Questions about leather conditioner.

[E93to]

Hello.

I have a convertible that I religiously maintain. During summer season, I wipe down the interior (leather seats, steering wheel, leather door panel, etc) with damp cloth after three top-down drivings. For example, if I drove with the top down three times over the course of 2 weeks, then I clean the interior. I also dry the leather surfaces with damp cloth.

I was wondering whether this strips leather conditioner I applied...? I detail my car's interior once in a month or so during summer (or sometimes once in 1.5 - 2 months).

I use Zaino cleaner and conditioner. My car is always kept in garage. And I drive twice a week or so... (Less than 40 miles per week)

Thanks in advance

 

[Eldorado2k]

I was wondering whether this strips leather conditioner I applied...?

Yea, I would think so.

What kind of car is it?
Is it real leather?
What kind of towel do you use to wipedown?
Do you ever vacuum prior to wiping it down? [i.e. with a soft dust brush attachment]

 

[FUNX650]

I use Zaino cleaner and conditioner

During summer season,
I wipe down the interior (leather
seats, steering wheel, leather
door panel, etc) with damp cloth
after three top-down drivings.

I also dry the leather surfaces
with damp cloth.

I was wondering whether this strips
leather conditioner I applied...?

More than likely the leather
Conditioner will have gone belly-up
after being subjected to the damp
wipe-downs/damp-drying sessions.


•To circumvent that issue:
-Using a leather Protectant product
would be a better choice, IMO.


"Clean and Protect!"



Bob

 

[E93to]

Yea, I would think so.

What kind of car is it?
Is it real leather?
What kind of towel do you use to wipedown?
Do you ever vacuum prior to wiping it down? [i.e. with a soft dust brush attachment]

I have an E93, which came with real leather.

I use soft (and very slippery) towels

I vacuum the seats but I don't use brush

 

[E93to]

.


•To circumvent that issue:
-Using a leather Protectant product
would be a better choice, IMO.


"Clean and Protect!"



Bob

What are some leather protectant products you recommend? Thanks

EDIT: did you mean leather conditioner? I am not a professional, so I got the terms mixed up lol. Also, I was wondering whether it is safe to apply 303 Aerospace Protectant on leather... I've read about people applying that on leather.

 

[E93to]

Additional question:

I've been doing this wipe-down for my car during the 7-year ownership (I bought it new)

Did I cause some kind of permanent damage to my leather interior because this wipe-down routine stripped leather conditioner that was supposed to protect the leather?

 

[Eldorado2k]

I use soft (and very slippery) towels

I vacuum the seats but I don't use brush

What kind of towels are they? What are they made of? Cotton, microfiber, microsuede, synthetic, or?

What attachment do you use while vacuuming your seats?

 

[E93to]

What kind of towels are they? What are they made of? Cotton, microfiber, microsuede, synthetic, or?

What attachment do you use while vacuuming your seats?

The towels are cotton.

I don't attach anything to the vacuum.

 

[MattPersman]

Would use something like the Gyeon leather, or gtechniq that Mile Phillips reviewed earlier this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nix]

been using this on all my cars Optimum Protectant Plus offers complete protection for interior leather, vinyl, plastic & rubber dressing. vinyl and rubber dressing, vinyl works great and car smells nice too..i use it once a month..Modern car seat leather are coated so i don use conditioner..

 

[E93to]

So, should I just clean and condition (apply protectant) once in every three top-down driving? If I drive with the top down on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then should I just do full interior detail? I live in a big city. So if I drive with the top down, all kinds of dust accumulate inside the car... If I wipe the surface of backseat, my hand gets black smudges...

Also, does the wipe-down routine with damp cloth that I have been doing for 7 years normally hurt or damage leather...?

 

[Eldorado2k]

Also, does the wipe-down routine with damp cloth that I have been doing for 7 years normally hurt or damage leather...?

You're the best person to ask... Has it hurt the leather? What kind of condition is it in after 7yrs? Does it look worn, or would you say it still looks fairly like it did brand new?

 

[E93to]

You're the best person to ask... Has it hurt the leather? What kind of condition is it in after 7yrs? Does it look worn, or would you say it still looks fairly like it did brand new?

