Spilled coffee on my perforated leather seats

J

jvamagic

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Hi,

Like a dummy I spilled some coffee from my coffee cup (luckily the lid was only slightly open) on my wife's Lexus is250 which has perforated leather seats. I immediately got the only towel I had in my car (terry cloth) and soaked as much as I could. I left the towel in place for hours thereafter. The seats are not stained and I did see quite a bit of coffee was absorbed by the terry cloth. The issue is the smell. It's not terribly strong but it's present.

I have CG leather cleaner but I'm wondering if that's enough. I'm also thinking I should turn on either the seat heater or cooling (has both hot and cold settings).

Thanks in advance.
 
I would suggest So2pure: CarPro So2Pure Air Purifying Coating 120 ml.

We used this on:

a.) Vehicle previously owned by heavy smoker ---> Checked with new owner 6 months after detail and she stated no smoke smell persists
b.) Vehicle where dying cat released it's bladder on the way to the vet---> Contacted owner and stated after 6 months no odor of cat urine.

Luckily haven't had a chance to use it since. Coffee is pungent but does break down over time. We've all done it. Mine was in my garage queen... right in the middle console through the e-brake handle.
 
Paul,

Great timing! I literally almost ordered this 3 minutes ago.

Now I will need to give it a shot. I trust your recommendations.


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Coffee is an organic compound, you need a tannin spotter/cleaner. And you'll never get it out of the foam seating below the perforated leather as the liquid soaked in.. At best you can clean the leather surface.

Google tannin spotters.
 
I wouldn't say never. If you catch it early enough you can continuously flood the area with hot water and vacuum it up through the perfs. You should be able to get most of it, nothing is 100%.
 
sudsmobile said:
I wouldn't say never. If you catch it early enough you can continuously flood the area with hot water and vacuum it up through the perfs. You should be able to get most of it, nothing is 100%.
Click to expand...

Have you ever pulled up carpet and looked at the backing and the pad? Same premise. And you can't pull the leather off and extract the cushioning. And even the most powerful extractors can't get all that stuff out. I've sold commercial carpet extractors that cost $10,000+ and done the demos and trained the presonnel who use them during my sales career.

I've done demos in assisted living facilities where I didn't use anything but hot water and gone over the carpet through three+ 25 gallon tankfuls and still pulled out nasty dirty gunk.
 
custmsprty said:
Have you ever pulled up carpet and looked at the backing and the pad? Same premise. And you can't pull the leather off and extract the cushioning. And even the most powerful extractors can't get all that stuff out. I've sold commercial carpet extractors that cost $10,000+ and done the demos and trained the personnel who use them during my sales career.

I've done demos in assisted living facilities where I didn't use anything but hot water and gone over the carpet through three+ 25 gallon tankfuls and still pulled out nasty dirty gunk.
Click to expand...

Agree! My wife (Interior Gal) is IICRC certified, and you never flood upholstery. The idea of a hotwater extractor is it lays down just enough water that the suction of the vac part will pull it up. It's hot water so it will dry quickly (and clean better). But these are leather seats. The suction of the vac will destroy the leather.

These are leather seats with coffee, and yes custmsprty, if the coffee had cream & sugar it would be a protein stain. Coffee black, or wine, Tannin stain. Regardless coffee is one of the easiest to clean up.

The op did the right thing, tamp with a towel to soak up the coffee (remember tamping is your friend!), clean the leather with a good quality leather cleaner, then apply an odor elimination product, as recommended above so2pure. Again, read the instructions and warning on any product you apply to make sure it's compatible with your seats. Follow the recommended instructions. Even if you didn't use an odor eliminator, coffee on it's own will dissipate over time. As I stated above, I've spilled a lot of coffee in my day.

Do not "soak" anything, or you'll have a soggy bottom for months... in addition I'd imagine that there are electronics in the seat (i.e. safety sensors for airbag and seat belts) along with heated/cooled seats.

Hope this helps! :)
 
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