Dr_Pain
New member
- Nov 28, 2012
- 2,196
- 0
I may be telling a little on myself but I do remember the days when wearing jeans was "lower class" and reserved for farmers and low income blue collar workers. Well times have changed and the trend of wearing jeans surpassed the desire of "dressing up". Casual and casual elegant is here to stay. With more designers joining the trend (in this very competitive market), you see more and more "manipulation" of those denims to make them more appealing to the mass. You will see anything from the "pre-worn" look to the acid washed, to the funky colors. Obviosuly, The one that affects us the most as detailers is the plethra of dyes used to "make the trend" or to make the jeans more "elegant" (so you can wear it with a blazer, etc..). It is quite often that I get the question if we can do something about the discoloration that those dyes create on light colored leather interior. Over the years I've used anything from straight APC to dedicated leather cleaners but always wished to have something more. Here comes Leather Master and its product specifically designed for dye transfers.
So here is a quick review for you guys.
This product is designed to eliminate color and dye transfers on light types A (Aniline) and P (Protected) leathers and fabrics. You will want to try using this product first before any other conventional methods (leather cleaner or APC dilutions). This product is design to be used on dyes such as blue jeans transfer, newspaper print, fresh ballpoint ink, paint, shoe polish, and permanent marker. You do need to allow enough time for the Dye Transfer Cleaner to penetrate the surface and thoroughly clean and eliminate the color transfer. The key is to try and get to the stain as early as possible. From my experience, the product does work as intended however since dyes actually penetrate through the surface of the leather or fabric (rather than remaining on top of the finish), it is not uncommon that a certain degree of the discoloration will remain even after thorough cleaning. The extend of your success at eliminating the dye does depends on several factors such as 1) the type of leather, 2) The prior care and protection, 3) and obviously the degree of "abuse". I've also found that it is much easier to remove dyes from real leather as opposed to the vinyl (pleather) insert, most often used in the leather seat manufacturing to ease the associated cost. You may already know this but it bears to be repeated but most lower and mid level leather interiors have leather on what is "touched" or "sat on" but all the other pieces are actually facsimile leather.
In this little experiment I was dealing with a very set in stain and severe enough example that I could not in all honest think that I could make a difference. This Cadillac interior has seen nothing but tens of thousands of miles of deep dark blue jeans. The lady approached me to see if I could help and to be honest I could not fathom making a huge impact. I knew I could make it better but how much?? Well, I will let you be the judge!
I was able to make a huge dent in the discoloration HOWEVER the dye seems to be resistant on the vinyl insert on the side of the bolster AND in the leather perforation. As you may be able to see, the stitching on the side of the bolster does show major wear, so you know this daily driver is well used. Although a little "shadowing" remains on the perforated seat, only I could see it. The owner was thrilled and even after pointing out the remaining dye she said it was so minor that she could not see it.
On the product itself, I would give it a solid 7/10. It was easy to use and worked as intended, although I was expecting a little more. Does work better than traditional leather cleaners? I would say yes. I have products by Leatherique, Pinnacle, Wolfgang and believe that the Leather Master worked better than all of them (I did test a couple of areas with the other products). You do have to follow the instructions to neutralize the product (same as what you would do when using an APC dilution), but nothing inconvenient. I did wear nitrile gloves and did get a splatter on my arm without any ill effect. I was working in a well ventilated area and did not feel the smell was an issue so I did not wear a mask.
I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to comment.... and please post suggestions of other products you may have tried for a possible future "showdown"!!
So here is a quick review for you guys.
This product is designed to eliminate color and dye transfers on light types A (Aniline) and P (Protected) leathers and fabrics. You will want to try using this product first before any other conventional methods (leather cleaner or APC dilutions). This product is design to be used on dyes such as blue jeans transfer, newspaper print, fresh ballpoint ink, paint, shoe polish, and permanent marker. You do need to allow enough time for the Dye Transfer Cleaner to penetrate the surface and thoroughly clean and eliminate the color transfer. The key is to try and get to the stain as early as possible. From my experience, the product does work as intended however since dyes actually penetrate through the surface of the leather or fabric (rather than remaining on top of the finish), it is not uncommon that a certain degree of the discoloration will remain even after thorough cleaning. The extend of your success at eliminating the dye does depends on several factors such as 1) the type of leather, 2) The prior care and protection, 3) and obviously the degree of "abuse". I've also found that it is much easier to remove dyes from real leather as opposed to the vinyl (pleather) insert, most often used in the leather seat manufacturing to ease the associated cost. You may already know this but it bears to be repeated but most lower and mid level leather interiors have leather on what is "touched" or "sat on" but all the other pieces are actually facsimile leather.
In this little experiment I was dealing with a very set in stain and severe enough example that I could not in all honest think that I could make a difference. This Cadillac interior has seen nothing but tens of thousands of miles of deep dark blue jeans. The lady approached me to see if I could help and to be honest I could not fathom making a huge impact. I knew I could make it better but how much?? Well, I will let you be the judge!
I was able to make a huge dent in the discoloration HOWEVER the dye seems to be resistant on the vinyl insert on the side of the bolster AND in the leather perforation. As you may be able to see, the stitching on the side of the bolster does show major wear, so you know this daily driver is well used. Although a little "shadowing" remains on the perforated seat, only I could see it. The owner was thrilled and even after pointing out the remaining dye she said it was so minor that she could not see it.
On the product itself, I would give it a solid 7/10. It was easy to use and worked as intended, although I was expecting a little more. Does work better than traditional leather cleaners? I would say yes. I have products by Leatherique, Pinnacle, Wolfgang and believe that the Leather Master worked better than all of them (I did test a couple of areas with the other products). You do have to follow the instructions to neutralize the product (same as what you would do when using an APC dilution), but nothing inconvenient. I did wear nitrile gloves and did get a splatter on my arm without any ill effect. I was working in a well ventilated area and did not feel the smell was an issue so I did not wear a mask.
I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to comment.... and please post suggestions of other products you may have tried for a possible future "showdown"!!
