Topic: Dulling Shiny Leather

[X-Traction]

Leather surfaces in new cars are a nice uniform dull finish.  After years of use, areas most contacted such as seat bottoms and the steering wheel become shiny, which looks like crap.  In addition, light-colored leather seats show dirt a lot worse than dark ones, and both our vehicles have beige-ish seats.  The only review of a leather cleaner I bothered to read on this forum pictured black seats, which really wouldn't show dirt to begin with.

I tried some leather cleaners, including fancy Meguire's leather dressing stuff, and all it did was make the seats shinier, slippery and smell funny. 

We also had a few rust spots in the leather from putting wet skis inside the vehicle.  So I decided to commit the blasphemy of using Fantastik on a rust spot.  To my surprise, while every other cleaner had no effect on the rust spot, Fantastik almost entirely removed it.

So I tried Fantastik on the dirty and shiny areas of the leather seats.  It removed at least 90% of the soiling and restored most of the dull finish.  Not knowing if I had insulted the leather gods, I finished by applying the Meguire's junk.  Which restored some of the shine, but reduced my guilt.

[UCD]

Try C.Quartz Leather for the long term (~2 years) protection. Prep is key or else it won't last long.
 
Shine = dirty leather or petroleum/silicone based protectant. Your seats need to look matte and natural after being cleaned and protected (note: conditioning is not the same as protecting).

Unfinished leather (non-coated) = condition (you can use Mink oil).
Finished leather (coated; 95% of cars) = protect (you can use CarPro PERL diluted 1:5)

Your seats looked dull after Fantastik - which is an All Purpose Cleaner - is b/c it's too harsh, especially undiluted; and so you basically "bleached" the seats.

In short, try to stick to quality non OTC leather cleaners. 

[initial_D]

^^ Great tips. 

[CanuckS2K]

The best leather cleaner I've used is Leatherique......worth every penny!

[UCD]

Leatherique treatment is great.....I'd recommend getting it done X-traction. And then just maintain your seats. Find a quality local detailer who can help you with tips and techniques

[johngenx]

The best leather cleaner I've used is Leatherique......worth every penny!

This.  Add my vote for this terrific product.

[Brig]

Where can we get it?  The Santa Fe's seats will need quite a bit of TLC once the cold weather goes away. 

[CanuckS2K]

Where can we get it?  The Santa Fe's seats will need quite a bit of TLC once the cold weather goes away.

Brig, you can get it at eshine.

http://www.eshine.ca/leatherique_prestine_clean_16oz-3120.php

http://www.eshine.ca/leatherique_rejuvenator_oil_16oz-3121.php

[initial_D]

^^ Don't think Shane knows another online shop.  I bought from a number of times, and called in for support as well, the staff was very helpful.

[johngenx]

eshine is great.

[Snowman]

The best leather cleaner I've used is Leatherique......worth every penny!

Agreed, works great. The Venza has white leather seating and are brutal to keep clean.

[UCD]

The best leather cleaner I've used is Leatherique......worth every penny!

Agreed, works great. The Venza has white leather seating and are brutal to keep clean.

Try C.Quartz Leather and Vinyl coating......maintenance will be a breeze.

[X-Traction]

Try C.Quartz Leather for the long term (~2 years) protection. Prep is key or else it won't last long.
 
Shine = dirty leather or petroleum/silicone based protectant. Your seats need to look matte and natural after being cleaned and protected (note: conditioning is not the same as protecting).

Unfinished leather (non-coated) = condition (you can use Mink oil).
Finished leather (coated; 95% of cars) = protect (you can use CarPro PERL diluted 1:5)

Your seats looked dull after Fantastik - which is an All Purpose Cleaner - is b/c it's too harsh, especially undiluted; and so you basically "bleached" the seats.

In short, try to stick to quality non OTC leather cleaners.

Thanks for the professional advice.

I realize you put "bleached" in quotation marks, but I'm quite certain there was no bleaching.  I have never heard that Fantastik bleaches.  The seat color did not change, as one would expect had they bleached.  The microfibre cloth I used to rub the leather was extensively blackened, rather than being bleached itself.

(One thing people should know about Fantastik is to not use it on electronics, because it's electrically conductive.)

I read the Leatherique web page, and found it makes no claim to restore the matte finish.  The claim it "floats" dirt out of the leather seems miraculous.  Nor did it mention removing rust stains.

The vehicle in question is 8 years old and is kept in a garage.  It very seldom sits exposed to the sun. The soiling on the seats was minor, and I only had to do the driver seat and the bottom cushion of the passenger seat.  The leather is in excellent condition and I'm not worried about it cracking while I own the car.

