'How To' Restore your Leather

[93nighthawk]

I might get flamed for this, but oh well.

Here is how I cleaned my leather after 2-1/2+ years of being neglected.

1. Scrub them with a tooth brush and regular 409 cleaner* used liberally. EDIT: Use Simply Green or Bon Ami first before trying 409, 409 might bleach seats, it did not on mine but another is having problems with his seats bleaching. Do it in small areas and wipe frequently with a clean terry cloth. ( I went threw about 40 of them for the whole car.)

2. Spray distilled water liberally after fully cleaning a seat and wipe off.

3. Let dry.

4. Apply high quality leather conditioner. (I used Meguiar's leather conditioner cream)

As you can see from the pics, it did wonders for my seats. Now this is a last ditch effort before you spend of a grand to have them recovered. This will not fix rips/worn spots. It took me about 12 hours to do the whole car. I should have gotten pics of each seat if I was thinking right, I was just amazed out how the seats were turning out.

* I tried using Meguiar's leather cleaner but it did not cut the grit out

BEFORE:

After:

 

[Vitamin G]

Damn! Nice results! I'm gonna try this before re-upholstering ... you may have just saved me a ton of $.

 

[93nighthawk]

Oh, I went threw a bottle and a 1/2 of 409 for the whole car.

If you want to splurge, I would suggest getting one of those cheap battery operated tooth brushes to do the dirty work. (My hands hurt.)

 

[MilTownSHO]

Looks awesome, but after seeing Mocha seats, I'm sure glad I have a black interior now once agian!

 

[blk\blk90]

Looks awesome, but after seeing Mocha seats, I'm sure glad I have a black interior now once agian!

I 2nd that

 

[91taurisho]

For sale: Electric seat cleaner! Even comes with 4 extra cleaning heads! $450 OBO.

J/K!!! LOL!

On a serious note, I'm gonna have to try this! Is it just the pics or did it remove some of the worn "cracks" where the leather has folded and put a crease in it?

Good job!

 

[93nighthawk]

For sale: Electric seat cleaner! Even comes with 4 extra cleaning heads! $450 OBO.

J/K!!! LOL!

Thanks for the Idea, now I know how I can afford the blower for my SHO.

On a serious note, I'm gonna have to try this! Is it just the pics or did it remove some of the worn "cracks" where the leather has folded and put a crease in it?

Good job!

Yes, most of the creases will dissapear. They are created by dirt and body oils gathering in one spot. When you remove them and put conditioner on, the leather will return to its original state. If it was warmer out, (Highs around 65) more of the creases would have disapeared. I will probably work more on some of the creases when we are having 100 degree days and the leather is nice and warm.

 

[91taurisho]

Thanks for the Idea, now I know how I can afford the blower for my SHO.



Yes, most of the creases will dissapear. They are created by dirt and body oils gathering in one spot. When you remove them and put conditioner on, the leather will return to its original state. If it was warmer out, (Highs around 65) more of the creases would have disapeared. I will probably work more on some of the creases when we are having 100 degree days and the leather is nice and warm.

That's MY IDEA!!!!!!!!! I'll sell it to ya for $10,000 though!

So in my 85 degree garage they will come out easier??? I have time so I may do this soon. Thanks for the help!

 

[93nighthawk]

So in my 85 degree garage they will come out easier???

The warmer the leather, the more malleable it is. So you want to get it as warm as you can. The cranks will disappear quicker that way and the dirt will come out faster also.

 

[cyanmauve]

Looks like you got some really nice results using your method. My leather has never been that dirty, but you might try using Lexol's leather cleaner before using 409. The cleaner is pH balanced, so you don't run any risk of discoloring or damaging the leather when you are cleaning it.

 

[SHO-93-ATX]

I did sorta the same thing but different.
step 1: Grab a vaccum, SHOP vac, or any type vaccume- even portable one... Suck out the loose dirt from the seats, so it wont spread on step 2...
for the **** of it, vaccum ur carpet too

step 2: get a water bottle( pray of course)
put 3 Tbsp in it with this this power stuff called Bon Ami( 79cents a can)
WORKS WONDERS...
fill to top with water, swish the bottle around...
USE this to clean the grime, dirt, and oils out of the seats. USE SOFT RAGS!!!
dont use paper towel... Whne you get a lil dirt on one side, switch sides or grab a new rag- You'll use alot on this step.

