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How do YOU properly care/condition/clean your leather?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by whitespider, Aug 14, 2007.

  1. whitespider

    whitespider Member

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    I've had my Magnetic Grey 2007 Pkg 6 Prius for over a month here in Miami, FL. Leather seats... Where to start. Well, I was told by a friend of same age (22) what he did with his leather and he told me to use this armor-all product for leather every two weeks to keep it in good condition... looks like a conditioner or some such.

    Anywho, I was wondering what everyone else here recommended for leather care, of which all kinds is welcome.

    Someone in a searched topic mentioned Lexol, to start things off. I know nothnig of this product but it's a start, right there next to that armor-all product.

    Where to go.. what to buy, and what to do?? :)

    Looking forward to a thread that could hopefulyl take care of Priuschat for a long while, since I noticed one of such didn't seem to exist!
     
    #1 whitespider, Aug 14, 2007
  2. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    I don't have any special knowledge regarding leather care, but I have had some good success in maintaining the leather interiors of many cars over the past twenty or so years.

    IMHO, the three things you need to do with leather are clean, condition, and protect. I've used Lexol, Four-Star, and Leatherique for the first two in the past and any of them work fine, just make sure you apply them regularly. Protection (against UV) is especially important in the desert southwest. What I do is alternate between the conditioner and a UV protectant (303 Aerospace Protectant). Roughly I would apply the cleaner and conditioner once every three months, and apply the protectant once in between the cleaner/conditioner, so the leather is getting conditioner and protectant four times a year, at six week intervals, and cleaned four times a year, before conditioner is applied.

    You could go nuts and clean, condition, and protect every month, but that's overkill IMHO, though possibly necessary for low-quality leather, or if your interior often gets very dirty (you let your dog run through mud and right into your car).
     
    #2 priusenvy, Aug 14, 2007
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    A couple of things

    - condition the leather regularly (how regular depends on how often your car is in the sun) with leather conditioner. This keeps the leather well oiled and minimises the chances of it drying out and cracking

    - ONLY use leather conditioners for leather. They can also be used on vinyl and simulated leather trim. However, do NOT use vinyl conditioners on leather.

    - Do not apply to the leather-wrapped steering wheel as it'll make the wheel slippery.

    I used Armor-All for our Camry... it was ok. Nothing cracked and it wasn't as slippery as the Meguire's one that my friend used (that made his seats stay shiny for the longest time and with a black interior, it really looked ugly)
     
    #3 Tideland Prius, Aug 14, 2007
  4. Peter7307

    Peter7307 New Member

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    whitespider,
    First up vacuum and brush ALL sand , grit and other debris from the creases and joins in the leather. Any left in will act like a small knife and cut through the stitching and leather rapidly.
    The first sign is usually when someone sits on the seat and the stitching pulls away like perforated paper.
    Unfortunately the damage is already done and the repairs are both extensive and expensive.

    Clean the leather with a good quality leather cleaner. Any well known brand is fine. Try Mothers Maguires Autoglym etc.

    Treat with conditioner and do it again after about three days or so. This is to put back what the cleaner takes out. After that about every four to six weeks or so depending on how much sun it is subjected to.

    Tinted windows and sun shades are a big help in this regard.

    Also being in a humid environment watch for mold appearing where the air circulation is restricted in the car.

    Cheers , Pete.
     
    #4 Peter7307, Aug 18, 2007
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