I'll look into the C.Quartz Leather, but I'll research it carefully since I'm feeling a bit burned at the useless Meguire's stuff I bought.

[CanuckS2K]

Try C.Quartz Leather for the long term (~2 years) protection. Prep is key or else it won't last long.
 
Shine = dirty leather or petroleum/silicone based protectant. Your seats need to look matte and natural after being cleaned and protected (note: conditioning is not the same as protecting).

Unfinished leather (non-coated) = condition (you can use Mink oil).
Finished leather (coated; 95% of cars) = protect (you can use CarPro PERL diluted 1:5)

Your seats looked dull after Fantastik - which is an All Purpose Cleaner - is b/c it's too harsh, especially undiluted; and so you basically "bleached" the seats.

In short, try to stick to quality non OTC leather cleaners.

Thanks for the professional advice.

I realize you put "bleached" in quotation marks, but I'm quite certain there was no bleaching.  I have never heard that Fantastik bleaches.  The seat color did not change, as one would expect had they bleached.  The microfibre cloth I used to rub the leather was extensively blackened, rather than being bleached itself.

(One thing people should know about Fantastik is to not use it on electronics, because it's electrically conductive.)

I read the Leatherique web page, and found it makes no claim to restore the matte finish.  The claim it "floats" dirt out of the leather seems miraculous.  Nor did it mention removing rust stains.

The vehicle in question is 8 years old and is kept in a garage.  It very seldom sits exposed to the sun. The soiling on the seats was minor, and I only had to do the driver seat and the bottom cushion of the passenger seat.  The leather is in excellent condition and I'm not worried about it cracking while I own the car.

I'll look into the C.Quartz Leather, but I'll research it carefully since I'm feeling a bit burned at the useless Meguire's stuff I bought.

The claim might seem miraculous, but it's absolutely true.  Apply Leatheriques's Prestine Clean on your vehicle's seats on a hot day with the windows up and you'll absolutely see all of the oils, dirt, grime, etc protrude to the surface of the leather. 

[UCD]

Try C.Quartz Leather for the long term (~2 years) protection. Prep is key or else it won't last long.
 
Shine = dirty leather or petroleum/silicone based protectant. Your seats need to look matte and natural after being cleaned and protected (note: conditioning is not the same as protecting).

Unfinished leather (non-coated) = condition (you can use Mink oil).
Finished leather (coated; 95% of cars) = protect (you can use CarPro PERL diluted 1:5)

Your seats looked dull after Fantastik - which is an All Purpose Cleaner - is b/c it's too harsh, especially undiluted; and so you basically "bleached" the seats.

In short, try to stick to quality non OTC leather cleaners.

Thanks for the professional advice.

I realize you put "bleached" in quotation marks, but I'm quite certain there was no bleaching.  I have never heard that Fantastik bleaches.  The seat color did not change, as one would expect had they bleached.  The microfibre cloth I used to rub the leather was extensively blackened, rather than being bleached itself.

(One thing people should know about Fantastik is to not use it on electronics, because it's electrically conductive.)

I read the Leatherique web page, and found it makes no claim to restore the matte finish.  The claim it "floats" dirt out of the leather seems miraculous.  Nor did it mention removing rust stains.

The vehicle in question is 8 years old and is kept in a garage.  It very seldom sits exposed to the sun. The soiling on the seats was minor, and I only had to do the driver seat and the bottom cushion of the passenger seat.  The leather is in excellent condition and I'm not worried about it cracking while I own the car.

I'll look into the C.Quartz Leather, but I'll research it carefully since I'm feeling a bit burned at the useless Meguire's stuff I bought.

Correct X-Traction, Fantastik doesn't contain any bleach......we (pros) sometimes refer to the situation you got after using a harsh product on vinyl/leather/plastic as bleached b/c the material turns really dull/pale.

When you use Leatherique on seats you need to create a sauna effect (ie black garbage bags on seats, parked in the direct sun for 1 day.) As the pores open up the dirt/soil/oils/nastiness "floats" up. Then you use a cleaner to remove this nastiness Basically it's a one, two day process.

You can read this article -> http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/leatherique-leather-care-how-to/

[X-Traction]

Thanks again for the advice.  Of course, doing anything further will have to wait for summer.

[UCD]

So today I applied C.Quartz Leather on a month old BMW 435i. The front two seats were already stained from a black jacket & blue jean transfer.

I'd highly recommend getting your leather seats coated, especially if they are light in color.