hi guys i want to give my leather a good clean and shine and also replenish the bits where it has worn a little bit etc which is good stuff to use at a good price? the wear is ony from the sides when you get in and out..also what is good interior dash shine and cleaner? i have a few scratches in the floor well and wondered if anything was recomended..links and prices would be great
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leather replen and cleaner and dash protector
- Thread starter clidge
- Start date
106 GTi
Don't really like glossy dash boards so use Poorboys World Natural Look Dressing
Leather Einszett Leather Car
Leather Einszett Leather Car
www.renparts.co.uk
just stops further cracking iirc and feeds and moisturises the leather... Liquid leather is what you need to improve the cracking... some sort of dye i think..
A well built VW
poorboys is good its what i use
106 GTi
Only way to hide any major cracks will be a dye.
Worth a look
http://www.pro-detailing.co.uk/product.php?prod=144
Minor ones will be covered by the leather care. If the leather is very dry, Gliptone Liquid Leather used to work well on my old 205.
Worth a look
http://www.pro-detailing.co.uk/product.php?prod=144
Minor ones will be covered by the leather care. If the leather is very dry, Gliptone Liquid Leather used to work well on my old 205.
Oh god nooooo, Dont force me to answer a question, LOL
Well, seeing as I'm a fully qualified Leather technician making leathers for just about ever car manufactuerer there is I'll shed some light on it. Most leather cleaners are a load of old tosh, conditioners etc, may add some moisture to the leather, and make it feel softer etc, but they do very little to protect or repair leather seats. Once they are going they are going, and thats it. Only way to repair is to put on what is on there in the first place, usually a mix of acrylic and polyurethane resins plus various waxes and fillers. This could be sprayed over the area in question, to hide any cracks etc, But after years of wear and fade it would have to specifically matched, and then you cant just do it with any old pigments, they need to be matched specifically to have no metamerism, This is a colours ability to change in various light sources etc.
various car refinishers use some dyes to hide the effects of scratches etc, But refinishing itself is complex as you need to use a solvent based resin, to cut through the original waterbased system applied to the leather, otherwise the finish will just fall off.
My suggestion is try and locate some new covers, even refinishing original ones, would mean that your applying finish to finish, and you'll end up with a plasticy finish with an awful break (piping and creasing in leather)
My suggestion for cleaning is nothing more than some luke warm, soapy water, and a gentle rub, dont waste money on expensive cleaners and moisturisers etc etc. Once a leather crust has lost its natural and articical fats, it will dry out, unless you retan the leather, moisturisors will not put this back in.
Repair dyes will just redye the crust leather, underneath the finished leather on top. Hides are allready pre dyed to match roughly the top colour, this means scratches are less apparent, if and when they occur. All you will do with a repair dye is darken this, shoe polish on black hides will do the same job if carefully applied into the scratch with a cotton bud etc, But repair dyes and anything else will never match the top pigment, so you'll still be able to see where its marked.
Anymore questions drop thee a pm.
Well, seeing as I'm a fully qualified Leather technician making leathers for just about ever car manufactuerer there is I'll shed some light on it. Most leather cleaners are a load of old tosh, conditioners etc, may add some moisture to the leather, and make it feel softer etc, but they do very little to protect or repair leather seats. Once they are going they are going, and thats it. Only way to repair is to put on what is on there in the first place, usually a mix of acrylic and polyurethane resins plus various waxes and fillers. This could be sprayed over the area in question, to hide any cracks etc, But after years of wear and fade it would have to specifically matched, and then you cant just do it with any old pigments, they need to be matched specifically to have no metamerism, This is a colours ability to change in various light sources etc.
various car refinishers use some dyes to hide the effects of scratches etc, But refinishing itself is complex as you need to use a solvent based resin, to cut through the original waterbased system applied to the leather, otherwise the finish will just fall off.
My suggestion is try and locate some new covers, even refinishing original ones, would mean that your applying finish to finish, and you'll end up with a plasticy finish with an awful break (piping and creasing in leather)
My suggestion for cleaning is nothing more than some luke warm, soapy water, and a gentle rub, dont waste money on expensive cleaners and moisturisers etc etc. Once a leather crust has lost its natural and articical fats, it will dry out, unless you retan the leather, moisturisors will not put this back in.
Repair dyes will just redye the crust leather, underneath the finished leather on top. Hides are allready pre dyed to match roughly the top colour, this means scratches are less apparent, if and when they occur. All you will do with a repair dye is darken this, shoe polish on black hides will do the same job if carefully applied into the scratch with a cotton bud etc, But repair dyes and anything else will never match the top pigment, so you'll still be able to see where its marked.
Anymore questions drop thee a pm.
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yeah, cheap fix i guess they would be ok, do they come with a top lacquer to fix? Or are they allready in a resin. problem with a liquid dye is fixing it, if its just dye in solution, theres nothing stopping it from either dissapearing into the leather or coming off on your armarnis. Ideally it needs to be fixed in place, this is done in leather production by using acids and alkalis to open the leather, then close again, locking the dye in place. Plus theres the gloss issue, whatever you use isn't going to have the same level of gloss, so its gonna appear shinier or matter, and still be visible. Plus plenty of leathers are printed with an artifical grain, the natural grain is removed in production to get rid of defects such as scrathes and brand marks etc, this is then filled with a polyfilla type substance, and sanded off, much like you'd fill a car dent. To make the leather look like Full grain leather, they then print it with a big roller, lots of temperature and pressure, and thats what you see on your seats, If you repair a mark, the print is likely to have been removed or will be shallower, meaning you'll be left with a visable difference. Some cars use full grain leathers, much more expensive to buy as raw material, and they need less finishing, so they appear more natural, but this is limited to high end cars such as the S class etc, renault, VW, most bmws and the like, get the cheaper corrected grain leather. Also be careful its actually leather, most people would be surprised these days how much of there 1000 quid leather option is actually leather, cos the artifical stuff is barely distinguishable to the untrained eye.
