Autobahn

Until recently I have used the Porsche Tequipment leather treatment stuff which is quite nice but I have switched to swissol now. It's even better than the Porsche stuff.

JW in Texas

After the amazing results I have had on some older sports cars using Leatherique, it's all I use.

http://www.leatherique.com/

My 2cts.

Pete Lech

Eagle One Cleaner and Eagle One Leather Treatment. Apply the treatment like suntan lotion. Now that Valvoline owns Eagle One, who knows if the products have changed.

I am looking for the Motorcycle Consumer News article, however. It is currently unavailable on their website.

kkim

On a related note and not to hijack this thread ( perhaps I should just start another?), which pieces are leather in these cars and which are vinyl?

Carrera Mike

I use ZYMOL(Cleaner and Conditioner). Not too expensive and does the job job excellently.

Edward

Use Leatherique and you'll never go back to Lexol...it's that good. Seriously! I was an avid Lexol user for years until I tried Leatherique. You'll be pleased with the difference --no affiliation either.

Edward

Pete K

Kelly,
What's leather in the car is dependent on what was ordered. Standard leather, supple leather and any other leather options make that a hard question to answer.
My car has full leather and adds for the center console and headliner but does not have leather guage bezals as some cars do. Check your option sticker and go from there.

HTH's
Pete

kkim

Pete,

Thanks that does. I was wondering... would you also be able to tell which is leather and which is vinyl by the way the light hits it? Under florescent lighting, my seats look to be a different shade from some portions my door panels.

Reason I ask is because I know it's not good to use vinyl protectant on leather and leather protectant on vinyl.

cheers

prscha

tried alot of products, find lexol the best.......hide food seems to move the dirt and stain around

jz993

The last car I bought new w/leather was a 1990 Eagle Talon. I cleaned the seats with Kiwi Saddle Soap, and never used a protectant. When I sold the car 39 mos. later, they still looked new.
I'd only a rejuvenating product on seats that already show moderate wear.

Harold

I agree with the smell thing. It honestly makes your porsche smell like a brand new 360 modena (if thats your type of thing).

95 GPW 993

I use Zymol cleaner and conditioner, although I think the version I have is actually made by Turtle Wax. Got them at Target. Easy to use and smells great.

Kelly Kim - My 993 interior is commonly referred to as "partial leather," meaning that only the steering wheel cover, handbrake lever (about 6" at the end), shift ****/boot and the fronts of the seats are leather. Everything else is vinyl. You can tell the vinyl parts as they have a grained texture to them whereas the leather is smooth (go figure).

I've seen a few other 993's with "full leather" and some giveaways that you may have that option are stitching around the door armrest/handle, center console and dashboard around the gauges. Also, my partial leather seats have tiny holes in the leather surface. If yours don't, you have the "supple leather" seats which I believe come as part of the full leather interior.

BTW, I use Vinylex for the vinyl parts

billatlanta

Speaking of smelling great - does anyone know of the leather conditioner that makes your seats smell like leather? There is a guy is the same office building that parks his cab near my car. Anyway when the top is down you can smell the leather in his car - kind of like a horse saddle. Anyone know what product does that?

Pete Lech

I found the review from Motorcycle Consumer News. The top ratings out of 22 products tested on motorcycle leathers were:

1. Lexol
2. Blue Magic Leather Cream Conditioner
3. Tenderly Leather Softener
4. Meguiar's Gold Class
Armorall Leather Care (tie)
6. Turtle Wax Leather Cleaner and Conditioner

My old stand-by, Eagle One was lower mid-pack

Of interest, was the comment that the Armorall and Turtle Wax products had "Great Leather... smell."

Interestingly, they also said that they discovered in their testing that "...after seven months of exposure, we were not able to discern any meaningful differences in the treated vs untreated products."
Food for thought for you folks who treat your leather frequently.


If you have black leather, try Auburn Leather Color Restorer, available at motorcycle shops. It works great on those scuffed areas, when followed by a conditioner. Worked great on my first two cars; too bad my current car has grey leather.

DrZ

From what I understand the tanning process as well as subsequent exposure to wear and the elements depletes leather of it's intrinsic natural oils. The best restorative products are actually comprised of similar natural organic emulsifed fats and collagen. Trust me like sausage, you don't really want to know what of and how these products are made!

Stuff like mineral oil, banana, aloe, lanolin, saddle soap, do not get the job done and actually just tend to spread the grime around rather than penetrate the skin. If alkaline they can actually cause more damage.

The only two products that I know which really have the necessary componets are Lexol and Leatherique. I have compared them head to head and IMO the latter is the better product. Ease of use and mess factor favor Lexol if that is more important. BTW "restored" leather will regain it's natural scent and will last a lot longer than either banana or coconut perfume that is used in less effective products.