jfelbab

Absolutely, leather can dry out if not rehydrated regularly. It's just that what is lost is H2O, not oils. Modern leathers are fatliquored in the wet-end of the tanning process which permanently infuses the all the oils needed into the individual leather fibers. This is what gives the leather its flexibility and softness or drape. This oil does not transpire out of the leather like H2O does.

Here is an analogy that might apply. If you ever check your car battery you may notice it occasionally might need water. It never needs acid. The water evaporates and the acid does not. It is similar in leather, the moisture transpires but the oils do not.

As to why wax and silicone are bad for the protected leather in a vehicle, here are a couple reasons.

First, these products (referring to conditioners in general) leave behind a film that will attract and hold on to dust and dirt. Every time you slide in or out of the seats you will be grinding this dirt and dust into the thin urethane coating, abrading the topcoat and causing accelerated wear.

Secondly, these waxes and silicones will fill-in the pores of the leather topcoat, not just perforated leather but all protected leather, causing it to be unable transpire or breathe. Leather does breathe and absorb and give-off moisture as a normal process of it's health. If leather is too wet, mold can form. If it is too dry it will become hard and may even crack. If you seal off the top layer of leather so that it can't breathe you could be accelerating cracking and/or mold problems.

Imagine for a moment a cross section of the leather hyde. It consists of a lot of individual fibers all held tightly together by the tanning process. When you bend, or flex, the leather the fibers at the top stretch and at the bottom contract. The fibers need to contain the proper hydration (around 5-10% moisture) to be able to flex and contract without cracking or loosing their bond to adjacent fibers. If you seal off the top layer of this leather so that moisture cannot enter or exit the leather could begin to crack, or if overly wet, to mold.

But like I stated, if you like the product you are using, then by all means continue to use it. I'd recommend looking into the science behind protected leather if you are even bit curious why most of the professionals in the industry have a different opinion regarding the use of conditioners on protected leather. Look at why and where leather conditioners were needed and on what types of leather. Look at the science of modern protected leather and see what is or is not required for their longevity. Once you do this, I believe you will conclude, as do I, that for protected auto leather, conditioners are a poor choice.

Yes, I would agree there are those, like yourself, who experienced a softening from using a conditioner but I would also suggest to you that it was the H2O rehydration of the leather that softened it as tanned protected leather simply cannot accept oils through the topcoat. Often the hand, or feel, of the leather is modified by the film left by the conditioner to give the impression of softness as well. But as I mentioned earlier in this thread, leather is made soft in the tanning process. This is done at the fiber level and you cannot make leather softer than it was originally by applying oil to the urethane topcoat. You simply cannot reintroduce additional oils into coated leather.

LeX2K

Thanks for all the info, I'm not trying to be confrontational just for the sake of disagreeing, I'm genuinely interested in learning how these leather products work. And more importantly, use the right products.

jfelbab

I never thought any different. Its good to discuss opinions openly and we all learn things from this type of discussion.

Like I mentioned, if you ask a dozen different detailers you will likely get 12 different answers. Many of the answers can be just as right as the next. I support the use of products that work for you. It boils down to the simple fact that you are the only one who needs to be satisfied with the performance of a product or process.

As a very respected detailer uses in his signature, "Find something you like and use it often." -- Mike Phillips

Mike is, of course, absolutely right. If you are using a product that you like, you will use it often therefore you will see good results. We can discuss the science behind products all day and if you don't like the way a product looks or works, then you won't use it often and no matter how great that product might be it will not deliver the goods for you.

stanjohn12

Sticking to the topic of leather , what is the best way to get that fresh leather smell in my interior back ?

Actually all my problems started just because of this. My plan was to clean with the cleaners first and then use the conditioners hoping to get the original leather smell you get when you buy the car brand new.But you guys know what happened at step 1 itself Any ideas on why the leather looses its smell after a while and what is the best way to get it back ?

