Thread: leather seats - any suggestions to improve cracks/scuffs?

Most of the cleaners and creams on the market are more for either 'cleaning' or 'conditioning' in order to slow down the degradation of the leather; so I doubt that anything on the market is going to bring back the area's that are already cracked.. although it may assist a little with slowing down the progress...

New leather will be as you said expensive but there are some decent leatherettes (fake leathers) on the market now days (not like how they used to be) it might be worth getting a quote from an upholsterer... or have you thought of just covering them with seat covers?

That leather needs lots of feeding to keep it supple. It is not so much that the leather has cracked but the paint they use to colour the leather has cracked.

There are leather repair/restoration kits and there are professionals that can bring your leather back - try googling car leather repair or restoration and plenty of options should come up.

Seats that are being used (like the drivers) should be cleaned and fed once a month and seats that are not used at the send of autumn (so the seats are supple for winter) and at the start of summer so they have oils in them which slowly evaporates in the heat and sun.

Garry

Connoly Hide Conditioner, a.k.a. Hide FOOD, is supposed to be the ants-pants & bees knees...

Try this link to see what it looks like...

Connolly Hide Care Leather Conditioner - NEW!!!!! | eBay

Dunno if it really IS that good, but I've ordered a jar of it. - My leather is so sun-damaged that the piping is wrinkled and the leather is hard as an old saddle.

By the way, the American Food & Drug Admin. has kicked up about leather foods.... so they can't be called 'food', even if its (dead) leather that consumes it... Gotta be named 'Conditioner' or 'Treatment'

Any good saddlery shop should be able to supply you with leather dressing, Joseph Luddy products is one that comes to mind

Joseph Lyddy's " neatsfoot oil ", part of Lyddy's horse care products. Will restore pliability to dried out leather, does tend to make the leather a bit darker, but doesn't leave a greasy residue. Bit of a satin finish. Bob

I am not sure horse products are suitable for car leather - very different products. Car leather is painted where saddle products tend to be more natural.

There are plenty of dedicated car products and I am not sure I would risk my car leather using other products.

Garry

Originally Posted by HangOver

Don't really want to I imagine it would cost a lot.

Neither do I .........

Highway Motor Trimmers - Motor Body Trimmers - Midvale, WA - Yellow Pages®

Old school boys,


Cheers
Mike

Originally Posted by garrycol

I am not sure horse products are suitable for car leather - very different products. Car leather is painted where saddle products tend to be more natural.

Garry

Basically you're correct, the surface is a polyurethane and its intimately bonded to/in the leather surface. Its contains colouring.

(not just LR, but nearly all leather-trimmed vehicles, the exceptions will be clearly advertised and priced accordingly)


From an hour or so on Google, its clear that saddle-soap is a Bad Idea, as is the use of products with oils or solvents, as they either damage the surface or sit on top of it.

Water-based products can permeate the poly, and moisturise the underlying leather. - The oily molecules are much larger.

And theres a good chance that I've wasted $30 on the Connolly's. Ah well, I blew more on the RR, and the Connolly's can be used elsewhere in the house.

Here's one site that is mentioned regularly.

Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products

Seems we need to do the hard (research) yards... or find a REAL leather expert...