Leather Protector for OEM Leather?

Our seats are leather trimmed. That part is not leather. More of a composite rubber something or other. Toyota calls it Softex:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtn52AIaepo

My rub my hand feeling best guess is the ass part has the softex and the outside portions and headrest has leather. Maybe.

So yeah, don't waste money on leather cleaners.

 

A lot of leather seats in newer automobiles are actually painted instead of dyed into the leather like shoes or jackets . I've noticed that all of the last few vehicles I've owned with leather started showing wear early. Acura used to put some really nice durable leather in their cars. I have used Groits 3 in 1 for years . It has leather like smell. I use it sparingly now because I'm begining to think that most leather cleaners may actually break down the painted finish. Most of the time I just use a damp cloth.

 

Mine are doing the same thing. Just crappy material.

 

Info how to care for your leather seats, dashboard and door panels.

The three most common types of automotive leather are:

Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a pigment (colored urethane paint) to yield uniform color and then clear coated. This type of leather does not reveal scars, pores and blemishes and has an artificial uniform grain pattern embossed. It is typically the only real leather in the seat and located only in the center inserts of the seat. The sides, bolsters, etc., are vinyl painted with the same colored urethane paint so it matches the leather inserts perfectly giving the entire seat a "leather" look. This is what 99% of cars have including Corvette, Escalade, newer Ferrari and Lamborghini. To demonstrate this just put a drop of water on your seat and see if it soaks in. It will not soak in as the leather has a painted on urethane coating on it. If water can't penetrate the coating how can "conditioners" and "protectants?" Read on.....

Semi-Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a semi-transparent pigment then clear coated This type of leather may reveal some of the underlying scars and blemishes of the hide as well as some color and grain changes. Almost never seen in the past twenty years.

Synthetic (aka vinyl): Much of the leather, and in some, all of the leather in many of today's vehicles is entirely synthetic or engineered leather. It looks like real leather but is really entirely synthetic. This is in use in some high ticket brands like Lexus, MB and Infinity for example. It is often difficult to tell what is real leather and what is engineered leather.

The bottom line is 99.9% of cars sold today have leather only on the middle insert of the seat bottom and back. The sides are completely 100% vinyl. The color and texture of the vinyl matches the leather inserts perfectly as they are all sprayed with a colored urethane coating. A perfect way to demonstrate they are vinyl is the water drop test outlined above. Another way is pull some of the seat siding out from underneath the seat. Notice there is a very thin foam or cloth backing? Real leather (from real cows) doesn't have foam backing on it.

Have you noticed the change in new car window stickers when referring to the seats? They now call the interior "leather lined," or "leather trim." Just take a look at a new C7 Corvette window sticker. They don't say "leather seats" like they used to. Now the C7 window sticker says, "Trim, Leather." This is because only the center inserts are actually leather! The remainder of the seat is vinyl. Remember, vinyl has a thin foam or cloth backing on it.

Everyone seems to like the term "conditioner," but just what is conditioning? When leather professionals speak of “conditioning leather” they are usually speaking about leather hydration. Properly hydrated leather will be soft, plump and flexible making it resistant to creasing and cracking. Most traditional conditioners are typically oily or contain silicone, wax or things like Aloe or Neat's-foot or Mink oil. No protected, urethane coated, leather needs or benefits from these things. Conditioning products were initially designed for a much different type of leather like car seat who were 100% uncoated leather back in the 60's and 70's. Remember, none of these conditioners can absorb through the urethane coating making them useless.

Most conditioners leave a film on protected leather that can hasten the accumulation of soil. Dirt is attracted to the oil as it sits on top of the urethane coating and in the stitching. Your butt rubbing back and forth across this dirt acts like sandpaper and actually buffs the colored urethane coating off. This is frequently the cause of early bolster wear!

Conditioners do not penetrate the urethane painted top coat to condition the leather. True, some of the H2o in these conditioners evaporates and raises the relative humidity in the car cockpit which is beneficial as the leather will pick up the molecular H2o through the process of transpiration. Transpiration is the process by which moisture is carried through humidity to small pores on the underside of the leather/vinyl, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere. The leather/vinyl can absorb this through the untreated, underside of the material. However, a damp wipe down with a towel will do this as well and not leave that soil grabbing film.

