What do you use to clean the light coloured leather ?

Mar 4, 2018 | 09:08 PM

C3504matic

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From: Edmonton AB

2015 C63S ,DME Tune, KW Has ,Kmac Bushings,BC Forged wheels,Gt Rotors,Porterfield R4S,Modal Intake

What do you use to clean the light coloured leather ?

I have the light grey and today I decided to try the Auto Glym leather cleaner . I tried a very small area on the front of the leg extension and I'm glad I didn't use it all over. I only used a very small amount of cleaner on a new terry cloth towel and within in seconds it took some of the colour off and made it feel rough .I immediately rinsed it off with water but wow ...I wasn't expecting that after reading all the reviews saying it was a mild cleaner and very good .After that I just used a damp terry towel w/ a small amount of soap and that worked ok. Now I'm really nervous about using anything on it ....

Mar 4, 2018 | 09:40 PM

JWreck

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C63 S AMG, Jaguar F Pace S

Did you dilute the cleaner? Pretty much always dilute a leather cleaner.

I like AmmoNYC Lather for light jobs, or Leatherique for heavier stuff.

Mar 4, 2018 | 09:43 PM

C3504matic

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From: Edmonton AB

2015 C63S ,DME Tune, KW Has ,Kmac Bushings,BC Forged wheels,Gt Rotors,Porterfield R4S,Modal Intake

No...it's says just to apply to a clean cloth and rub on ......It didn't say anything about diluting it

Mar 4, 2018 | 09:45 PM

JWreck

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C63 S AMG, Jaguar F Pace S

Quote:

Originally Posted by C3504matic

No...it's says just to apply to a clean cloth and rub on ......It didn't say anything about diluting it

Yeah I always dilute, even if it doesn’t say to. Worst case you can back off the dilution, can’t reduce the strength after-the-fact.

Mar 5, 2018 | 01:32 AM

C3504matic

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From: Edmonton AB

2015 C63S ,DME Tune, KW Has ,Kmac Bushings,BC Forged wheels,Gt Rotors,Porterfield R4S,Modal Intake

Anyone have any suggestions for removing a light stain on a light grey seat belt. I'm afraid to spread it more being it's such a light colour

Mar 5, 2018 | 03:36 PM

D-5

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2003 E55

Quote:

Originally Posted by C3504matic

Anyone have any suggestions for removing a light stain on a light grey seat belt. I'm afraid to spread it more being it's such a light colour

Seat Belts are made of polyester, a type of fabric. I would first start with a gentle cleaner: dish soap. Squirt some dish soap onto the stain, let it sit for a couple minutes, agitate lightly with your thumb, or for more aggressive cleaning action use a soft toothbrush. Wipe clean with a wet microfibre towel. If dish soap is not strong enough to remove the stain, the next thing I would try is laundry detergent. They are pretty strong so I might first dilute it with water and start from there.

Here is a list of cleaning agents from gentle to harsh that I would use for your job:
1. dish soap
2. laundry detergent
3. shout advanced stain remover
4. apc (all purpose cleaner) they are very strong/harsh so make sure you start with 10:1 ratio

Mar 5, 2018 | 03:50 PM

D-5

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2003 E55

Quote:

Originally Posted by C3504matic

I use Auto Glym leather cleaner on all of my cars from dark to light colour leathers and never had any problems. They are very gentle/mild to a point that for some tough cleaning jobs, they are not powerful enough so I had to use APC dilute with water along with a more stiff PET bristle brush (I've used it on fake/synthetic leathers found in E-Class and B-class) I'm really surprised it took colour off of your leather and made the surface rough! I use Auto Glym leather cleaner on my C63s (black interior), i8 (brown interior), Range Rover (ivory interior)...etc

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Mar 7, 2018 | 08:35 PM

AV1

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C204 C250-CDI

Just my 2 cents after decades of car ownership with leather (genuine not faux) interiors and having tried all manner of leather care products I now never use product of any kind on leather - full stop. I can show you pics of a 14 year old car of mine with leather interior that's only ever been cleaned with water and cotton terry cloth, it still looks almost new...

I use clean filtered/distilled water with (as you already said) a clean cotton terry cloth, this will work for any cleaning duty, if it does not work it means the leather is damaged or stained beyond simple DIY fixes.

Even if you apply a typical conditioning product to leather which seems to look good immediately after application it ends up looking terrible and worse than before months down the track, i've seen cases where it even causes the leather to wrinkle and crack.

I suppose it dosn't matter if your not going to own the car long term, but if like myself you buy and own for long term you need to be very careful with leather interiors.