Good leather cleaner?

[ALFAitalia]

My car has the grey leather which looks great.....but having cleaned it with Auto Glym leather cleaner it looks better having removed the light grim.....but it could be better. As as experiment I used a tip I was given for my cream sofa at home....which was a good dollop of washing up liquid and a small amount or warm water in bowl and firm but gentle action with a nail brush. This did the trick....getting all the grime out from deep in the grain......but Id be about 80 after I cleaned all the skin that way!!!. Anyone got a good cleaner that they recommend that gets right into the grain with a bit less effort.....before I put a week aside to do it with the brush and bowl!!!

 

[Pontoneer]

I really need to do the same with the drivers seat in my car ; all the other seats look brand new , but my mushroom leather drivers seat looks somewhat the worse for wear , as well as a shade dirtier than the others ; I also need to replace the front centre armrest ( or at least the cover ) as the leather is cracked at the front end .

A nice pair of electric memory front seats would be a good upgrade to my manual ones , perhaps I'll look for a pair in any colour since I can swap my covers over onto them .

 

[MrGreedy]

I use Aldi blue All Purpose (floor?) Cleaner diluted about 20:1, and then with a soft bristled brush (I use a cream bristled shoe polishing brush dedicated for the task) and drying/cleaning/taking the excess off as I go with microfiber cloths (I buy packs of 10 in different colours, and use each colour for a specific car cleaning job and write this on the box so I don't get confused). Then after, I go over the cleaned leather a final time with Doctor Leather and more microfiber cloths (same colour is used for all leather cleaning tasks).

I find the APC is really good at lifting dirt and grime, but I go over with the Dr. Leather again after as I want to make sure I've cleaned all the APC off.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Thanks.....Ill give that a go!

 

[MrGreedy]

I'd just substitute my final Dr. Leather clean/wipe down for your Autoglym.

But the powerful cleaning bit is APC, and even well diluted, I find APC is great at lifting ground in muck.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Whatever you use to clean your hair or leather, think of it as being in two phases.

Stage 1: clean the muck out;
Stage 2: condition and give finish / shine.

By all means clean, but for the best finish and longer term protection, you need some kind of conditioning product.

 

[gianton]

I’m using this product from Amazon on all my leather stuff with awesome results.

https://amzn.eu/d/aLN5nEN

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Q²M LEATHERCLEANER STRONG - GYEON

Superb maintenance products for outstanding detailing performance.

gyeon.co

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

You might find these guys interesting.

I know them from “back in the day” when they were a fresh offshoot from Connolly, who used to be just down the road from me.

If nothing else, the portfolios and videos show just how “easy” it is to get back to “brand new spec” leather when you’re got a tired or shiny leather interior. There is no need to replace leather, unless it’s so badly torn it’s unrepairable.

Online Store | Leathercare Ltd

Online store of our professional leather cleaners, conditioners, barrier creams & oil. We ship world wide

www.leathercaredirect.com

 

[TC350]

I’d steer well clear of washing up liquid and floor cleaners. They may well remove the dirt but they also remove the natural oils from leather. They probably remove the dies too. A little bit of dirt doesn’t look anywhere near as bad as cracked and discoloured leather.

I have a different problem with cleaning my car front seats. They’re comfort ventilated so any cleaner/conditioner goes into the holes and won’t polish out. That’s why I’ve only used a damp cloth to wipe over the light grey seats for the last 12 years, followed by a gentle spray on leather cream polished with a soft cloth.

 

[MrGreedy]

I’d steer well clear of washing up liquid and floor cleaners. They may well remove the dirt but they also remove the natural oils from leather. They probably remove the dies too. A little bit of dirt doesn’t look anywhere near as bad as cracked and discoloured leather.

I have a different problem with cleaning my car front seats. They’re comfort ventilated so any cleaner/conditioner goes into the holes and won’t polish out. That’s why I’ve only used a damp cloth to wipe over the light grey seats for the last 12 years, followed by a gentle spray on leather cream polished with a soft cloth.

This is good advice from TC350 for ventilated seats, and especially for all naturally, unsealed super luxury or old leather, where strong cleaners will strip oils and conditioners from the leather.

Fortunately in this case, us forum dweebs know this (probably) does apply to the Op because he is (probably) getting his new steed up to scratch.

Thread 'ALFAitalia's new Captain Kirk!'

Sep 26, 2024

Just a few pics I snapped on my way out of the house today....more to follow after a proper clean. I said I would not buy another derv.... but they are so much cheaper than the petrol I could not resist. It does not sound or drive much like an oil burner either! It's an E350 CDI Sport 2010 model with 96000 on the clock. She's pretty tidy with just a small ding on the rear bumper to sort...I wanted a fairly basic spec with no suspension airbags or radar to worry about. Love the colour.... depending on the light it can look grey, silver or blue! And most importantly, no coalmine black...

• ALFAitalia
• Replies: 86
• Forum: General Discussion

• 

In the case of a w212, even with the Nappa leather (which) I have, the leather is fully sealed, and cleaning with very diluted APC and then using a leather cleaner to finish won't get anywhere near the natural leather itself. The urethane (or similar) painted coating gives very long lasting, good protection to the seats.

 

[ChrisPDuck]

I'm on the same side of the fence as ALFAitalia - anything but black! - and my car has the same grey leather interior.

I have no doubt that it came from actual cows, but I'm pretty sure they weren't light grey cows, and I suspect that the top surface isn't 'natural'. I suspect that the top surface of the hides was removed (to get rid of blemishes), and a new top surface was painted on. So the sceptic in me wonders whether the Autoglym leather care balm that I've been applying is actually absorbed, or whether it just sits on top of the painted surface until it dries.

That won't stop me carrying on with the Autoglym treatment though - leather cleaner followed by leather balm - because I like the matt finish and the clean smell.

Like ALFAitalia though, I was also surprised and rather disappointed that the cleaner didn't seem to touch the dirt in the grain of the leather. Prompted by this thread I tried a little very dilute detergent (Woolite, for delicate items) and a soft washing up brush. This lifted the dirt quite nicely - wiping off with a white paper towel showed how dirty the solution had become. I quickly followed this up with the Autoglym leather cleaner, left it to dry, then applied the balm, and that seat base is now transformed. Now I have to do the rest of that seat, and three more!

I suspect the cleaning effect was from the brushing action though, rather than the soap, so I'm going to try brushing with the Autoglym leather cleaner next.

EDIT: MrGreedy posted while I was typing - looks like we're in agreement regarding the surface.