ElDiabloJoe

Hey Y'all,

Thanks for your (especially you AlBoston) recent responses regarding leather care.

I'm sold on Leathrique, mainly due to the stellar recommendations of the gurus here.

Now for the big question. I know what it is. I know where to get it. I can figure out how to use it (I hope), but I don't know which stuff to get in what quantity.

I've got two (count em, 2!) new 2003 MB's. One has full premium (not naptha) leather, the other has leather inserts.

I'm looking not only for a maintenance product to keep em from cracking and drying out, but a cleaning product to wipe up any errant coffee drips, etc.

Thanks guys!

EDJ

etenn

Great questions Joe. I will look for the answers too.

Kar don

I have made a post about leatherique showing its before and after pics. I will refresh the thread for you guys. And you are very welcome joe . Joe, if I were you I would probably just stick to Zaino Z10 or pinnacle leather conditioner. I used leatherique on our ML mainly because I was stupid in the first few years of ownership and didnt care for it like I should have. These products are cheaper and will be fine on new leather.

etenn

Thanks for the sticky Al. Which is easiest to use..Zaino or Leatherique? I would probably be more likely to detail the leather with the easiest one. However, if the Leatherique is really a better product, I would use it.

Ed

bmms8

i have used none, but was very close to leatherique. zaino will be easier. leatherique will take much longer because u have to let it soak the leather, but of course, ali knows best

500AMG

Leatherique is great for old, dry, and neglected leather...it does wonders there. For new leather I would wipe it down probably bi-weekly with a damp MF (dry afterwards of course), spot clean with a leather cleaner if needed (that silly coffee ELDiab talks about ), and perform long term maintenance/deep cleaning with leatherique once every 5-6 months or so. That will remove any absorbed sweat or dirt that was missed before.

David N.

Treat your leather inserts like you would treat vinyl. No leather cleaners or conditioners are needed. Just wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove any dust or minor spills. Leather conditioners and cleaners will not penetrate the inserts because they coated with a top layer of vinyl. Frequent use of these products on inserts will cause the vinyl top coat to deteriorate.

I have inserts in my car, and I have used only a damp cloth to maintain. There has been no change in the leather from the day I took delivery.

For your other car, as Al said, if it hasn't been neglected, then Leatherique may not be necessary. You could probably use zaino to preserve the new feel.

JMHO. TIFWIW.

500AMG

For those inserts and normal car leather, a damp MF wipe down will work fine for weekly/bi-weekly cleaning. That top coating is not impermeable (sp?), however. Liquids can and will soak into the leather/fake leather underneath.

If anyone wants to learn some more about leather in general, visit this link: http://www.all-about-leather.co.uk/types.htm Pretty interesting stuff. Sorts out the different leather types well.

Also, David N. I've searched autopia and edmunds forums as well as the net in general and have found no evidence that leather cleaners/conditioners made by brand name companies today will cause the polymer coating on top-coated/pigmented leather to break down or wear away. Some of the best info I found was from an archived thread in the forums on www.edmunds.com The information was posted by a man named Traderalex. He is in the leather hides industry. Do a search on their forums for his posts...VERY informative. It definately shed some light onto the whole leather fiasco on autopia :p

Edit: Fixed a few spelling errors.

David N.

I agree, treating leather can be very confusing. My advice is based on info that was given to myself, and many others on autopia, by Ron K (remember him?). He's been working in the auto care/paint care etc, bizz for over 40 years. He basically said that the top coat will deteriorate with the use of cleaners and conditioners. I take his word for it. All the advice he has ever given has been dead on. I totally trust him. Different people may have different opinions, that's fair. But so far his advice has worked for me, and I'll stick with it.

500AMG

Yeah I definately remember Ron K...I still don't know exactly why he got the boot. Probably too opinionated/harsh sometimes. He seemed to push his own company's products sometimes as well. The one unique thing about Leatherique is their claim that the product is nothing more than proteins and collegens (sp?). It's PH balanced and has nothing harsh. I can believe this because of the results I have gotten on non-coated leather. So if it is not harsh in any way, I wonder if this product specifically would abrade the top-coat. Also, the top-coat is not impermeable, so Leatherique would still work its way down to the leather, albeit not as effectively as non-coated leather.

My game plan for coated surfaces is to wipe down with a damp MF fairly regularly and Leatherique around once a year or so...possibly twice. Its too involving to use more than that anyway.

David N.

Ron got booted for promoting his products on the site. I don't think he really did anything wrong. His loss is huge. David and Brad don't contribute nearly enough to fill the void he left. Oh well...

Another question I wanted to ask you. With leatherique, the first step product (rejuvinator oil) works it's way into the leather, and softens the leather, then brings the crap up. Then you use the second product (Pristine Clean) to wipe down and remove the junk that was brought up. This is how I understand it. My question, how effective will the first product be at bringing the crap to the surface when there is a vinyl topcoat covering most of the leather, aside from the holes?

This is also another reason why I never bothered purchasing leatherique. I questioned it's effectiveness on my clearcoated leather.

500AMG

Sorry for not replying earlier. I was out of town for 3 days.

Your understanding of the application process is correct. From my experience with pigmented leather, leatherique has a harder time absorbing itself, but it definately absorbs. My van and Jeep both have pigmented leather from what I can gather, and after one treatment, both cars' leathers were a bit softer and much cleaner. I guaged cleaner by the color of the water in my bucket after using pristine clean. The 1 gallon of water turned a dark black.

About the clearcoated/pigmented seats being completely impermeable...that is not the case. It definately helps HINDER absorption, but it is not fully impermeable. An easy way to show this is to put some water on the leather...it won't bead like a car's paint will. It will soak into the leather. Non-clearcoated leather will absorb more/quicker.

Now another test of leatherique I can tell you about. My '95 LS400 was brand new when I got it. It spent 4 straight years in the sun and the last 3 1/2 years in a garage. The leather was horribly dry. I'm sure it was coated when it was new (but coated less than the domestics I have). Simple wiping down with damp towels didn't cut it over a longer period of time. The leather needed to be conditioned and was not. After 1 application of leatherique, the leather is much softer. It will still need 2-3 more apps, however.

To sum up, leatherique is still very effective on clearcoated, semi-clearcoated, and non-clearcoated leather. The level of effectiveness is directly related to the amount absorbed.

Clearcoated = absorbs the least, but still absorbs a good amount

Semi-clearcoated = absorbs a good deal

Non-clearcoated = absorption party

*Sorry for the non-technical definitions, but that is based off of my personal observations.

Also, to my understanding the top-covering is not like vinyl. That link I put up defines the different types of leather as well as the covering pretty well.