Car Care Tips

CAR CARE TIPS

Written By Greg Dumond
AUTO CARE TIPS
PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT

PROPER CLEANING AND CONDITIONING FOR AUTOMOBILE LEATHER INTERIORS

       When you hear the word "Leather", automatically you think of something that is luxurious, rich, soft and supple and feels like no other material or fabric on earth. We associate fine leather with expensive cars; such as Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Rolls Royce and Jaguar, and generally a car buyer will pay a substantially higher price for the luxury of a leather interior. As a car owner, the extra investment dollars spent for your interior is well worth protecting. A well kept and dressed leather interior will be pliable and lustrous.
    The concept of dressing leather is to feed the hide with a hydrating conditioner, releasing trapped solvents and moisturizing aged leather. Over a period of time neglected leather loses precious moisture and becomes acidic. Combining these two factors with our harmful atmospheric pollution will result in the leather hide's loss of internal lubrication through evaporation, eventually resulting in cracked leather.
    To replace this loss of lubrication, a good collagen based feeding product must be used to condition the leather. Cleaning fine leather is as every bit important as conditioning it. A well cared for interior may only need a dusting or a wipe down with a damp cloth followed up with a light coat of conditioner. If the interior leather is dirty it may be necessary to first apply a good leather cleaner.
    Cautionary measures should be taken whenever cleaning raw leather. Too strong a cleaner can actually strip and remove leather dyes. Your more sensitive leathers are the European variety, particularly found with Mercedes and Volvo beige leathers. If you experience any difficulty with stripping out too much of the dye color, try using a mild non alkaline saddle soap for cleaning the leather. Afterwards you can follow-up with a good leather conditioner.
    Generally most European leathers are raw with no other protective coatings on them. Unlike cotton and fabric type upholstery which have the color dyed on the exterior of the hide - not through and through. Surface dyes are easily removable by an alkaline cleaner that is too strong. Ideally raw leather should be cleaned with a pH balanced cleaner to leave in its natural lubricancy and sheen.
    There is yet another type of leather manufacturer for automobiles. Many of today's domestic leather interiors, although they may be sold as high grade leather, are in fact plactic coated. The underlying leather is treated with a product called "polyvinylchloride plastic" or vinyl. These treated vinyl leathers are protected by a clear layer of vinyl, much the same way a clear coat finish protects the paint of a car. The advantage to this type of treated leather is that it is generally impervious to moisture. However, since no moisture can penetrate the vinyl coating the use of a leather conditioner serves no purpose since it cannot penetrate the leather. The advantages are that this type of leather proves to be maintenance free because of its vinyl coating. To treat this type of leather clean with a good all purpose cleaner and condition the vinyl coated leather with a high quality vinyl conditioner. Nothing looks or feels better than a beautiful piece of leather car furniture!

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