It still has the nice matte finish after 7 years (even newer cars have shinier leather than mine)... No wrinkles, scratches, uneven colors, etc. Steering wheel is perfect matte finish as well. But that's just the appearance. So if it looks fine = no damage to leather?

 

[E93to]

Please help me out here...

How should I go about maintaining leather on my convertible? Do I just detail the entire interior once in every three top-down drivings?

 

[E93to]

You're the best person to ask... Has it hurt the leather? What kind of condition is it in after 7yrs? Does it look worn, or would you say it still looks fairly like it did brand new?

Hey, Eldorado2k. You asked me a number of questions (real leather, what kind of towels, what attachment to the vacuum cleaner, etc). How do they affect leather? Do they affect longevity of leather conditioner? Are there better ways to care for leather in my case?

Thanks

 

[Eldorado2k]

Hey, Eldorado2k. You asked me a number of questions (real leather, what kind of towels, what attachment to the vacuum cleaner, etc). How do they affect leather? Do they affect longevity of leather conditioner? Are there better ways to care for leather in my case?

Thanks

Well me personally, I prefer to wipedown leather/vinyl interior with cotton terry towels as opposed to microfiber. Terry towels seem to have just the right amount of bite needed to clean without being grabby and sticking to leather the way microfiber towel sometimes do.

But if it's a vehicle with what feels and looks more like vinyl/plastic, I prefer to use microfiber towels instead. So it just depends on the vehicle.

As far as vacuum attachments, I pretty much always give it at least a quik vacuum using a soft dust brush attachment [I believe it's made of horsehair] over the seats, dash, door panels. Reason I asked is because using something like a crevasse tool can sometimes have a bit of burr on the end and if you're careless can cause unwanted scuffs on the leather.

It sounds like what you're doing has been working great. Alot of average Joes would've caused noticeable damage after 7yrs. How they allow it to happen I'll never know. Lol

 

[The Guz]

Would use something like the Gyeon leather, or gtechniq that Mile Phillips reviewed earlier this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

been using this on all my cars Optimum Protectant Plus offers complete protection for interior leather, vinyl, plastic & rubber dressing. vinyl and rubber dressing, vinyl works great and car smells nice too..i use it once a month..Modern car seat leather are coated so i don use conditioner..

Please help me out here...

How should I go about maintaining leather on my convertible? Do I just detail the entire interior once in every three top-down drivings?

You are making this way to complicated.

Matt and Nix pointed you in the right direction when it comes to protecting leather. Either of those products will work fine.

This is a good write up from Mike Phillips.

Review: GYEON Q2M Leather Cleaner and GYEON Q2 Leather Coat by Mike Phillips

Review: GTechniq Tri-Clean and Leather Guard by Mike Phillips

That optimum product has a light cleaner in it so you can use that weekly if you wanted to.

You have plenty of choices here. You can pick up one of those leather cleaner and protectant combos mentioned in those write ups.

On top of that I would recommend picking up something like McKee's Fast Interior Detailer or Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer and give the interior a weekly wipedown. These have a light cleaner built into them like the optimum product. They will eventually wear down the protectant if using Gyeon Leather Coat or GTechniq Leather Guard. You can then deep clean the leather every now and then with the dedicated leather cleaner.

 

[Eldorado2k]

How can you tell if the leather coating product is still on there? I'm not familiar with these latest ones, but I remember using Meguiars Leather Sealer Combo and there was no way of knowing whether or not it was actually still on there or not. [short of maybe pouring a bottle of water on the seat]

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

The routine you are currently performing, wiping down the leather frequently with a damp towel, is exactly what I recommend to my clients for maintaining their leather interior surfaces.

Leather care is perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of auto detailing. Virtually all modern automotive leather is now coated or "protected" leather. Protected leather has a pigmented urethane coating which gives a uniform appearance and makes your interior more durable and resistant to abrasion and UV damage. Since the outermost surface of the leather isn't actually "leather" you really have two surfaces that you must care for: the leather hide itself, and the pigmented top coating (basically paint) which has all the beneficial properties you care about like tactile feel, coloring, and so on.

