How to clean your nappa leather seats

[radrads203]

hi guys, just wonder what you guys will use to clean your nappa leather seats??

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[CynCarvin32]

Originally Posted by radrads203

hi guys, just wonder what you guys will use to clean your nappa leather seats??

Leatherique products are hands down the best.

pristine Clean and the conditioner. Everything will always look and feel new. No shine and great protection from UV damage.

[omgitselaine]

Originally Posted by radrads203

hi guys, just wonder what you guys will use to clean your nappa leather seats??

Z-10 Leather in a Bottle from Zaino !! It smells great also

[Glock Guru]

I have used Lexol for over 15 years with great results.

www.lexol.com

[kickR]

Originally Posted by Glock Guru

I have used Lexol for over 15 years with great results.

www.lexol.com

Amen to that. Lexol I believe is the only brand that is officialy recommended by Mercedes. If there is another one, please correct me.

[Glock Guru]

Originally Posted by kickR

Amen to that. Lexol I believe is the only brand that is officialy recommended by Mercedes. If there is another one, please correct me.

WOW, impressive.

[CynCarvin32]

Originally Posted by kickR

Amen to that. Lexol I believe is the only brand that is officialy recommended by Mercedes. If there is another one, please correct me.

Lexol writes a check to MB for that nice status. Its like conti tires on MB. They are junk but they use them because conti cuts them a nice deal for the right to be an OEM supplier.

Lexol leaves the car with super slippery, slimy and greasy leather. It goes away with time but its not worth the trouble.

Leatherique is the best for restoring older leather and keeping new leather the way it was when new.

If you have time to let the car sit for a week when you condition it Lexol works well. It just takes that long to soak in and evaporate.

[Glock Guru]

"Lexol leaves the car with super slippery, slimy and greasy leather. It goes away with time but its not worth the trouble."

I just follow up with a dry micro fiber cloth, never had a problem.


-Troy

[peet]

Lexol is pretty good - but Leatherique or Hide Food area simply amazing.

Where Lexol is like a high end store car wax, Leatherique is like Zaino or Xymol. There is no comparison.

That having been said - does anyone have full and factual info on the finish on our leather? Some manufacturers varnish the leather which hampers the use of the above mentioned products as they dont soak into the cells.

[CynCarvin32]

Originally Posted by Glock Guru

"Lexol leaves the car with super slippery, slimy and greasy leather. It goes away with time but its not worth the trouble."

I just follow up with a dry micro fiber cloth, never had a problem.


-Troy

Well conditioning leather takes time and you have to let it sit to get any benefit . Leatherique fully soaks in and finishes fairly nicely with a nice non shiny finish. Once done follow up with prestine clean and the leather will look absolutely new. Leatherique actually increases the tinsel strength of the leather as it conditions so it will keep its original strength and shape as time goes on.

I have used them all and leatherique is by far the best and thats an honest opinion. I have conely hide food, griots garage leather care, lexol, zaino, and leatherique products in my garage and the others are not even in the same ball park.

I gave my leatherique bottles to a friend who did his E55 and his 2001 ML430 and he said it was by far the best thing since sliced bread for the interior. His ML went from hard and shiny leather to soft and looking like new with just a few applications.

Other products do work well but the best deserves the credit of being the best thats all.

[CynCarvin32]

Originally Posted by peet

Lexol is pretty good - but Leatherique or Hide Food area simply amazing.

Where Lexol is like a high end store car wax, Leatherique is like Zaino or Xymol. There is no comparison.

That having been said - does anyone have full and factual info on the finish on our leather? Some manufacturers varnish the leather which hampers the use of the above mentioned products as they dont soak into the cells.

C63 leather is like the leather that I had on the side bolsters in my E55 2004. It is a very nice leather but it is prone to wearing and it stretches out fairly easily as well.

Using leatherique will keep the leather tight and strong and it will also keep that amazing like new look. Black leather tends to get a shine to it as your bodies oils transfer to the seat (and steering wheel for that matter) but leatherique's two step process prevents that unlike anything I have ever seen to date.

After using a conditioner you will feel that the leather is much softer so you know that the product is being absorbed into the leathers cells.

All my babbling aside, no leather care is needed for the six months to a year of the cars life unless it sits outside in the sun often. After that just do a cycle with leatherique every 3-6 months and it will be a cherry car for life!

[Mustyzzle]

What about using thoses product with ventilated seat ? Does it block all the little hole ?

[CrazyDonkey]

How long should you let Leatherique sit without using the car?