Lust4Lexus

Zaino z9 and z10 will give you that leather smell back FOR SURE!

jfelbab

My pick: http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...2C+4+ounces.do

I find this smells exactly like the leather smell in a new car.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

That smell is the chemicals from the leather out gassing. Technically its unhealthy for you but its in all cars. I personally just use Z10 if I want a smell. Otherwise I keep it neutral

stanjohn12

Thank you guys.

Jabberwock

If you have dye transfer from belt or other garments that has transferred onto light colored leather seats, no cleaner or conditioner is gonna remove that. Period.

Barring getting a new OEM seat covering, a less expensive fix is to take the car to a leather/upholstery shop and have them repair the dye transfer - this is done by sand, fill, seal and then re-dye or respray/coat the leather seats (including blending surrounding areas) back to factory color.

A potentially less expensive fix alternative - there are interior car touch up and repair guys that work the used car lots that can also repair leather seats by the re-dye/respray method. Go by the used car lot when one of these guys is working and have them do your car - typically $100 to fix.

CdeFabio

I have been using this for years, just put it on a folded paper towel under the drivers seat and it works great! People always comment on how good my car smells, like new!

stanjohn12

Thanks for your inputs jabberwock. Actually I have an appointment with my dealer this Saturday. So I'll try showing them my seats and see if i can somehow convince them to repair it for me under warranty or what exactly is wrong with it. Maybe they should know better or maybe even not. But I'll just listen to them and see what solutions they have. Anyways I know a lot more now about my leather thanks to the CL members on this thread especially jfelbab.

Will keep you all posted.

stanjohn12

They had a look at my seats and this was the exact conversation I had with their rep.

Rep : This could have been damaged by the previous owner by giving it to some interior cleaner outside.
Me : But I was acting dumb , told him even then the damage should not have been secluded just to a few places/areas.
Rep : Well this can not be replaced under warranty.
Me : Ok fine , I will pay if you fix just the damaged portions , give me a quote for repairing those damaged sides only.
Rep : We can't just repair the sides , we would have to replace the whole thing.
Me :
Rep : This is not really something you can notice easily and it's not even visible. What I would advise is use it for some more months and if your leather seats condition worsens we will replace the whole thing under warranty.
Me : , alright , ( that's a good deal ..didn't say this )

Anyways I have found out a leather specialist here in Kuwait with some research. I may just have a word with them on whether they can repair just the faded sides or not. These guys deal with Bentley's and lots of exotic cars , so they might be pricey. Don't know if they would repair these slight fades. Even if they don't , it doesn't matter. I will replace it later under warranty. Thank you guys for all your advise.

@ jfelbab : I found out the woolite detergent finally. Is it the same thing as Tide ?

jfelbab

Not exactly but both are used primarily for laundry. Woolite is made specifically for gentle cleaning of delicate materials. I'd not use Tide for cleaning leather but Woolite is not as harsh. FWIW, Lexus recommends the use of a detergent designed for cleaning wool, which is what Woolite is. There are a few different flavors of Woolite, BTW. I'd suggest looking for the original type. The Woolite HE version is low sudsing and for this appellation you want lots of foam.

Looks like you have a backup plan if things take a turn for the worse. :thumb up:

stanjohn12

Good that I didn't buy the big box of Woolite I saw the other day , didn't really check for the HE version since I didn't know about it then. But from what I read at the instructions , it seemed just like TIDE used for washing all types of cloths. Nothing was mentioned like just for wool but I will go around and search for this HE version again anyways.

Yup just keeping all my options open and ready as always. Thanks to everyone who advised me in this thread and especially you jfelbab. Learned a lot.

jfelbab

Just to clarify, You want the Woolite original not the Woolite HE for working on leather. The HE version is a low foaming detergent and for leather you want lots of foam. Here is a link to the Woolite site so you can ID the bottle. You probably only want the small bottle as you won't be using much of this and probably only once every couple months for the deep cleaning. Remember the dilution you want is 1:10 to 1:20 range. That's 1 part Woolite to multiple parts water.

http://www.fabriclink.com/presentati...abricwash.html