Leather

[Biscuits]

Chaps,

I've just got a car with a light grey leather interior (Silverstone). As it's the extended leather it's EVERYWHERE, so very easy to get bits dirty.

Anyone know a good cleaner and protector I could use. Don't want to use an all in one that makes it all shiney and horrible, the dash is lovely and matt, so want to keep it looking the same.

Cheers

P.

[Milo]

Gliptone Liquid Leather every time for me. Get the cleaner and conditioner. Only ever used it on black leather but it's superb and has a great smell.

[NeilB]

Another vote for Gliptone. I used it on tan leather and it came up a treat, along with giving off a great smell.

[SINGH]

Another vote for Gliptone

[ian_m]

Another vote for gliptone!! The smell is good too :D

[Biscuits]

Gliptone it is then...

Thanks chaps

[steelwind101]

Hi Biscuit

You need to find out what type of the leather you have and then you can know what product to use it. Smearing it with oils wont work on protected leathers and a dedicated protector is the best way to go. Oils on protected leathers will just attract dirt quickly.

Also, i would recommend going for a quality modern product. There are protector coatings out there that acutally fight against wear. If you look at the sides of seats (bolsters) on cars with leather they are often worn and the colour removed. There are products out there they leave a protective coating against rubbing on high traffic areas.

A protector should, like wax on a car make clean up easier.

I did pretty indepth post on the interior materials in Audis a few months ago on here. What car have you got, i can see exactly what type of leather it is.

Leather Masters and LLT Leather care both offer excellent products which i would recommend. LM being a bit more cost effective.

Geoff

[oneforsorrow]

Gliptone for me too. They do two cleaners - a spray which is very quick and easy to use or for more intensive cleaning there's a liquid gel-like cleaner. Both are excellent. There's two types of conditioner too - a regular one and one that's waterproof/weatherproof (ideal for keeping motorway grime off cabriolet seats). They also restore the smell of the leather so if you apply the stuff with your hands you can end up smelling of cow for a while...

[steelwind101]

Becareful waterpoofing car leather. If its the coated type then the moisture is essential to the coated barrier. Waterpoofing it will starve the coating of moisture and it will dry out and fail prematurely.

Protection with a dedicated leather protector is key. Applying it to the leather will allow micro droplets of water to pass through the protector the coated layer to keep it moist, while keeping oils, dyes and other material away.

Geoff

[Biscuits]

Hi Geoff,

I've got a BM, E60 M5. The leather is quite tough feeling (unlike the super soft I had in the M3), but being light grey it is grubby in sections. Just want to keep it looking and feeling it's best.

Cheers

Paul +++

[steelwind101]

Hi Biscuit

I would get this Auto Ultra 150 Kit | Car Leather Cleaner the products are excellent. Given the light colour of the interior and the fact that the your car has real leather with a pigment in it the protector will help keep with stains and keep dirt from the leather.

With your leather being so light you run the risk of acutally changing the colour of the leather. The Ultra foam should clean up the dirt you have already, it acutall foams and this is the best way to clean leather as the foam will get in the little folds and creases and lift out the dirt.

The cleaning should help soften the leather too, leather tends to change over time but the BMW premium leather would probably last the cars!

Use the "maintain" product every other week, it will keep the seats hydrated and keep dirt from bulding up. If you use the car alot or have high traffic areas, use it more often.

Beware of using microfibres cloths on the leather seats. Microfibres acutally "grab" and can pull at and work away on coatings on coated leathers and on exposed leathers they can do the same directly to the leather. A soft cotton cloth is best, in my kit (the same one as above) they supplied some that were perfect for this.

Lots of people have mentioned Gliptone, im not knocking there products but the process is a bit out of date, protecting your leather is the best way to keep it in best form.

Geoff