Breathe life into leather interior?

[C200Coupe]

Hi all,

I have a 2001 c200 coupe. Leather interior. Which is in relatively good condition but just lacks that "pop". Have tried a variety of products i.e the car plan leather restorer and autoglym. Which have the leather nice and soft and clean, but the colour is still not quite vibrant?

Anyone used any stand out products?

 

[whitenemesis]

Gliptone! Nothing better for leather.

Car Leather Care | Car leather Cleaner

But be aware many modern automotive leathers are PU coated, i.e. impervious so no point in using conditioners. Concentrate on efficient, complete removal of surface contamination.

Do the water drop test. After thoroughly cleaning the surfaces, removing all previously applied products, place a drop of clean water on a flat part of the seat squab. If the drop just sits on the surface you have coated leather. If it is slowly absorbed into the surface it's a naked leather and will benefit from conditioning.

There are many products available for restoring colour to the leather. Check out the link above. Some are dyes, some spray paints. Choose depending on the type of leather.

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

+1 for Gliptone products. Leaves a lovely new-leather smell

 

[Deleted member 37751]

+2 for Gliptone, cracking value.

 

[ea666]

Have a look at this site, gives you info about leather in cars...

http://www.drleather.com/Leather-Cleaners/Our-Leather-Cleaner-Range.aspx

http://youtu.be/8n82wsgfZQo

 

[C200Coupe]

Thanks all, will give the gliptone a try

 

[ShaunB]

I was recommended race glaze leather balm by polishedbliss.

 

[Major774]

Gliptone, brought my leather back to life.

 

[J LAD]

Dont expect miracles when cleaning your leather seats , especially if well worn, on a percentage rate, cleaning leather will only give you a 30% success towards the finish that you want - if that makes sense - if they still lack that "pop" as you say then I am afraid they will need re -colouring.
No modern car has pure naked leather, they are all coated in some form, ie PU coated etc, so dont waste your money on leather cream conditioners, they do more harm than good, the leather cannot absorb it, so it sits in the cracks along with the dirt and sweat from your body, add agitation from your bum and it will wear out in no time!
The manufacture of fake leather is now so good that you can only tell real from fake by using a microscope.
Have a look at yours under a microscope, can you see the hair follicles from the animal? - i doubt it!
Simply vacuum and wipe down with water every week, if needed, say once a month, use a good leather cleaner, afterwards use a good leather " protector ".
I use LTT Ultra Leather Protect - bang on product.

 

[paul73mt]

+1 for Gliptone products. Leaves a lovely new-leather smell

I also use it works really well i do mine every 6 months or so

 

[WDB124066]

@J LAD, does Leatherique penetrate the PU coating do you know...?

 

[Windy124]

I've just done my seats with saddle soap and what a difference, I mean night and day! I knew they were dirty, but the muck that was in the rinse water was unbelieveable. If your going to use it, follow the instructions to the letter and don't use too much water, wring your cloth out well and use sparingly.

It's easy to use, cheap and kind to the hide. Suppose it will only work if your seats are not coated, so try the drop test and see

 

[J LAD]

I cannot comment on Leatherique never used it, but!, the guy who taught me said what a load of crap, I think you have to apply the product to the seat, wrap it in cling film or towels, then switch the car heating on full blast for 4 hrs, until the dirt is sweated out, mmmm!
I am by no means a leather expert, but go back 20 years or so, a leather suit would cost you thousands of £, not now, Northern Upholstery bangs em out for under £500, in fact cloth suits are more expensive, why?, cos it aint real Aniline dyed leather, its fake!
Aniline is the very best leather, it feels like skin, its colour comes from a dye, it has all the marks from the animals life and has very little protection added to it, if soaked through this leather will stain!!
ALL car manufacturers use some form of coated or pigmented leather, I hate BMW leather car seats, because it looks and feels wrong, the pigment and graining is too perfect.
And this leather is not even the top layer, they use whats called the " second split", the hide is split in 2, the top layer may go to Rolls or Bentley etc, the second split goes to the rest. Here its rolled and stretched to look like the top split, then spray coated to the desired colour.
I prep a lot of Bentleys for my customers at the dealers, and somewhere out of site, say at the rear of the seat you will find " barbed wire " marks where the animal has rubbed against it, Bentley still use the hide as its expensive, they simply put it out of eye level.
Rolls wont do this, any marks and the skin is not used.
So when you spray your cars seat with water, 90% of it will evaporate or disappear through the perforations, it is not being absorbed into it, believe me.
Forget your creams and conditioners for Auto Car Seats, simply Clean and Protect, and dont wear bloody denim jeans, you will never get the dye transfer out!

 

[Dieselman]

Reattach it back to the cow it came from. Though it might be a bit late for that...

 

[Wheelsnuts]

I've just done my seats with saddle soap and what a difference, I mean night and day! I knew they were dirty, but the muck that was in the rinse water was unbelieveable. If your going to use it, follow the instructions to the letter and don't use too much water, wring your cloth out well and use sparingly.

It's easy to use, cheap and kind to the hide. Suppose it will only work if your seats are not coated, so try the drop test and see

I agree, saddle soap takes a lot of beating if it's used properly. Not exactly car-related but we bought some Mouseman chairs at auction. The leather seat pads were top quality but had been badly abused and were filthy and stained. Elbow grease and saddle soap brought them up like new.

 

[WDB124066]

I use it on my welding gloves, works a treat!

Lifts a lot of sh1te out of the car's leather too.

 

[gIzzE]

Engine Cleaner mixed 10:1 with water and a decent scrubbing brush.

That will get it looking factory fresh and matte again.
When it goes hard and shiny it is just dead skin and grease forming a nice shiny layer on top, you want to get that off rather than adding more to it.

Gliptone will make it look good for a short time, but it is just adding more gunk to the leather.
We call it leather, it is just spray paint really, what is underneath that is irrelevant, so you can give it a bit of stick.


This was my E Class with 100k on it, cleaned with nothing but All Purpose Cleaner and Engine Cleaner...

Nice and matte and factory looking.



Sometimes the paint can crack, and then you need to refinish them.
Furniture clinic do a kit, £55 will do both front seats with plently left to spare.

This was our Z3, 16 years old and it was hard, cracked and shiny.
4 hours later....

 

[Windy124]

Engine cleaner? Braver man than me!

I'll stick with me £10 saddle soap thanks

 

[gIzzE]

Saddle soap is great on leather.....if it hasn't been spray painted.

 

[gIzzE]

I did leather testing for 3 years at Uni as part of my footwear design course.

So got to know about different leathers quite well.