Want your leather to look nice? You have to clean and condition it regularly. Just as an example this was a brand new microfiber towel in a pack from Costco. I use my own cleaning solution of 50/50 White Vinegar/Water with one pump of a hand soap mixed into a 20 oz spritzer bottle. Look how much soiling came off just the steering wheel by itself - my last treatment was three months prior. I followed the cleaning with conditioner.

If you don't get the dirt and oils off where you hands touch, it will degrade the tannins in the leather, causing it to become sticky and gummy at first, then eventually removing the top coat of the hide, then cracking.

 

And what do you use for conditioner?

 

I was hoping this was a thread where you would be volunteering to come clean our leather on our cars :-)

Good tip BTW - like the mixture!

 

Wow, that was dirty. Two questions;

(1) Are the bottom of your pants clean, themselves?
(2) How often between cleaning?

I have 3 cars that all have light (eg. Iceland Green for the Porsche) leather seats, and never seen my cloth that dirty after a thorough cleaning, I clean about once a month.

 

I own a furniture store specializing in leather upholstery, so my pants and hands are frequently dirty from handling furniture, more so than your typical white collar professionals. Pants are rarely dirty unless I have sweat through them on a hot summer day or been on the ground doing maintenance on one of our store trucks in the parking lot. Most leather soiling and staining is from from skin contact, not clothing. So if you wear shorts in the summer, you will see an uptick in seat soiling from your legs contacting the leather..

I try to do a steering wheel and gearshift wipe down every 6 weeks, the drivers seat every three months, and the whole interior twice a year. I too have (3) Porsches with leather interiors so lots of square footage, plus I have twenty pieces of leather upholstery in my house that I should get to 2x a year, but more often that's an annual ritual.

I use the conditioner and protectant from the kits I sell in the store, but prefer to make my own cleaner that is white vinegar based, its more effective at removing dirt and oils, the cleaner that comes in this kit is very mild I have found. That or dump a few ounce of vinegar into the kit cleaner. Most people don't like the smell of vinegar so its not often used, but wow - its a very effective cleaner that does no damage to the hides. Here's what I use, this is in no way a suggestion to use what I sell in my store - there are plenty of decent leather conditioners on the market - just avoid the watery stuff at Wal Mart like Lexol is my suggestion

http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...for-all-brands

 

Any recommendations on the hand soap? Anything to avoid? I use dish soap to mop rubber floors and on that I have to avoid the kinds with oils & bleach etc. wasn’t sure if hand soap may be the same minefield.

Thanks for all your interior tips throughout the forum, they are very helpful.

 

Avoid dishwashing soap as it's too harsh, it has de-greasers in the makeup. Use a very mild soap, I think my wife has Mrs Meyers hand soap in a pump dispenser next to the sink, so that works. And not too much soap, less is better.

 

Drcollie - Nice thread, Informative. Need more threads like this one.

 

+100 Thanks for taking the time to lay all of this information out; much appreciated!

 

Can anyone throw out a good leather cleaner that I can buy and stick in the garage?

 

Awesome thread @drcollie as with the new 992 in the garage and seeing all your posts, I was either going to drive up to NOVA and see you or break down and PM you as to how to get her clean.

You saved the day!

 

I used saddle soap on my 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Quadfogliao. I drove that fine car into the ground. But I kept good care of it, even if it was often parked outside overnight by the beach and in the SoCal sun. The leather was always amazing. It was soft and supple. It was nice to sit on, without being slippery or greasy-feeling.

 

Saddle soap is not for finished leathers, sorry. That's for horse saddles which are pure anilines, car interior leather is always finished hides.

 

Interesting, thank you. What’s wrong with Lexol brown bottle? I’ve never heard anything bad about it
Are you familiar with Obenauf’s leather oil? That’s what I use

 

could you suggest conditioners (other than your own) that you think would be good choices for Porsche leather surfaces?