After reviewing several accounts of people using this product, it appears as if it is certainly the best leather conditioner/cleaner out there. At about $80 for a 16oz kit, it is very pricey. Does anyone have experience in using this product? If it is as advertised, Id be willing to spend the money to keep the Connolly leather in pristine condition.

 

Discussing leather conditioners is sorta like asking women which hand lotion they like best. Lots of opinions :-)

Leatherique is top drawer stuff. I've used it and many others. I am especially fond of their Pristine Clean product.

However.....

IMHO the main advantage of Leatherique conditioner is that it *will* eventually soften dried leather. It takes time and repeated applications, but it does work in all but the most hopeless cases. The over-the-counter products....not so much.

If your leather is already soft and in good condition I think any of the more common and less expensive conditioners will *keep it* that way. Lexol, Meguiers, etc. These are usually $10-$12 at your local auto parts store. I have a pal who swears by Meguiers and I'll have to admit his leather (10 year old car) is soft-as-butter.

Of course many use Leatherique for routine conditioning and it great for that as well. Personally I use the Pristine clean for cleaning and Lexol for conditioning. It's just the combination I'm happiest with.

For really dry leather an alternative is a home brewed mixture of lanolin and neatsfoot oil. Works well but is very messy.

Others will chime in

Cheers
DD

 

I can't add anything positive to Doug's advice, except, neatsfoot oil is not too bad on dry heels and elbows. (cf. my deceased Grandmother B 1900).

 

I am going to buy it and see what happens. I will take some before and after pics to see the comparison.

 

Hello Sneal46:

I will only say that there is a fellow involved with the Ontario chaper of the JCNA
and he sells Leatherique to members and the general public for a number of years now.

The evidence presented aside from the excellent results that EVERYoNE has had that I know, is as follows:

-This chap has not had to run away from the guys in the club
-He has not had to change his listing nor move house to avoid anyone.
-he still cheerfully shows up at our events and members still cheerfully buy the stuff.

For what that is worth.

Just (and still) V12

 

Well I am a believer in this product. It did a great job on my seats. They look much better that what any other product (lexol, meguires, etc) did previously. I am not sure how to post pictures but I took a few "before and after" pics if anyone wants me to email them. The stuff is expensive but you get what you pay for in my opinion.

 

I use Leatherique and I love it. Thus far I've only used the oil and Prestine Clean, but I just purchased enough of their dye to do a couple of my cars. The leather cleaning/treatment products work better than anything else I've tried, though the application process is a bit odd (go to their website or search around a bit for the details).

 

We had probably our last real "hot" day of the summer a couple weeks back 30C/85F so I did my Leatherique treatment and cleaning. My seats were not very dirty but boy did the Rejuvenator Oil ever pull some grime out of the steering wheel. Very pleased with the results. Just have to let the 1st step take some time in the heat. The Pristine Clean worked great on all the interior surfaces. I like it better than the old Hide Food.

 

Terrible stuff. I mistakenly used it for a couple of years and almost ruined the interior in one of my three Jags. Also had a terrible experience with their dye product. When trying to resolve it, the CS experience was not good.

The leather conditioner product is an oil. The dye used on the interior parts of all recent models of Jaguar cars is like a paint. It seals the interior materials off, and putting this oil on starts to dissolve the paint. Also, this oil begins to leave a permanent odor like rancid oil. It took two years to get rid of that smell.

Back to interior finishes, most Jaguar models have VERY LITTLE actual hides, most of the interior is a high grade vinyl (painted with the same material). In my XK8, the only actual leather is the two small pleated portions on the seat and back, the rest of the entire seat (all edges and back) is vinyl. This product kills vinyl. Most of the door panel materials are vinyl.

I'm guessing I'll be the contrarian here, but I'll never use this product on anything I care about. For those insisting, it would pay to review what the owner's handbook says about interior care, then use your own judgment.

 

Stevetech,

Personally, I would never try to redye my seats because I just do not have the confidence that it could be done as an at home project. However, I did read about their redye products. I guess if you look at the two things (leather dye and leather conditioner) separately, two opinions can be formed. I still think the oil/cleaner is superior to any other product I have tried and its not even close.

 

In regards to the observation about the amount of leather used in the seats, I would think that when Connolly stopped making the seats then the product had less leather in it overall. My seats are full leather on the bottoms and seatbacks. They are now as soft as a new leather coat.

 

I've had great luck redying seats at home. I used ColorPlus dye but I'm sure Leatherique dye is just as good, from what I've read.

One of the keys, of course, is surface prep.

Cheers
DD

 

Actually it doesn't have anything to do with the supplier. Leather content varies year-to-year, model-to-model, and market-to-market

Cheers
DD

 

Still Connolly in my '02 Sport. At least that's what the original sheet said.

 

I am not sure if these pictures can even do justice to the difference in softness and cleanliness that took place. However, I will post them for those who have not used Leatherique. The first 3 are pre-cleaning and the next two are post-cleaning. To me, the difference was more dramatic than the pictures show. Mostly in the softness.

 

Here are some shots from farther away. My photography skills are novice level at best.

BTW, those are 79 rims that I am using while I clean up the Kents that came with the car.