I did read an old thread about this but it wasn't really conclusive. I'm curious to know if anyone has tried to get an authentic leather smell back into their car? My X300 has lost that smell and I'd like to get it back. The Meguiars products I use for leather cleaning and conditioning are good but don't leave any particular aroma.

I was taken in by ad's for Gliptone Liquid Leather which makes astounding claims about giving off the scent of old tanned leather (as in 50's/60's Jags, Rolls etc). Although not quite the same as new modern leathers due to different tanning processes, I liked the sound of it and ordered the air fresheners direct. I couldn't believe how bad they smelt (stale odour of cardboard & chemical). My wife insisted I remove them immediately and leave the windows open! Apparently these cardboard air fresheners are treated with the same stuff as their liquid leather cleaner & conditioner. Anyway, Gliptone were not in the least bit interested in my feedback including my suggestion that possibly I had a bad batch, instead they predictably defended their product founded on "many sales around the world". Waste of GBP12.45 incl. postage for 3 cards IMO.

So I'm still searching, if anyone has used a product that really does work I'd love to know about it, even another brand of cleaner and/or conditioner if it leaves a good leather aroma behind. Or, to be very objective I'd be interested to know of any successful experiences with Gliptone - I'm positive it's not my nose that's faulty!!

Cheers,

 

Google LTT (UK) their leather essence is the closest you'll ever get to 'real' as opposed to a chemical imitation of leather you'll find

 

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't of LTT before this. I checked it out online and since there are no negative reports evident about the essence (except one which claims it doesn't last very long), I'm tempted to give it a go. I also checked out Zaino products, but as for Gliptone there are mixed reports, pity I didn't read those more thoroughly before ordering Gliptone!

Cheers,

 

Hi Tony, we have been selling Gliptone for some time and have always had good reports on the stuff. We do tend to sell it to classic owners but I've used it myself on a newer Jag and found the results to be more than satisfactory. Was it the bottle as linked below that you purchased? www.sngbarratt.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=a596d05d-0def-4620-b7f3-7ff1c87fc3df

 

No, I purchased the "liquid leather" air freshener cards direct from Gliptone UK, which are meant to hang from an indicator stalk or similar. The blurb says they have been "dipped" in the fluid which I assume is the same as that used in their conditioner. Interestingly, the info that came with them advises not to hang from the rear vision mirror and thus avoid exposure to sun (nothing about that in their advertising before buying...). Our summer temperatures have been well above 40 degrees C this week and although the cards have not been exposed to the sun, the car gets pretty hot when parked, even in my garage. Maybe they are heat affected regardless of direct sunlight, but I can find no mention of this.

I've found mixed feedback on various websites since, and it seems to be either a love 'em or hate 'em situation (and I imagine most would have experienced this product in more moderate temperatures).

Thanks for your interest, which is certainly more than I got from Gliptone who went straight into defensive mode!

Cheers,
Tony.

 

Hi Tony,


I've used Gliptone Cleaner and conditioner in the X300, both S-Types, and a couple of F150's (Tundra's gone, I need to update the sig) for a couple of years now. Smells like leather to me. Black car sitting in the Texas sun all day Jul/Aug on tarmac sees those temps - I've never found it objectionable - just smells of leather. Haven't tried their air-fresheners, though


I did try some hanging air fresheners I got as a gift from the co. I order detailing products from and whose name now escapes me - but it is posted in my years-old post on my first attempt at paint-correction on the x300 in this detailing section somewhere. They weren't advertised to smell of leather and didn't - rather a fresh, clean smell - very nice - but not leather. Good luck in your search. Your seats will need some kind of conditioning eventually - I searched this forum and a number of others before trying Gliptone and chose it because it seemed to have the highest pleased to not-pleased ratio of web-reviews. Did not run across LTT, though.


Edit: It was DetailedImage.com - found my thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/d...pective-56723/

 

Hi alholbro1,

Thanks for your comment, particularly interesting as you experience the same kind of heat as ours. Since you are getting a distinct leather smell from the cleaner & conditioner, even in the heat, I'm becoming more convinced that the problem with the air freshener cards has something to do with the card itself and not the solution they dip them in. In hot temps they have a distinct smell of warm cardboard / chemical, but not leather. I've been using Meguiars leather cleaner/cond. for a couple of years and when it runs out maybe I'll try LTT or Gliptone. The car doesn't have any bad odour to cover up, I just like the "authentic" smell of leather!

Cheers,
Tony.

 

This is by far the best I have found...Love it.

 

I use Griots leather conditioner and love the luxurious leather smell it leaves behind. Griots is popular in the Pacific Northwest because they're based in Tacoma and all their products are used at the LeMay Auto Museum there--all our high-end detail shops in Seattle carry their stuff--but I'm not sure how well known they are around the country/world.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/

 

Griots sounds like good stuff but it appears they have no shipping options to outside of US/Can, according to their website.

 

I have also bought these Gliptone leather air fresheners and found them extremely poor. The first ones (small pack of 3) had only 1 of the fresheners with any scent. Then purchased their underseat large scent pad which arrived totally devoid of any fragrance whatsoever. Then decided to try the 3 small ones again, this time none of them had any fragrance at all. I contacted Gliptone via their Contact Us portal on their web site and they never replied. I had also purchased some of their leather conditioner, and made the mistake of using it on the leather dash of my XF. A few days later, a white, powdery film appeared on the leather, which has proved all but impossible to remove. Won't be using their stuff again, CAVEAT EMPTOR!!