London380sl said:
I just used Leatherique myself and it is not a one time affair if you have older leather that's not been maintained. I thought my leather was pretty clean (its cream coloured to boot) until the first time I used Leatherique. I was actually a bit horrified at what came up after it has been sitting for a bit. I cleaned it with the pristine clean - okay it looked a little better and the leather was a bit softer. Followed up the following weekend with another round of conditioning and cleaning- looked even better and the leather was a bit more softer. Leatherique does recommend 2-3 sessions so I will follow up with a third session.
I have notice a definite improvement in the colour and softness of the leather. I could be wrong here but I don't think the leather, at least in the older mercedes, is that soft to begin with.
ByByeAmericanPie said:
I dont know if it is really something you are doing wrong. The results you get will be directly affected by the condition of the leather when you started. This is a 10 year old car and if the leather has not been cared for for many years, you will get just so much out of your efforts no matter what you do.
These are both excellent and relevant summaries :thumbsup: If you're working with seats that are already wasted, there's no potion that's gonna restore them. You might end up softening and cleaning the leather a bit, but, if the seats are a mess, nothing short of professional restoration (dyeing, sanding) is going to make them appear new.
I worked on an '00 Passat this weekend that has never had any care whatsoever. The driver's seat was clearly dirty, pass. front seat showed some age, rear seating surfaces appeared new. This was light grey leather, car resides in a very hot area which is even harder on leather.
We spent about 1/2 hour working with Griot's product and the Prestine [SIC] Clean. I'll tell ya, even I was impressed how much they cleaned up.
The arm rest was very dirty, certainly the worst area. While the driver's seat showed a decent improvement, it certainly wasn't as nice as the rear seating area. If I had more time and more heat, I could have gotten that driver's seat back to excellent condition. I'm having the owner order up a few products and he'll continue with follow-up treatments and hopefully liberate a bit more dirt from that driver's seat. Being in a hot climate, I've suggested he treat the seats at least every quarter with the Griot's one step product. Once he get things back in shape, heroic cleaning measures simply aren't needed
Remember, car care and car detailing are significant undertakings should you wish to keep things at 110%. You can't decide one day, when the car is 10 yrs old, that you're suddenly going to start taking care of it and expect a flawless result. Reality dictates that you've got to care for the leather and paint (and everything else) throughout the year, every year
HTH