The method you use, wiping down the interior with a damp cloth, is absolutely PERFECT for maintaining leather surfaces. Here is why: The factory coating on protected leather is designed to be stain resistant yet still permeable to allow transpiration of moisture into (and out of) the leather hide. Using a damp towel to frequently wipe down the leather allows the hide to soak in water and stay hydrated. Keeping the leather hydrated prevents the hide from drying out, shrinking, and eventually cracking the top coating.

Use of oily leather "conditioners" can actually mitigate the transpiration of moisture that the leather hide needs by clogging up the pores of the leather's top coating. Oily conditioners can also attract dust which in large quantity is highly abrasive and will lead to rapid degradation of the top coating with daily usage. There are some leather cleaning and conditioning systems like Leatherique which is specifically designed to permeate through the leather coating down into the hide to replenish necessary proteins and moisture. I would stay away from any leather conditioning product that leaves a shiny appearance and just keep doing what you've been doing with the damp towel wipe downs.

 

[Eldorado2k]

The routine you are currently performing, wiping down the leather frequently with a damp towel, is exactly what I recommend to my clients for maintaining their leather interior surfaces.

Leather care is perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of auto detailing. Virtually all modern automotive leather is now coated or "protected" leather. Protected leather has a pigmented urethane coating which gives a uniform appearance and makes your interior more durable and resistant to abrasion and UV damage. Since the outermost surface of the leather isn't actually "leather" you really have two surfaces that you must care for: the leather hide itself, and the pigmented top coating (basically paint) which has all the beneficial properties you care about like tactile feel, coloring, and so on.

The method you use, wiping down the interior with a damp cloth, is absolutely PERFECT for maintaining leather surfaces. Here is why: The factory coating on protected leather is designed to be stain resistant yet still permeable to allow transpiration of moisture into (and out of) the leather hide. Using a damp towel to frequently wipe down the leather allows the hide to soak in water and stay hydrated. Keeping the leather hydrated prevents the hide from drying out, shrinking, and eventually cracking the top coating.

Use of oily leather "conditioners" can actually mitigate the transpiration of moisture that the leather hide needs by clogging up the pores of the leather's top coating. Oily conditioners can also attract dust which in large quantity is highly abrasive and will lead to rapid degradation of the top coating with daily usage. There are some leather cleaning and conditioning systems like Leatherique which is specifically designed to permeate through the leather coating down into the hide to replenish necessary proteins and moisture. I would stay away from any leather conditioning product that leaves a shiny appearance and just keep doing what you've been doing with the damp towel wipe downs.

He's been using leather conditioner the whole time...

I use Zaino cleaner and conditioner. My car is always kept in garage. And I drive twice a week or so... (Less than 40 miles per week)

Certainly he should've seen the so called adverse effects by now shouldn't he? I'd say 7yrs. should be more than enough time for the dreaded "leather conditioner" to have just about ruined his seats [according to the people who say conditioning leather is just about the worst possible detailing mistake a person can make]

@Nicholas@Autowerx. No offense to you my friend, as this is not directed towards you personally, but I've always thought the whole anti conditioner advice is a load of crock. It does not attract dirt at all, it dries too fast to suffer from that possibility + anyone who just finished detailing out their interior isn't going to take their vehicle straight through a dust storm with the windows rolled down in order to find all that dirt.

And what if that water used to dampen the towel for wipedowns happens to be among the hardest nastiest public water in the country? Suddenly that steady supply of hard calcified water used to "moisturize" the leather on a steady basis doesn't sound so pure and great...

You say that Leatherique is "specifically designed to permeate through the leather coating and replenish necessary proteins & moisture"

I'll take a wild guess... Is Leatherique made by Germans? Italians maybe? Because I've heard BS claims like that from brands that try and lead people to believe they're elite and far superior than the rest... Are we supposed to believe that only the chemists at Leatherique are smart enough to produce this far advanced technology in 2017? Seriously.... Do you really believe no other brand knows what the heck they're doing when they produce leather conditioner?

Don't fall for the hype! Rant over.