leather conditioner

[ken-renda]

there are a number of leather conditioners on the market with each claiming to be best, This is my first leather upholstered car, does anyone have any recommendations on what to use. Ken, Deltaville Va

[Corvanti]

when i had the c*rvettes, i picked up some Zaino leather cleaner and leather in a bottle... works excellent - and brings the leather "smell" back for months. still have both, since "a little dab will do ya"!

[rockne10]

Any recommendations against good old fashioned saddle soap? Not that I'll ever afford a vehicle with leather.

[comatus]

Yeah, there are several different functions involved in leather work, and no one thing will do all of them no matter what the label says.
For leather with dirt ground in, I like to use Murphy's oil soap with just enough water to foam it; then there's a lot of moist sponging involved. Let it dry. I have used several spray cleaners -- marked as cleaners, not conditioners -- and they were all right. But you can't just spray; you have to get the dirt off.
Then you use liquid-compound mink oil or neat's-foot oil--not the boot-sealer goo. Mink oil weakens stitching and can darken the leather, so try it in the hidden spot first, work in a bunch to liven up the hide, and thereafter use neat's-foot. The mink makes the leather young and supple again, and heals cracks. Blue Ribbon Products in Indpls. has a nice selection. Let it dry.
Final finish should definitely be saddle soap (glycerine), worked up with just a little water. Once it's dry, it won't stain your clothes; it seals water out of the leather, you can sponge-clean a spot off the surface, and you can re-coat without having to do all the steps over again.

That sounds like a lot of work compared to just spraying something, but it's rewarding to watch the improvement, it smells good, and your hands will be in really good shape when you're done.

[Gunslinger]

You can use saddle soap to clean leather though I've heard some say it's not good for automotive leather...why I don't know. I use Griot's Garage Leather Conditioner. They sell it in a bottle, as wipes and as a spray. The stuff is excellent.

[spokejr]

I found this product years ago, it really works well to initially clean as well as preserve; http://www.leatherique.com/ , it's called Leatherique and I loved it back when I had a car with leather, worked pretty good on vynil as well.

[M15 Trucker]

Being a Horseman and a Studebaker lover and owning both and other vehicles with leather "seats", I have found that Lexol products are the best cleaners and conditioners you can buy. Look on the web for reviews and comparison between Lexol and other products, you'll see that Lexol is prefered. I've used it on both horse tack and car upholstry, it can't be beat.t

[raprice]

I've used good old reliable Lexol products for years. For my money, nothing surpasses it.
Rog

[8E45E]

The grand-daddy of all leather care products is Connolly 'Hide Food'. Its been around for over 100 years and is still recommended by most of the European car manufacturers that sell cars with leather interiors.

Craig

[jclary]

I have a 1979 Abercrombie endurance saddle and a 1950's Big Horn western saddle that are very used but very presentable because of years of Lexol applications. I used Lexol on our Chrysler New Yorker and later a Chrysler LHS. The leather still looked good after we wore the cars out.

[Bud]

I've used Lexol products for years with good results. It was recommended by the BMW dealer for use on the leather in their cars. Bud

[sweetolbob]

I found this product years ago, it really works well to initially clean as well as preserve; http://www.leatherique.com/ , it's called Leatherique and I loved it back when I had a car with leather, worked pretty good on vynil as well.

X2, These are the folks I purchased the dye from to do my 83 Avanti. The leather car products also are working well.

Bob

[Chris Pile]

In a pinch, I've used hand lotion to soften and clean up leather..... works on my dry, cracked hands.

[4hawks]

Want to know the best appearance products on the planet... try international Aero Products. We've been manufacturing interiors for private jet aircraft since 1986. In the second video you will see an example of our interiors; each one of our seats (depending on the plating) starts at $30,000.00 a piece. We have our own chemists who formulated our leather conditioner "Supple" which is the Ultimate in Quality and formulated specifically to condition the seats you see in the Video. "Formulated for aircraft, Perfect for your car" We've teamed up with Edelbrock for the marketing of our products and you know if Vic Edelbrock is willing to put his name on a product, it's got to be high performance.

Anyway... enough of a plug already...
Ken, send me your address and I'll send you a free sample of our leather conditioner ( Supple ). after you try it let me know what you think.

Mark H

[barnlark]

I've never tried International Aero Products' "Supple", sounds good, but I have used Lexol for years on all of my other cars...once or twice on my leather seats in the Lark. Excellent product, though I don't like the odor of Lexol. I have been using Meguiar's Conditioner the last two years and it really works great. Has a better aroma, as well.