Keep in mind that the colored urethane topcoat was added to the leather for the purpose of preventing spills and liquids from getting to the leather, as well as hiding the leather’s underlying scars, and blemishes, while making the leather more abrasion resistant. The urethane topcoat is colored so all of the surfaces of the seat match the door panels, dashboard, etc. If they did not contain coloring, every single piece of "leather" in your car would not match.

Leather conditioners do nothing to prevent stains or dye transfer. If your leather has developed cracks, using an oily conditioner may further degrade the adhesion of the painted topcoat around the crack and make the damage worse. Doesn't wet paper tear much easier than dry paper?

So how does this painted on protective urethane coating work and still allow the leather to stay hydrated? Much the same way as a rain coat would protect you from a driving rain. At the same time the rain is being repelled, you will begin to notice that your clothing is becoming damp due to the 100% humidity level. That's basically how your leather stays hydrated, at the molecular level. If you want to test this put a drop of water on your protected leather in an inconspicuous place and leave for 15-20 minutes and you will see that it does not soak in. That is the urethane top coat preventing the absorption of the liquid as it was designed to do. H2o is a small molecule when compared to an oily conditioner so if water is not being absorbed by the leather, the larger molecules of a conditioner certainly are not.

Ok, so for those who insist that their leather feels softer after using a conditioner I can suggest three reasons for this. The first is that the conditioner has left an oily film on the leather and it altered the "hand" or feel of the leather. It has not really done anything to the leather, as it can't get to the leather, but it makes the hand feel nice for a short time until it is rubbed off or evaporates.

The other reason is that the conditioner likely contains a good deal of water and that it is raising the humidity level in the proximity of the leather. If this happens, the leather may absorb the water molecules and plump up and feel softer. The thing about this is that a wipe down with a wrung out watered cotton towel would accomplish the exact same thing.

The third reason is that the term conditioner has no defined meaning. Who knows what is in the bottle labeled Leather Conditioner? What one company calls a conditioner another might call a protectant. Whatever your "conditioner" is will just give you the impression the leather is softer when you touch it since it is slick. It is certainly not "conditioned" since it cannot absorb into the leather or vinyl portion of your seats. Bottom line is the industry has too many vague definitions as to exactly what "conditioning" is.

Leather is made soft in the tanning process and then sealed. You cannot add oils back through the urethane topcoat of protected leather. Leather becomes hard if it loses its needed hydration. Dry leather shrinks and feels hard. Much the same way a chamois gets hard when it is dry. Rehydrate the chamois and it becomes soft again. Rehydrate unprotected leather seats and they should soften to the degree designed in the original tanning process. Think about it.

I never use products that contain neat's-foot, mink, or other oils, silicone, aloe, or any other odd, useless item, but often the labels doesn't tell you what is in the bottle. This includes Leatherique, Lexol, 303 Protectant, Armor All, Zaino, etc., etc. In my experience, these products do nothing but sit on top of the urethane top coating until your clothing wipes them off. In the meantime, they collect dust and dirt which is then ground into your seats and stitching as you slide across the seat getting in and out much like sandpaper. 90% of your seat damage comes from this!

The only real, non-coated leather I have seen in a non-exotic car in the past 20 years is a Ford "Big Ranch" Truck. That is it! Take a look at one someday that is a year or more old. The seats will be a complete mess! Being uncoated everything soaks into them such as beer, soda, spew, jizz, body oil, urine, grease, dirt, etc. You will be happy the leather in your car is "coated" after seeing this. Remember, the reason this stuff doesn't soak into your seat is the same reason "conditioners" will not soak in so don't use them!

I vacuum the leather in my Tacoma, Expedition and Lambo Gallardo and wipe it down with a wrung out watered (damp) towel weekly. This includes dashboard, door inserts, etc. When they get dirty, I clean them with delicate soap like Woolite (10 to 1 ratio) or a highly diluted all-purpose cleaner, A very nice, gentle product is Leathermasters Foam Cleaner. You can buy it at AutoGeek, Amazon, EBay, etc. Leather Master Foam Cleaner is suitable for all leather types including Aniline, Protected, Synthetic (vinyl), Nubuck and Suede Leather.

After cleaning, and before the seats dry, get the cleaning product out/off the seats with a wet towel. Not a damp towel, a wet, but not dripping wet, towel. Finish by wiping off and sucking up the moisture from the wet towel with a dry towel. Use several dry towels if necessary. The key is to absorb as much of the cleaner as possible. This ensures all of the cleaner was removed. Just a damp towel for normal maintenance and cleaning. That is it! Your leather will look like brand new for many years to come! My C6 is ten years old and the seats still look like brand new!

