Leather care
10-08-2002, 03:11 PM
#16
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Georgia, USA
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RESULTS:
I decided to try the Leatherique products. After Chuck Harmon's post, and further questions to him, I contacted the http:\\www.Leatherique.com folks. George Pavlisko, the CEO, promptly replied to my inquiry and was very friendly and helpful.
One of my main concerns was considering the special metallic dye; I was worried that I may experience significant dye transfer.
Here's a cut & paste from George at Leatherique:
I would first suggest the Porsche Club special on a pint of Rejuvenator Oil and Prestine Clean, $30 for both, you save $10. Do at least 3 generous applications of the Rejuvenator Oil. It will nourish the hides, trim, steering wheel, and expel any dirt, previously used petroleum or silicone products to the surface. When you clean, if the dye has become fragile due to the use of the petroleum products used previously, or if any of the surface dye is oxidized simply due to UV rays of the sun, a combination of sun tan lotions, etc, used by the previous owner, all this will come off and you may have some color transfer. After you have thoroughly nourished the hides, thoroughly cleaned away any gunk that is clogging the pores of the leather to prevent it from breathing, or any old or oxidized color, then I would suggest brushing a film of Klear Kote over the interior, steering wheel, dash, shift boot, etc. This is very useful especially on convertibles to provide extra UV protection to the
leather. Repeat these steps of the Rejuvenator at least twice a year, and freshen the Klear Kote if it needs it every few years.
My results to George at Leatherique follows:
Your Leatherique products did a wonderful job. I applied the Rejuvenator Oil
(the leather was much thirstier than I expected!) according to your
instructions. However, I was much more pleasantly surprised with the
Pristine Clean, for it not only did an amazing job of cleaning off the dirt,
but truly gave the special metallic blue shine a great boost. As expected,
I did encounter some metallic dye transfer, yet this was mainly on the seats
and shift **** where oily skin contact occurs. I'm also very happy with the
steering wheel; the black leather now looks and feels like the clean, rich
leather that it is. You never know what you're missing until it's restored
to its' original 'newness'.
Before picture
[IMG]
<a href="http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/B4headrest.jpg" target="_blank">http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/B4headrest.jpg</a>
[/IMG]
Letting the oil soak in... Sauna Time
After Results (of course it's kinda hard getting a good before and after picture since the sun was at different angles, so the color of the leather just as the exterior paint looks different)
I decided to try the Leatherique products. After Chuck Harmon's post, and further questions to him, I contacted the http:\\www.Leatherique.com folks. George Pavlisko, the CEO, promptly replied to my inquiry and was very friendly and helpful.
One of my main concerns was considering the special metallic dye; I was worried that I may experience significant dye transfer.
Here's a cut & paste from George at Leatherique:
I would first suggest the Porsche Club special on a pint of Rejuvenator Oil and Prestine Clean, $30 for both, you save $10. Do at least 3 generous applications of the Rejuvenator Oil. It will nourish the hides, trim, steering wheel, and expel any dirt, previously used petroleum or silicone products to the surface. When you clean, if the dye has become fragile due to the use of the petroleum products used previously, or if any of the surface dye is oxidized simply due to UV rays of the sun, a combination of sun tan lotions, etc, used by the previous owner, all this will come off and you may have some color transfer. After you have thoroughly nourished the hides, thoroughly cleaned away any gunk that is clogging the pores of the leather to prevent it from breathing, or any old or oxidized color, then I would suggest brushing a film of Klear Kote over the interior, steering wheel, dash, shift boot, etc. This is very useful especially on convertibles to provide extra UV protection to the
leather. Repeat these steps of the Rejuvenator at least twice a year, and freshen the Klear Kote if it needs it every few years.
My results to George at Leatherique follows:
Your Leatherique products did a wonderful job. I applied the Rejuvenator Oil
(the leather was much thirstier than I expected!) according to your
instructions. However, I was much more pleasantly surprised with the
Pristine Clean, for it not only did an amazing job of cleaning off the dirt,
but truly gave the special metallic blue shine a great boost. As expected,
I did encounter some metallic dye transfer, yet this was mainly on the seats
and shift **** where oily skin contact occurs. I'm also very happy with the
steering wheel; the black leather now looks and feels like the clean, rich
leather that it is. You never know what you're missing until it's restored
to its' original 'newness'.
Before picture
[IMG]
<a href="http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/B4headrest.jpg" target="_blank">http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/B4headrest.jpg</a>
[/IMG]
Letting the oil soak in... Sauna Time
After Results (of course it's kinda hard getting a good before and after picture since the sun was at different angles, so the color of the leather just as the exterior paint looks different)
10-08-2002, 04:47 PM
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For what it's worth, my wife works in a large museum and has done much research on conservation of leather artifacts in the museum collections.
The consensus among museum conservators is that most if not all leather treatments do more harm than good over the long term. I do realize that what a museum considers long term may not apply to our vehicles. But as someone mentioned, many of us anticipate keeping our cars for a long time and repeated treatment with leather conditioners can have a damaging effect.
The key to keeping leather from deteriorating, according to my wife, is proper humidity level. All leather will dry out eventually (the cow is dead after all), but keeping the proper humidity level will greatly extend its life.
I know our priorities are different than a conservators but it did make me think twice before slathering Lexol over every square inch of the leather in my car.
The consensus among museum conservators is that most if not all leather treatments do more harm than good over the long term. I do realize that what a museum considers long term may not apply to our vehicles. But as someone mentioned, many of us anticipate keeping our cars for a long time and repeated treatment with leather conditioners can have a damaging effect.
The key to keeping leather from deteriorating, according to my wife, is proper humidity level. All leather will dry out eventually (the cow is dead after all), but keeping the proper humidity level will greatly extend its life.
I know our priorities are different than a conservators but it did make me think twice before slathering Lexol over every square inch of the leather in my car.
10-09-2002, 06:13 PM
#21
Beautiful seats.
To clean my black factory leather sport seats I use a two brand new sponges, a bucket with warm (not hot) water and a bucket of cool water, clean, all cotton, terry cloth towels (or plain white cotton tee shirts) and saddle soap.
After the saddle soaping the leather, I use the clean sponge with the cool water to rinse off any residue. Then dry, (buff) with the cotton towels. The result is a clean leather surface with a light sheen (not a shiny/vinyl armorall look.
DO NOT SOAK THE STITCHING.
Richard
'87 Carrera-3.6L
To clean my black factory leather sport seats I use a two brand new sponges, a bucket with warm (not hot) water and a bucket of cool water, clean, all cotton, terry cloth towels (or plain white cotton tee shirts) and saddle soap.
After the saddle soaping the leather, I use the clean sponge with the cool water to rinse off any residue. Then dry, (buff) with the cotton towels. The result is a clean leather surface with a light sheen (not a shiny/vinyl armorall look.
DO NOT SOAK THE STITCHING.
Richard
'87 Carrera-3.6L
