You need to deep clean your seats with a foam cleaner and brush and then you will be able to see whether they were just dirty or need to be restored. If the pigment is damaged the leather needs to be refinished.
Conditioners are not needed as it is a chrome tanned leather and cleaning and protecting will do the correct rehydration without adding oils etc
Hope this helps
 
judyb said:
You need to deep clean your seats with a foam cleaner and brush and then you will be able to see whether they were just dirty or need to be restored. If the pigment is damaged the leather needs to be refinished.

Hope this helps
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Believe me, I’ve deep cleaned these seats… This is what they looked like when I bought the car 2yrs. ago.

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This is what they look like now.

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The backseat needed a deep cleaning as well..

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Currently looks pretty exceptional if I might say so myself.

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Just like paint clear coat i use a coating when possible to protect the leather coating.

My current leather is aniline so no coating for it.


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