ClintonM3

Hi all,

New to Porsche, new to the forum.

Just wondering if anyone has tried Leatherique during winter time. It is 50 deg or lower here in NY. I have a garage. Thinking about using a ceramic or space heater to heat up the interior.

From what I understand, you really need heat to make the product (RO) work. I guess it opens up the pores.

Leatherique's website calls for hair dryer and garbage bag. But I am not about to sit inside my car with a hair dryer for hours.

I don't want to park the car outside and run the car's heater for hours.

Do you guys think putting a space heater inside the car can do the trick?

Or should I just wait till next summer...

No HTwo O

I would not put a heater in any of my Porsches!

I have very successfully cleaned my leather with Lexol Leather Cleaner (orange bottle) and a quality leather brush from Phil at Detailers Domain.

Once the leather is clean, I top with Zaino Leather Care Z10 "LeatherIn A Bottle".

Marine Blue

Having used Leatherique, Lexol, Leather Masters and several of Meguiars products I can say without a doubt that Leather Masters with some elbow grease is one of the best for Porsches older leathers. It cleans and conditions extremely well if used as instructed.

For reference, you can leave leatherique on for a period of a week or two and reapply as needed to get similar results as leaving the car in the sun on a hot day. It may not be as good but its pretty close.

ClintonM3

So heat only accelerate the absorption of the rejuvanator oil? I guess I'll try leaving it on for a few days without heat and see.
I have used Lexol on other cars before.
For this "new to me" car, I bought both leatherique and Leather Master. From what I've read, LM seems to be the fav. That's why I am trying Leatherique first. My first priority is to get the leather softer.

No HTwo O

I think Leatherique also recommends to cover the treated area with plastic wrap to accelerate the process too.

Marine Blue

LM is definitely best to use after leatherique. Leatherique will get your leather softer and help remove embeded dirt/oils. LM will remove the surface dirt and leave the leather with a perfect matte finish and no smell (other than the natural porsche leather smell). Great combo.

You never mentioned what year your car is...

Yes that is right.

ClintonM3

1994 964 3.6T Polar Silver with black interior. I am so pumped.
I am getting ready to do a proper intro, with pics, but I want to clean it a little first.
I will do a full concours prep next spring. I want to tryout the concours scene next year/season.
So right now is kinda in between, want to clean the car, but don't want to be wasted effort, cause I'll have to do it again next spring anyway.

Marine Blue

Very nice Congrats! Can't wait to see the pics. Where are you located?

No such thing as wasting efforts regarding detailing, especially leather cleaning and conditioning. It took me three tries to achieve perfect seats. This included leatherique, LM and finding a really good leather dye to touch up a few minor scratches on the bolster. It looks factory fresh now.

Good luck and have fun.

ClintonM3

I am in Westchester Co. NY.

Is 50 deg out and pouring. Just finished oiling up the seats with about 15oz of RO. No heater, no heat gun or dryer, no plastic. Car is inside the garage, but not a heated garage, so maybe 60-65 deg inside.

I'll leave it on longer and see how it goes without heat. But I don't know about leaving it on for a week or two. I want to drive it this sunday if the weather is nice.

TOGWT

The idea of applying the conditioner, allowing time for it to work, before it can be cleaned off which is then rewarded by the rather odd fact that you have to then clean the leather in a secondary stage is really rather odd, and is reminiscent of the Saddle Soap process, before it can begin to clean it must first dissolve its own oils, which limits its capacity to dissolve dirt and oils in the leather, and I can see no technical reason for applying a product in this way.

Three Step Care

Regular maintenance using the proper materials and techniques will help preserve the beauty and prolong the life of your automobiles leather upholstery.

To provide a uniform colour water-based pigments are applied, after two or three coat applications a clear top coat is applied. Pigments require a binding system to improve flexibility, fastness and adhesion to the leather. The top coat is the final stage of the finishing process, and is designed to protect the hide from abrasion from clothing as well as the dust / dirt introduced by the vehicle’s AC system.

All finishes have to allow evaporation and hydration i.e. the flow of moisture back and forth, the important considerations for proper leather care; is as much about (a) the state / condition of the leather you are dealing with (b) methodology used (c) product. Cleaning is a combination of all these

(a) Clean - as dirt / grit and subsequent friction cause the finish to wear.

(b) Hydrated - use water-based products that do not contain oils and/or waxes, check the label if they do then don't use them. Clean surfaces with a damp towel.

(c) Protected - is essential as it will protect the surface finish protection as a sacrificial layer and makes dirt easier to clean off and an ultra violet protective product (UVR) will preserve the finish.

This is NOT a conditioner per se but is used to improve and maintain the tactile feel and lustre to ensure the leather remains soft and supple; apply Leather Master™ Soft Touch (ex Soft Vital) and allow to dry for approx 20 minutes, finally using a clean dry micro fibre towel buff to a matte sheen.

ClintonM3

Whoa, thanks for the info. Togwt, I guess you are this forum's tech guy.

Well, leatherique or not, I did applied it last night. I checked it again just now. Most of the oil has been absorbed, went from the wet look when first applied to glossy now. I always thought heat was a must, but we'll see, I'll try to leave it on until tomorrow night, so that's close to 48 hrs. If it doesn't soften the leather, I'll just wait till next spring and use LM.

a thompson

Clinton, please let us know if the leatherique made things softer after 48 hours. I have, and use the Leather Masters, works great but does not soften the leather as much as I would like. Please post some photos of your car, I love 964 turbos.
Andy

Race4S

your silver 3.6 turbo.... did you get it from hatch and sons?

ClintonM3

yeah. you know? I had a great experience purchasing from them btw.

TOGWT

A good trio for leather cleaning / protection / maintenance Leather Master™ Kit with Strong Cleaner, Leather Protection and Soft Touch (ex Vital) not a conditioner per se but used for revitalizing older leathers and also to improve the feel of stiff leathers