In this post, we are going to address a point of auto detailing that I consider to be very important and that is leather cleaning and condition. If you think about it, leather interiors take quite a beating. If you have leather seats or a leather steering wheel, they get used every time the car is driven. Then you have dashes and other panels that constantly take hits from UV rays. These are obviously things that all interiors deal with but leather is much more susceptible to damage than synthetic materials. Because of this, we have to really take the time to treat the leather if we want it to last a long time.
Over the last few years, I’ve been using leather-focused products from Lexol. This is a brand commonly associated with leather and is known to produce good products.
To get started, let’s first take a look at the products that I’ll be using. Lexol has numbered their products to make it easy to understand the order that they should be used in. First is the All Leather Cleaner. As you can probably tell by the name, this product is used to first clean the leather. Then it is followed up by the All Leather Conditioner. This product will treat the leather and leave behind a trace layer of protectant.
Starting off with the All Leather Cleaner. I personally apply some of it into a microfiber towel and massage it into the leather. I generally do not go too long or let my leather get too soiled so they never need a deep cleaning. Some minor wipes with the cleaner and a towel generally suffice. If you have really dirty leather, you may have to buy a leather brush or use something a little more abrasive. I would advise buying a leather-specific brush as you can definitely cause some damage if you use something too stiff. Also, as with all never before used products, you should test it out in an inconspicuous area to make sure that the materials are compatible. Once the cleaner has been thoroughly used, we take a second towel and wipe away the excess. The instructions say to use a damp towel and follow up with a dry towel but I’ve personally always just used a single dry towel for this step. Not saying that you should do that as I’m just some guy on the internet. You probably should follow the directions.
Next, we move on to the All Leather Conditioner. Application of this product is essentially the same as with the All Leather Cleaner,. We rub it into the leather and wipe off any excess. To apply the conditioner, I like to use an applicator pad. The particular one I use is from Chemical Guys and I like these pads because they do the job and are pretty cheap. You can get them for around a dollar each. I like to use the applicator pad because it gives me more control and I want that for this step. Once the conditioner has been applied, the instruction says to let it sit for a few minutes then wipe off any excess. This wait time is to allow the conditioner to soak into the leather. However, I find that the wait time is largely dependent on weather. If you’re doing this on a hot day, the leather is going to soak the conditioner up a lot faster than on a cold day. Just keep that in mind. You can’t really go wrong with this process. When there’s excess, it’s pretty obvious. If everything looks dry but there’s a few spots that look wet and shiny, just hit those spots with a clean towel and you’re good. Also, pay attention to the seems and stitching as product tend to pool in those areas.
And that’s it. The process to clean and condition leather is fairly straightforward and easy. At least it is with this line of Lexol products. The only thing that I want to note is for you to do some research and find out what part of your interior is actually leather. With modern cars, there’s a lot of materials that are used that may look like leather but are actually some sort of synthetic material. Even in my Supra, there’s a lot of surfaces that look and feel like leather but it was confirmed that only the seats and steering wheel are actually leather. Applying leather products to non-leather surfaces may or may not damage them. There’s no telling without testing but this isn’t necessarily something that I want to test in case the worse were to occur. Again, do a little research about the interior of your vehicle.
If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.
Lexol Conditioner Cleaner Kit https://amzn.to/2NKZlp6
Lexol Leather Conditioner https://amzn.to/2ZYoVJO
Lexol Leather Cleaner https://amzn.to/3r3DFmr
Chemical Guys Microfiber Applicator Pads https://amzn.to/3r8rpkU
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