Step 3: Bo out and buy a GOOD leather cleaner, this is what makes it "Clean"
The Bon Ami gets pretty much all the dirt out, but deep down there is still dirt in the leather. To get rid of this get a good FOAM... but leather cleaner.
cover the area of the seat you want to clean first. let it sit for about 1 min, the foam will start to dissapear and become liquidy- with a gental Rag, Scrub gently. After that work up on the back of the seat, ect...
After doing this to all 4 seats, its even good to spray down your console center with this "foam"
When i did this, it cleaned out the grime too.

Step 4: Grab a conditioner and rub it onto the seats- USE A LIQUID CONDITIONER-
let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe once again. If you want better results do another coat.

Outcome: nice glossy leather, very few cracks, and a great smell
Crack form from grease, dirt, scums, and even water that sits.

If anyone wants to use this option, its really a valueble tool on how to clean your once old leather, that comes back to life.
good luck.

 

[91taurisho]

Somebody should sticky this thread!

 

[Vitamin G]

Somebody should sticky this thread!

I second that

 

[Silver95]

guys, i used SIMPLE GREEN and a TOOTH BRUSH. It did wonders to my old 140K mile MTX. I wish i could have taken a before and after pic, it was amazing. The plastic lid piece for the center console with the little cracks in them? It got rid of those. I do have a pic that i took of the seats after i cleaned them tho.

 

[Camarok]

I 2nd that

I've got the 3rd!

 

[Vitamin G]

93nighthawk: How light (color) did the leather get? I started on the passenger seat last night (409 and a toothbrush) and it's getting pretty light ... more like beige versus mocha.

If it turns out that the 409 is bleaching the leather, is there a product that would add the color back in? Something like shoe polish for seats? I guess the reason I'm concerned is that the top half of the back seat is in really good condition and I can tell that once I'm finished cleaning the front seats they won't match :ruhroh:



Silver95: Nice job! It looks good from the pics! BTW Did Simple Green change the color of the leather? I'm just trying to find the best solution for the least $ ... and I can't find Bon Ami or Lexol as mentioned above.

 

[SHO-93-ATX]

To be honest, my leather came back to life, it was a lil faded and looked like crap, but it really restored some of its years. i dont have a camera cuz im too poor. but mine turned out real good, and i only spent like 15$ on conditioner and cleaner for the leather.
if someone uses my way of cleaning the leather, let me know how it works for you?
need some pointers?
email me at [email protected]
-Bret

 

[Silver95]

no, the leather stayed the same color, it did get the original color back when the grime was taken off of it.

 

[morpho18]

in the back seat of my SHO there is a horrible rust colored stain on the leather that I absolutely cannon get out. I don't know if there was something metal sitting their for a long time before I bought the car, and the sun burnt the pattern into the leather, or if it is actual rust that has penetrated the surface. It looks god awful. My front seats look worse than the original pics on this thread, so sometime soon I will be doing some deep cleaning on the interior.

Also, there is a small chunk of leather missing from the rear seat, not just a rip or tear, but a hole in the seat. can this be patched somehow? My brother was the previous owner of my SHO and he was about cars. He tried to wire his own stereo system in with the JBL system and in doing so, cut out a 3 in square of leather from behind the arm rest in the rear seat to route wires through . Ya'll think it would be hard to find leather to match the mocha color in my SHO?

The hippy also burned insense cones inside of the car, and I've just recently got that smell to go away.

I really wish I would have taken a before and after pic of what I've done to the SHO so far. It was almost ready to go to the crusher, but some TLC and 3000 bones later, its finally showing hope.

 

[jelloslug]

Check out the products from www.leatherique.com . I have used there cleaner, conditioner, crack filler, and dye and have been very pleased with the outcome.