New Car Leather Seats - Best Way To Protect ?

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Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I like Griot's leather care spray.


That's my favorite too and it smells great
 
Originally Posted By: Old Mustang Guy
I had to have some body work on our 09 Acadia a couple of years ago. I used the body shop that had the highest rating in our area. When I picked it up the leather looked brand new. The guy told me it looked a little dingy so they cleaned the seats with Murphy's Oil Soap. He said it was the best product they had found. Probably only good for vinyl coated leather.


The Murphy's sounds like a great idea. I have the perfect test mule to try it on.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Old Mustang Guy
I had to have some body work on our 09 Acadia a couple of years ago. I used the body shop that had the highest rating in our area. When I picked it up the leather looked brand new. The guy told me it looked a little dingy so they cleaned the seats with Murphy's Oil Soap. He said it was the best product they had found. Probably only good for vinyl coated leather.


The Murphy's sounds like a great idea. I have the perfect test mule to try it on.


I'm really curious about the Murphy's too.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I like Griot's leather care spray.


That's my favorite too and it smells great


I've heard good stuff about the Griot's. Do you use the all in one spray that's the cleaner and conditioner combo,or do you use the cream conditioner?
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I like Griot's leather care spray.


That's my favorite too and it smells great


I've heard good stuff about the Griot's. Do you use the all in one spray that's the cleaner and conditioner combo,or do you use the cream conditioner?


I used the cream when I first got the car, but my go-to for wipedowns when I wash the car is the spray.

It leaves the leather soft and with a nice matte finish, as it should be. It has faint, clean, leather smell.
 
Also keep on mind that on a new vehicle, a deep condition is not necessary and may not even be possible.

Keeping it clean with the appropriate products is the best thing you can do for the leather.
 
I'd start by reading your owners manual. If it says clean with a mild solution of soap and water or something like that, going to be leatherette. Would likely have more specific instructions for real leather including conditioning. You would be surprised how few new cars have real leather compared to synthetic. Mercedes, Lexus, and a lot of others you'd assume to be genuine leather seating surfaces are often synthetic.
 
Murphy's Oil Soap is my go to leather cleaner. It is very safe for most leathers and coated leathers. I have used it for years on customers cars with good results. Here is a couple pictures of seats that were neglected and never cleaned. You can see a big difference:
before:

After:


Cant find all my pictures of this. I'll try to find them and post better ones.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Murphy's Oil Soap is my go to leather cleaner. It is very safe for most leathers and coated leathers. I have used it for years on customers cars with good results. Here is a couple pictures of seats that were neglected and never cleaned. You can see a big difference:
before:

After:


Cant find all my pictures of this. I'll try to find them and post better ones.


That looks pretty good! Do you apply anything to the seat after you're done with the Murphy's? Thanks.
 
OP here - I ended up buying the Meguiars Gold Class Car Leather Cleaner / Conditioner / Protectant as it appears to be a good product I should be able to trust (hopefully) . I haven't used it yet though ... * Now my search begins for a quality car wash soap I can buy locally and trust it will do a decent job so I can avoid the auto car wash places !
 
Originally Posted By: ChrisD46
OP here - I ended up buying the Meguiars Gold Class Car Leather Cleaner / Conditioner / Protectant as it appears to be a good product I should be able to trust (hopefully) . I haven't used it yet though ... * Now my search begins for a quality car wash soap I can buy locally and trust it will do a decent job so I can avoid the auto car wash places !


I always use Eagle One Nano Wax and Wash.
 
Originally Posted By: ryanschillinger
I'd start by reading your owners manual. If it says clean with a mild solution of soap and water or something like that, going to be leatherette. Would likely have more specific instructions for real leather including conditioning. You would be surprised how few new cars have real leather compared to synthetic. Mercedes, Lexus, and a lot of others you'd assume to be genuine leather seating surfaces are often synthetic.


Yep,my friend's expensive Mercedes had vinyl seats just like my work truck,while my Oldsmobile had leather that was light years ahead of his Mercedes vinyl,and SO much more comfortable.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Murphy's Oil Soap is my go to leather cleaner. It is very safe for most leathers and coated leathers. I have used it for years on customers cars with good results. Here is a couple pictures of seats that were neglected and never cleaned. You can see a big difference:
before:

After:


Cant find all my pictures of this. I'll try to find them and post better ones.


Is that really the same seat? Were they that dirty? Looks black in the first pic.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm

Yep,my friend's expensive Mercedes had vinyl seats just like my work truck,while my Oldsmobile had leather that was light years ahead of his Mercedes vinyl,and SO much more comfortable.


Rich Corinthian leather?

Wait, that was Chrysler...

;^)
 
I put Lexol conditioner on mine every few months. It's worked really well on keeping the cracks under control on the '11 Camaro convertible. They have creases, but they're not progressing to cracks.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Murphy's Oil Soap is my go to leather cleaner. It is very safe for most leathers and coated leathers. I have used it for years on customers cars with good results. Here is a couple pictures of seats that were neglected and never cleaned. You can see a big difference:
before:

After:


Cant find all my pictures of this. I'll try to find them and post better ones.


That looks pretty good! Do you apply anything to the seat after you're done with the Murphy's? Thanks.


I'm bummed out I can't find all the other leather seat pictures I have. Not sure where I stored them but I'll eventually find them and post them. Depending on the leather I use lexol, Pecards, 303 or vinylex.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Murphy's Oil Soap is my go to leather cleaner. It is very safe for most leathers and coated leathers. I have used it for years on customers cars with good results. Here is a couple pictures of seats that were neglected and never cleaned. You can see a big difference:
before:

After:


Cant find all my pictures of this. I'll try to find them and post better ones.


Is that really the same seat? Were they that dirty? Looks black in the first pic.


Yes that is the same seat and if you look closely you can see the same pattern in the leather pieces. I have more pictures of this seat and several others I have done that were really dirty but now I can't find them and forgot where I stored them. I'll find them and post them as soon as I can. The guy that owns this Dodge ram truck is a diesel mechanic and the whole inside of his truck was coded with grease and black dirt. It took me over 33 hours to get his interior as close to factory fresh as possible.
 
Most car leather is vinyl coated - any good interior protectant or "leather care" will work. I've used 303 last week when I did a quick "detail" on a friend's Accord with 18 year old leather that's in surprisingly good shape.

Now, if we're talking old-school vat dyed Schwabian Mercedes leather from the 1970s-1990s or Connolly that was standard fare in most British cars, you'll want to use Lexol or any "oil-based" leather conditioner.
 
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