Good leather cleaner? - Page 2

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dennis

Well if Bentley endorses it, it must be good stuff..Thanks

Was it this stuff here?

 
Yes same stuff, specifically made for Connolly Leather, even though the label is different. My jar only cost $16.00 with tax. Probably the least expensive item Bentley sells........
 
Regards,
Tom 

Hyde Food and Hyde Clean are the leather cleaner and conditioner that auto trimmers use. You can find it at http://www.freewebs.com/topsandinteriors/ 
You will find it under Cleaning products.
 
 
 
 

Dennis, got my Leatherique kit a couple weeks ago, and was waiting until all the shops were finished working on the stereo system before I did my cleaning. Planned to do it this weekend, but I read the instructions, and for best results, it stated to leave the car in the sun as a 'steam room' affect, and becuase it is cloudy and rainy today, decided to postpone until next weekend, where I can leave it outside for the full day after putting the 'rejuvinating oil' on the leather. I'll update after I get it completed, and take some before & after pics. 

Great..Let me know how you like it..notice how the seats feel before you start..then the next day after you did the full treatment..

Ok, today I started the cleaning with the Leatherique kit, letting the rejuvinating oil sit on the seats (liberally applied) for 5 hours in the sun. Came back, seats were sticky just like it said it would be from all of the contaminates coming to the surface. Next step, the cleaning solution and a scrubbing pad. I scrubbed and scrubbed, and think i made cleaning spots. I used the brush that came with it to get into the cracks and in those trouble wrinkles where dirt seems to really accumulate. After making some progress, I get this look.



See the darker/lighter areas?  It looks like a clean spot doesn't it?  Well, It is not coming off really easy with this scrubbing pad and the brush is creating spots like this below...





Now when I pick this stuff up in my fingers and get a close look at it, it appears to be grey in color...and that freaks me out. Maybe I got a car that had been redyed, and this is coming off? i don't know. Perhaps it is just dirty...really stubborn dirt, and i will have to put alot of elbow grease into it to remove it, becasue about 75% of the seat will need to be cleaned this way.

Just wanted you to see this Dennis, and maybe the upholstery guy to see if I am doing too much, or am on the right track. I would hate to hurt the leather physically by such a rough scrubbing.

thanks.

I can't tell for sure, but it looks like a lot of grime on the seats..I know you have a high end Jag, so unless they were redyed..which I can't imagine, then only thing to do is go through the process again in small areas at a time..I think you are suppose to let the oil soak on for at least 8 hours in the hot sun....Are you seeing any leather grain, like the dye is coming off?..or just this grimy top coat coming off?..Also once everything dries, the color comes back to normal too.

It looks to be like the entire top layer was a thck grime. I am not seeing any leather grain, just seems like there's alot of dirt here. The back seat is still 'rejuvinating' as i only had enough time to clean the the front seats. It is supposed to be hotter this week, so i'll reoil the front seats and let it sit an entire day 'baking' and see if the dirt is easier to come off next time around. Thanks for putting in your observations.

I usually use a mild detergent like woolite and water (1:6 to 1:8).

However, I wouldn't use that type of detergent with the X-type. Thus, far I just use warm water and scrub down real good and top it with Lexol.

It does a good enough job.

Well, the job is finally finished, and I have now 'rejuvinated' the leather in the front seats twice and cleaned them. It was really stubborn dirt. It appears, that a good cleaning like this also takes off any 'repairs' and touchups to the surface, as evidenced by this little pic of the driver side seat, which wasn't there when I started this little venture. Looks like I am going to have to have them touched up again.

I'm really sorry buddy..If it's any consolation, all is not lost..Leatherique also sells a pretty nice leather dye as well..

I dunno. That leatherique is a hit or miss thing from what I've read online.

We'd probably have to see a before picture to make a sound judgement, but it looks like you will need to get it touched up.

Well what about that stuff that guy here from Mexico used?..seems like a pretty good color match..

^ what's that Dennis?

I called my 'interior repair' guy, the one who fixed a scratch on the door handle and on the glove box, and it is totally unnoticable 1 year later. He and I talked about 'dyeing' the areas in question. They provide a lifetime warranty, such as long as i don't put any weird chemicals or anything on the seats, if for any reason the color fades or comes off, they will redo the work. He recommends warm, mild soapy water to clean the seats. These guys are really trustworthy, as I brought them out a second time to finish a hail dent that they did one time, but still had a dimple in it that bugged me for months. No sweat, they came out and finished it up at no charge.

Back to the cleaning with the Leatherique, after the seats dried, they were a much lighter grey than I remembered, and you told me to remember how it felt as well, well before, the leather was smooth to the touch, as I thought it should be, but after the cleaning and removal of all that crap, all of a sudden I could feel the grain of the leather...and it wasn't smooth at all.  Such hard work, but the results turned out well.

Check this out..
 
http://www.jaguarforums.com/m_37491/mpage_6/key_/tm.htm

My leather has lots of wrinkles in it that i want to come out so they look like new again. Any suggestions that wont ruin the seat? Its a 04 Jag x type with graphite gray seats...(i think thats the color) or ebony (if not).

Our most popular is Connolly Hide Food.  We also carry the Leatherique and it was all the rage a couple of years ago.  Seems to have slacked off and gone back to Connolly since then.

Just read this thread because I f*ed up and moved a set of tires recently - the towel I laid down in the back seats didn''t quite cover everything and those rubber tires have left a black mark on both edges of the seats. I CANNOT seem to be able to remove them, and I''ve tried just about everything!

Any ideas/suggestions?

Wrote a short response, but got denied on the post. Had a suggestion for you for your stains.

I tried to follow up with an email, but you set your profile to private, so i couldn''t email you. Send me a PM for more details.

PM sent.