[CynCarvin32]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

How long should you let Leatherique sit without using the car?

Thats a good question! It all depends on your time frame. The ideal system is to apply a layer of the conditioner and then let the car sit in the sun for a day to soak in. I know most people cant allow for such a long curing time but that what makes it soak in the best and condition the leather. After it sits for a day you come back and use the pristine clean to remove the surface dirt and residual product.

If you can allow it to sit longer, you can apply 4 applications on 4 consecutive days and then clean it as stated above. After these applications, all oil and dirt in the leather is pushed out as the conditioner has soaked into the leather. At this point, you can take the pristine clean and clean off the leather and all teh dirt that came out during the soaking in process.

If you need to drive the car you can simply take a plastic trash bag and put i over the seat. I know most people dont have the ability to let a car sit for a long period of time (I know I dont on most cars) so the trash bag idea is great.

If you can do these steps the outcome will amaze you.

[CynCarvin32]

Originally Posted by Mustyzzle

What about using thoses product with ventilated seat ? Does it block all the little hole ?

as long as the product soaks in with time it should be fine. I have had perferated leather on almost all my cars as of late (with ventilated seats) and I have never had a problem. Sometimes a product like conely Hide Food will get caked into a perforation but it does go away. Leatherique has no problem with perforations at all. If the product contains silicones or solids it will cake up the perforated leather and leave it with a white residue.

Any quality leather care product should be just fine on your seats.

[gravedgr]

Originally Posted by CynCarvin32

The ideal system is to apply a layer of the conditioner and then let the car sit in the sun for a day to soak in.

I don't let any of my cars sit in the sun - how long is the curing period if it sits in the shade (i.e. garage).

[peet]

Oh, it's ok - they have SPF 7000 applied at the factory. Let it sit in the sun a bit.

[kickR]

Originally Posted by CynCarvin32

Lexol writes a check to MB for that nice status. Its like conti tires on MB. They are junk but they use them because conti cuts them a nice deal for the right to be an OEM supplier.

Lexol leaves the car with super slippery, slimy and greasy leather. It goes away with time but its not worth the trouble.

Leatherique is the best for restoring older leather and keeping new leather the way it was when new.

If you have time to let the car sit for a week when you condition it Lexol works well. It just takes that long to soak in and evaporate.

I am sorry, but I strongly have to disagree with your statement that it feels "super slippery, slimy and greasy..."

I use a leather cleaner (in an orange bottle) and later on a leather conditioner (a brown bottle) and I have yet to be disappointed. In fact, I just cleaned the interior a few weeks ago and happened to be at the dealership because of a return. Out of boredom I sat down in a CLK and was surprised of how good the Lexol actually worked for me.

Now, I'll admit that I haven't tried your recommended products, but I have the comparison of new interior vs lexol treated and the feel and visual is pretty damn good.

BTW - I'm close to 40k miles.

[CrazyDonkey]

Thanks for all this info Cyn, i've been on the fence about which product to use, but now i know. will pick some up soon.

[tglickamg]

Here is my experience - my c63 has 4k miles on it now (silver / black) and at around 3k miles i used the lexol cleaner and conditioner. The cleaner is fantastic. When you clean it, visible dirt and oil residue come right off and your seats look brand new and perfect. The conditioner is another story. After the cleaner, i used the conditioner, let it sit overnight with the windows cracked and in the morning there was a definite residue on the seats. I tried wiping off / massaging in with a microfiber towel, but no luck. So, I used a verrrry minimal amount of the cleaner again and took the residue right off. Because the seats are brand new they don't need conditioned again as of yet - however, I plan on doing it again in another 1k miles. If you really want your leather to stay perfect - clean with lexol every 1k miles and in between wipe your seats down every week with a damp cloths. This will keep dirt and oil from building up and keeps the leather looking perfect. Now I just need to find a new conditioner. With that being said - I would be willing to try the ' leathertique ' products as I have heard great things about them before. Can someone explain what the precise and recommended application process is for the leathertique cleaner / conditioner? Also - is there a resource to purchase the products?

[CrazyDonkey]

How to: Conditioning leather seats with Leatherique

for some reason i thought this thread was already in the Car Care section.

thats a FAQ for using Leatherique.

[gravedgr]

Is this mandatory for MB, or is this more of an anal retentive thing? My 911 is 2 yrs old (16k miles) and I've never treated the leather. It still looks and feels new.

[CrazyDonkey]

It's just people who want to keep their leather loooking new for a long time.