1997 R129 Leather seats - are they vinyl coated?

[IMD]

Hi folks,

My SL500 has orion grey leather interior. I've just bought some Gliptone Liquid Leather cleaner and Conditioner.

I have a few creases and slight cracks and I can see that the conditioner will penetrate these, but am I right in thinking that the leather is Vinyl coated anyway. If so, the conditioner wont really do anything will it? Maybe just sit on top?

Has good product marketing combined with lack of knowledge influenced me again!

Thanks

Ian

 

[Blue Moon]

Hi folks,

My SL500 has orion grey leather interior. I've just bought some Gliptone Liquid Leather cleaner and Conditioner.

I have a few creases and slight cracks and I can see that the conditioner will penetrate these, but am I right in thinking that the leather is Vinyl coated anyway. If so, the conditioner wont really do anything will it? Maybe just sit on top?

Has good product marketing combined with lack of knowledge influenced me again!

Thanks

Ian

Yes

Leather on car seats, and the majority of domestic sofa's etc, are what is know as Protected Leather. This gives it sufficient hard wearing qualities, and is essentially a PU coating on the leather. When refinishing leather 'properly' you really need to break through this or essentially you are just re-colouring the surface that is worn/breaking down anyway. Not something you want to do yourself

Conditioner won't get to the leather itself, save for through cracks and splits, so what you really need is a Leather Protector that is designed to sit on the surface to provide a barrier between you and the surface. HTH