Car Care Tip – Leather Interior Care

Leather seats in a car are not only beautiful, but can be very durable too. Part of good car care practice is keeping it looking nice. Lets see how we can do that.

I always remember taking a tour of an east coast tannery that specialized in leather interiors for some of the world’s finest luxury cars. Everything from Lexus to Lincoln interiors were made there.  In all, there were 38 steps that the hides went through from softening them by tumbling  in Cyprus barrels with a caustic soda mix for 24 hours, to the final spraying on of the colorant.

The interesting thing I felt was how the hide was so softened and processed that it came out looking like a piece of manila paper, that then had to have an embosser put a texture back into it before it was colored and then cut up into the appropriate patterns.

Well enough of that, as you can see it is pretty durable to put up with all that, so lets start with keeping it clean. Dirt is very hard on your car interior, it comes in the form of everything from dirt from your clothes and sand from the beach to caraway seeds from your local fast food restaurant.

So lets start by vacuuming the seats. If the front seats recline, recline them and vacuum them, for down in the back edge of the seat cushion where the back rest covers you will find the most dirt. You might even find some lost change that was hidden in there too.

You see, dirt is one of the most abrasive things when it comes to wearing on leather. This is especially true if you have pleats in the seats, for down in these areas as your behind moves around the dirt just grinds away and wears the seams out. For good car care you should really try to do this every time you wash your car. If you are in there doing the carpets, do the seats also.

Once that is done you want to clean the leather. Here is where you want to find a good quality automotive leather cleaner. Many leather soaps such as saddle soap will have too much of a drying out effect on your leather interior and this is something you don’t want. Using a nice soft sponge and very little water make a good bit of lather. Carefully wiping the foam on and not getting the leather overly wet.

Now with a soft light colored terry towel wipe the upholstery off. If you see a lot of dirt on the towel repeat the process. Next you will want to wipe off the seats with another clean towel and make sure they are dry.

Next it is time for a good leather conditioner. There are many good brands, you mainly want to stay away from anything that has silicone or petroleum in them. Stick with the natural stuff. I prefer to apply these products on a nice warm sunny day. You can apply them with a sponge, a cloth, or my favorite, your bare hands and work it into the leather.

Once you have several good coats of the conditioner applied, close the windows on the car and let the sun heat it up. Here is where the heat will cause the pores of the leather to expand and just drink up that conditioner.

After a few hours in the sun take another towel and wipe down the interior and you should be ready to go. You might hold off on that light colored golfing outfit until the conditioner is completely absorbed and dried on the leather. Try to do this step at least twice a year.

As I said good car care is keeping your leather interior looking nice. It will look better and last much longer if you just take a little time to take care of it.

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