new car, what to do for leather care?

t-bone

t-bone

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I bought the wife a Honda Pilot w/ leather and was wondering what everyone likes as far as a cleaner and conditioner? I have alway used woolite to clean but have no idea about conditioner. Please steer me in the right direction.
 
 
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Something else you could try is Optimum Protectant Plus (aka Optimum Leather Care, just depends on the size of bottle you buy it in IIRC). Bought myself a bottle to try out recently and I like it quite a bit.
 
In regards to conditioner, it will not do anything for the (finished) leather in your Pilot. While you may have leather seats, they are not exactly what you think. They are actually leather with a vinyl topper. Thus, the best way to protect your leather would be to use a product that you would use on your dash.

I personally have a Lexus and a Toyota, which also have finished leather seats, and I use 303 Aerospace Protectant - it has the highest UV protection on the market, meaning that your leather will not suffer from fading due to UV from the sun (it has an SPF of 40)

Just a little test to see if you have finished leather or unfinished leather, simply put a small drop of water on the seat itself - if the water has not soaked into the leather within about 30 seconds, you have finished leather - if however the water DOES soak in within 30 seconds, you have unfinished leather, and I would recommend using Lexol leather conditioner - great product and a great price.

Hope that helps
 
I still prefer Einszett LeatherCare which was designed for finished leather which is most often used in automotive settings.
 
Anyone use the surf city voodoo? I really like all their products I have tried so far and reading the description sounds like it would work for me.
 
I love Wolfgang Leather Twins they work great. Every vehicle I have used it one came out great. I would give it a try
 
I use Meguiar's Leather Wipes; seats love it; not greasy or slick; just makes it look new. The "leather seating surfaces" on GM vehicles, the leather part is the piece in the middle of the seat where you "sit"; the side panel of the seating surface is vinyl but a very good match.
 
Poorboy's Leather Stuff seems to work just fine for me. It doesn't do a terribly great job cleaning, but it finsihes off very nicely. You can always just use the Lexol Ph Balanced cleaner then top it with the PB Leather Stuff which I have done before.
 
I have used the 4 Star products (cleaning and conditioning). I tried PB's Leather Stuff and it works nice too.

However, when the car was new it really did not feel leathery -- more like plastic coated leather.:). From I can tell,the primary difference between generic leather conditioners is what they use for a barrier (lanolin, wax, etc).
 
My favorite is Prima Nourish for leather, after cleaning with a mild mixture of APC. My alternative to Prima is Wolfgang leather conditioner.:xyxthumbs:
 
I have Pinnacle Cleaner and Foyr Star Conditioner. I bought both on BOGO, so I have plenty! Four Star looks better than 303 IMO.
 
MobolWerks is dead on with the description of today's leather...most leather products on the market are overkill. Leather seats in newer cars are coated with vinyl or urethane so using a leather conditioner isn't really going to help the underlying leather. Using the same product on your dash and seats is just fine. One of the more difficult things with a new car is to keep that new car smell...keeping the car very clean inside will enable the smell to last for a couple of years or more. The new car smell is a combination of a number of products used during manufacturing and the smell of these products dissipates over time but the smell of your leather seats will remain if kept clean. Optimum Polymer Technologies, Meguiar's, 303...all make excellent products (and no doubt, there are more). One product, however, that has not been mentioned that I have used for over two years in a new car is "Z-10 Leather in a Bottle" by Zaino Bros...a truly excellent product that leaves your seats smelling like they should.
 
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