I was detailing my car at work while we were slow last week.
An older tech in the shop told me that I was doing it all wrong. He said I didn't need any of that "Meguiars garbage".
He asked me if I had ever looked at the section in my owners manual about cleaning the interior. I answered honestly, "no."
He told me to check it out and get back to him. Everything said "clean with lukewarm water, add a mild soapy detergent to remove dirt and stains". He said that is what all manuals say.
He told me that water will keep vinyl and leather soft, plastic clean, and everything looking nice.
So, I decided to do an experiment. I sprayed the interior in my old 850 down with some water and just wipe it off. I wasn't too impressed with the results on the vinyl, but the leather did something interesting. It soaked in almost immediately. Some spots turned REALLY soft too.
On the back headrest that is always exposed to sun, the leather has dried and turned white (from a natural brown color). I have tried several products to revive this leather, nothing gets it soft. So, I took a damp cloth and wrapped it around the headrest and left it on over night.
This morning, I immediately went outside and checked it out.
WOW
Soft leather.
But, as soon as the water started evaporating, the color was turning back to that dry white, so I grabbed a bottle of leather conditioner and massaged it into the surface. Now the leather is soft and brown, just as it should be.
Is there anything I should be careful about when using water to soften leather? Can this be used to keep good leather soft and pliable? Shouldn't I still massage some conditioners into the good leather in my newer Volvo?
An older tech in the shop told me that I was doing it all wrong. He said I didn't need any of that "Meguiars garbage".
He asked me if I had ever looked at the section in my owners manual about cleaning the interior. I answered honestly, "no."
He told me to check it out and get back to him. Everything said "clean with lukewarm water, add a mild soapy detergent to remove dirt and stains". He said that is what all manuals say.
He told me that water will keep vinyl and leather soft, plastic clean, and everything looking nice.
So, I decided to do an experiment. I sprayed the interior in my old 850 down with some water and just wipe it off. I wasn't too impressed with the results on the vinyl, but the leather did something interesting. It soaked in almost immediately. Some spots turned REALLY soft too.
On the back headrest that is always exposed to sun, the leather has dried and turned white (from a natural brown color). I have tried several products to revive this leather, nothing gets it soft. So, I took a damp cloth and wrapped it around the headrest and left it on over night.
This morning, I immediately went outside and checked it out.
WOW
Soft leather.
But, as soon as the water started evaporating, the color was turning back to that dry white, so I grabbed a bottle of leather conditioner and massaged it into the surface. Now the leather is soft and brown, just as it should be.
Is there anything I should be careful about when using water to soften leather? Can this be used to keep good leather soft and pliable? Shouldn't I still massage some conditioners into the good leather in my newer Volvo?