If you've tried em and they work, then fine, but on leather thats 15 yrs old and cracking its a bit like sticking a plaster on, when your arm falls off.
I feel compelled to reply Rich, seeing as i've been in the industry for 14 years, and trained at the british school of leather technology in northampton, doesn't mean you polishers aint a bunch of time wasting geekazoids though, that should be hanging out of females and not polishing your cars for 72 hours
If you've tried em and they work, then fine, but on leather thats 15 yrs old and cracking its a bit like sticking a plaster on, when your arm falls off.
I feel compelled to reply Rich, seeing as i've been in the industry for 14 years, and trained at the british school of leather technology in northampton, doesn't mean you polishers aint a bunch of time wasting geekazoids though, that should be hanging out of females and not polishing your cars for 72 hours
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106 GTi
I have never used them hence why I ask - nothing more than a dye so I understand. Some of the Pug GTi boys used to use the boot polish and claimed that would not come off on there clothes but I am not convinced.
TBH like your suggestion in the previous post I would have just got it retrimmed.
My 205 GTi the back seats had cracked to hell, so I sourced some more. Gliptone masked the cracks well for a few days till it dried out and they showed again.
Are all leather finishes coated now for automotive use, even high end stuff ? Most of the 172/182 seats are just vinyl anyway.
Your reply is appreciated though - 72 hours is that all
TBH like your suggestion in the previous post I would have just got it retrimmed.
My 205 GTi the back seats had cracked to hell, so I sourced some more. Gliptone masked the cracks well for a few days till it dried out and they showed again.
Are all leather finishes coated now for automotive use, even high end stuff ? Most of the 172/182 seats are just vinyl anyway.
Your reply is appreciated though - 72 hours is that all
Depends on the car, in an expensive car, you'll get front, sides and most of the back in leather, in a cheaper car such as renault, You'll get the bit your bum and back sits on in leather and everything else will be a coated fabric PVC etc. Like i say, if your not an expert your hard pushed to tell the differences these days, many artifical leathers are applied onto the surface of a "split" When they produce leather, they cut the hide in two straight down the middle, the top bit containing the grain side, is used for automotive, clothing etc etc, the bottom part, which resembles suede, cos its fluffy on both sides, is used for shoe linings or finisghed cheaply and used for cheap shoes and the like, But they can also apply a film to this, and thats what can make up parts of your seats, But on most occasions its a complete pvc film laid onto a backing substrate of some kind.
The definition of a laminated (artifical) leather is anything with a film thickness over 1,4 mm's, this means that badly finished and very cheap "leather" can be classed as artifical if the film applied is too thick. because of quality regs seats for the US market are very very close to this limit, as you might of noticed when you sit in a US car, the leather feels awful, Its basically becos they have a demand for the extra quality so they can spill ketchup and sit on it for decades with there fat arses, Euro leather tends to be more natural, but wont last as long.
The definition of a laminated (artifical) leather is anything with a film thickness over 1,4 mm's, this means that badly finished and very cheap "leather" can be classed as artifical if the film applied is too thick. because of quality regs seats for the US market are very very close to this limit, as you might of noticed when you sit in a US car, the leather feels awful, Its basically becos they have a demand for the extra quality so they can spill ketchup and sit on it for decades with there fat arses, Euro leather tends to be more natural, but wont last as long.
Aiiiii, customers are demanding better quality these days, so its gradually getting worse and worse. The old school stuff had to smell the part and look and feel nice, not taht much these days. But dont think you get better quality in higher end cars, I've done stuff for Ferrari and Rolls, and that stuff aint as good as the stuff you'll get on a C class for example. Sure that Tan interior looks nice in your 360, but it wont in two years when its all worn off, LOL
bloody hell that is the biggest post i have ever seen he he thanks for your comments weeman what would you recommend on a budget to try and limit the overall site and effect on leather fade? what would be ok just to nurish it slightly and from the eye make the leather look more subtle? what you think? cheers mate..is the autoglym stuff leather any good for what i require?
I worked at Jag for a short stint in my youth and like weeman said we used warm water and a tiny little bit of degreasing cleaner on all interior parts including the seats. You'd be surprised how much filth comes off what looks like a clean interior as you rinse the sponges, brushes and cloths you've used.
We used 'wheelers traditional leather balm' if the interior was looking tired, which is more of a horse saddlery type product, I continue to use this on my leather sofa and my jackets, it may or may not help exstend the life of the leather although it does help waterproof it slightly.
However as weeman said the best thing you can do is replace what is knackerd.
We used 'wheelers traditional leather balm' if the interior was looking tired, which is more of a horse saddlery type product, I continue to use this on my leather sofa and my jackets, it may or may not help exstend the life of the leather although it does help waterproof it slightly.
However as weeman said the best thing you can do is replace what is knackerd.
If you want a quick fix to make it look better something like that will be ok, try the furniture shop too, Autogym might whack a premium on there stuff, but Furniture leather is nigh on the same as automotive, so see what the local shop has, it might be a good bit cheaper. Like rich said saddelry stuff is good, But saddle are usually Veg tanned leathers (thick, yellow orange and hard) and have little or no finishing on top, so they do benefit from being treated, with automotive your not gonna get anywhere near the leather itself, just the layer of Polyurethane resin and pigment on the top of it.
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