kwazi7

Thanks for the reply!

The Gyeon Leather kit looks like a really interesting option especially on a new car! Thanks!

If I do stick with LM, just to be sure I understand what youre saying:
* Maintenance cleanup is the LM Cleaner pump
* Periodically apply the LM Vital to condition / recharge the leather
* Less frequently but for protection, cleaner + vital + apply LM Protection Cream

Thanks

THE REFINERY

Yep, you've got it. You don't always need to do all 3 every time. The cleaner is the most used, then conditioner (Vital), then the Protection Cream is the least frequent.

Pro-tip: a soft-bristled brush is the best method of gently agitating when using a leather cleaner. It comes with the Gyeon Leather kit, or your can buy them individually.

bcrdukes

@THE REFINERY Could you recommend a clay bar/spray? Thanks!

THE REFINERY

Yep! Gyeon makes several clay bars in Course, Medium, Fine abrasiveness - and a clay lube as well. CarPro has the same. We use these, but generally don't stock them for retail sale. IIRC, you can get Mothers clay at Canadian Tire - which will do the trick as well. I believe they use Quick Detailer as lube which is maybe not as slick, but works too.

When using clay, you WILL cause marring on the paint. I usually only recommend clay as a prep for Paint Correction (ie machine polishing). It does a great job of shearing off embedded contaminants that don't come off in a wash or by using chemicals, but it will leave 'swirl mark' and scrubbing-like damage on the surface. Unfortunately those marks can only be corrected with machine polishing.

Clay is also pretty helpful for cleaning up gloss-painted wheels. Use iron-dissolving (eg GYEON Iron) and tar removing chemicals (eg GYEON Tar) first to remove that contamination, then the clay is great at shearing off the little black particles that can be left behind. Then ideally you could polish with a small DA after.

bcrdukes

We just returned on a 2800km road trip to the US, so as you can imagine, a lot of dead bugs, dirt, grime, tar, and all sorts of stuff having gone on this journey. I'm not sure if you would recommend a clay bar and a polish, or a different chemical to spray on the more tougher spots, and then a good hand wash after. Thanks in advance!

THE REFINERY

I'd try to resolve as much of it as possible without clay - to avoid the marring. A "Bug & Grime" cleaner should help with the splats, IRON will help remove the surprising amount of iron-based deposits, and TAR would help with anything oily/grease related.

If bird droppings, bug splats or water spots have baked into the surface, then yes, try clay in those areas.

Good luck!