OK folks I've got some cream leather seats to drop in to my old girl they need bloody good clean I was thinking of using G101 a alkaline cleaner and a good leather cleaner after that to soften them up a bit
whats your thoughts or products to use
I'm afraid I've got no advice to give, but I'm interested in any answers as I'm in the same position - though with black/dark grey seats instead of cream.
The leather is in good nick but could benefit from some TLC.
Every so often I use simonize leather cleaner on damp cloth then buff up with another dry cloth Then mainly baby wipes --- I found the autoglym stuff gave me a rash ---- but that's just me 🙄
For basic cleaning I've always used gliptone in the past. The cleaner helps get the grot off and the finishing stuff helps soften the leather and prevent cracks.
It won't help with re-surfacing leather that has lost the coloured top layer but it's good for seats that are in decent nick but dirty.
the seats came out of a off roader so bit grubby as you all can guess
thank you all once again for your help and advice will give them a go when the rain eases up
i have 2 ways to refresh leather , linseed oil , i literally drown the seats in it so there is puddles of it and leave for several days to soak in (i do this with the leather seats that are in my buggy this is an open vehicle and it literally cops everything) then wipe off excess if it hasn't soaked in and buff up with dry rag
Vaseline, used this on my bike jacket for last 35 yrs , once again just rub on and leave to soak in ,sit it in the sun so it warms up , excellent way to water proof leather
this is the state of one of the seats that need cleaning
I 'read somewhere' ( i.e. the internet, so caution required ) that leather seats these days are covered with what's effectively a plastic laquer. Therefore you're not cleaning leather as such, but a flexible plastic coating. This guy therefore recommended a generic fabric/surface cleaner.
Of course maybe his intention was to create mayhem and drive stunned DIY cleaners to his business....
I won't be trying this at home in the near future - just wondering what the collective view might be. I'm thinking saddle soap, then a colourer treatment to restore any faded patches, followed by a conditioner/sealer.
Depends what seats you have. Some are proper leather, others are PU leather which isn't leather at all but a plastic coated cloth that looks like leather.
If you have got money to burn, I would take it to a specialist leather restorer, that just does vehicles that is.
I found a place locally and took a Volvo in with deep scratches on the drivers seat for repair and it came up like new. The previous owner must have had a bunch of keys dangling from his belt. Cost me £150 though. Not sure what a full car would cost.
The guy restoring the leather had an MGA and a Merc drophead in the garage and had done a fantastic job on them.
They have all sorts of dyes and fillers to use and coatings to redo the surface finish.
Hi, talk to Bespoke Leathering, they will have the dye and conditioner you need to make it look new again.
Regards,
Alan
olddirtbikes wrote:
Hi, talk to Bespoke Leathering, they will have the dye and conditioner you need to make it look new again.
Regards,
Alan
thanks for that I will look them up