You are going to read a lot of people who make comments disagreeing with me. Just conduct the two above tests and make your own decisions. Does a drop of water soak into the seat or just sit on top until it evaporates? Does the backing of your seat material on the side pieces (bolster) have foam or cloth on the back? Remember, your seats may feel softer after applying a "conditioner," but go back in a day or two and see if they still feel that way. Once the conditioner dries on the seats and on your hands, this softness is gone!

Last example how leather needs nothing more than a simple wipe with a damp cloth. You know that fine leather and recliner couch you own? When was the last time you conditioned it with Lexol, Latherique, Zaino, etc.? Never! And I bet it still looks like brand new. How could this be if you need to smear leather conditioner and cleaners all over it all the time? Truth be known....do nothing and it will last forever!!!! Enuf said!

 

Interesting. I'll have to research. One thing I do know is my trucks "leather" started showing wear prior to putting any conditioner. Since the first application of conditioner, the signs of wear have greatly decreased except for the squares on the bottom seat.

 

I used to use Lexol and tried it on my wife’s Lexus. I like the factory matte look of new leather and the lexol made the coated leather too glossy for my taste. I did some research on leathers and how these newer leathers have a coating on them so traditional leather cleaners and methods, don’t really work. I found a product from Leather Masters, Protection Cream and Strong Cleaner (don’t let the name fool you, it’s not harsh for your leather) and these are made for coated leathers. Cleaned as per the directions and conditioned with the cream, the leather looks like the day we drove the car home. I tossed the Lexol and now only use the Leather Masters products for the Lexus and my Clazzio Seat Covers.

 

Your profile page has no information about your Taco. Just some silly, useless Eyetalian thingy But, I will assume you have a 3rd Gen with leather trimmed seats based on your posts.

Are you saying the center part of our leather trimmed seats is actually leather (aniline)? The rest is vinyl? I find the texture of the ass part of the seats to be completely foreign feeling. Not like any leather I have ever felt. It must be the coating?

And yes, I agree any conditioner is a complete waste. However, getting suntan lotion off is a bear. On the seats, on the doors, etc. If it is aniline, I am thinking using Mequiar's leather cleaner. Thoughts?

 

I take back my original post. This is happening to my seats as well.

 

Been using VLR on my Clazzios and it's been great. Not sure which is more real leather though.

 

Thanks for the long reply. Just curious, where does your knowledge/expertise come from?

 

The leather in my NSX started breaking down back in 2010 and it seemed like the more I conditioned it, the worse it got. I called or e-mailed every leather expert I could find on the Internet. This is a compilation of what I was told from many of these experts.

 

I’ve always used Meguires Leather Conditioner on my other vehicles and condition it once a year, either before summer or after. Keeping leather moisturized prevents the heat from drying it out and leading to premature cracking. Even if a portion is faux leather, it doesn’t matter in my opinion. These materials have elasticity to them because of the natural moisture they are manufactured with. No elasticity means it’s drying out, shriveling or getting tighter all around so it will not take well to say someone sitting on it continuously our getting in and out as that’s an element of stretching (just sitting on it) that it may not be able to handle if not softened or maintained. In summary, the key is to keep them loose and flexible by moisturizing them aka conditioning.

Drivers side left bolster has always been the first part of leather to starting creasing and cracking.

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

Try the water drop test. Nothing can get through the urethane coating.....nothing!

 

..but does it keep it moisturized lifetime? And when it wears out, is it noticeable or patchy?

 

When it dries out it is done. There is nothing you can do to re-moisturize. If there was, the sweat from your back and butt, coffee, soda, etc., would be able to soak in and ruin the appearance long before it will dry out.

My Lambo Gallardo is ten years old and the seats look like brand new. I just wipe them down several times a year with a moist towel. Nothing more! I am doing the same on my 17 Tacoma Limited.

 

Sorta what I said in a much less sophisticated, comsuming manner. You are correct though.

 

Thanks, sorry I have to admit I did not read all the posts when I probably should have so with that said, what ^ @GR8APE said!

 

I was just trying to pat myself on the back ,my wife says I do it all the time because I have to. Thanks man.