Jarhead

I was the OP who started that thread and the easiest thing for you to do is go back in this thread, start at my post and read forward. There is one link to a brief video suggesting that you can tell by pushing with your thumb against the leather or vinyl and telling by the sound. I tried that, and I could not elicit a distinctly different sound from the leather and the vinyl.

I wrote Lexus USA and asked them what was leather and what was not and they referred me to my dealer. Thanks a lot for nothing.

For my 2010 i25O the consensus was that the face of the seat, that is the perforated centers and the material that immediately abuts those centers is leather and all else is vinyl. Trouble is, they are so good at making the vinyl mimic leather that it's really not easy to tell. And, of course, you don't want to use products designed for leather on vinyl and vice versa.

I was even considering driving to my cobbler, an older man who has been working with leather his entire life and asking him to feel the seats and confirm that it's just the faces of the seats that are leather.

Finally, OTOH, I have been using Lexol on what I believed were the leather seats of my wife's 2005 Subaru Outback Wagon, L.L. Bean edition, for 8 years. After joining this thread, I emailed a fellow who maintains an encyclopedic site on all things Subaru, told him about this thread, and asked him if he were absolutely positive what was leather and what was vinyl on the Subaru. He answered that it was the perforated center of the seat only. All the rest was vinyl. Well, I have using Lexol, designed for leather, on that vinyl and it looks great 8 years later, so it would _appear_ that using a product designed for leather on vinyl certainly didn't hurt the vinyl, but I still wonder if using a product designed to treat vinyl on leather is a good idea.

Jarhead

When I bought my first BMW in 1996, I researched what quality products were then available for treating vinyl and settled on Vinylex. I have also used, once in awhile, the Meg's 303. I used the 303 on the door, trunk, and hood "gaskets", the vinyl strips that make the watertight seal when you close the door/trunk, in order to keep them soft and supple.

The Meg 303 does indeed leave a shine where the Vinylex does not; both have stood the test of time for me.

jfelbab

FWIW, 303 is not a Meguiar's product. The product from Meguiar's I made reference to was Quik Interior Detailer. Meguiars is an automotive surface care specialty company for both consumers and professionals that has been in business for over 112 years.
Meguiar's: http://www.meguiars.com/en/heritage/

303 Aerospace Protectant is from Gold Eagle, the same company that brings you such products as STA-BIL and HEET. They are also the source for several hundred OEM private labeled products.
Gold Eagle: http://www.goldeagle.com/about/

Vinylex is a product from Summit Industries, a company that brings you Lexol leather products, Lantiseptic skin protection and a cough and cold medicine, Creomulsion.
Summit Industries: http://www.summitinds.com/History.aspx

Most of our leather is Protected leather which in many ways is similar to vinyl. When we look at our automotive leather we are looking at paint. The leather in our cars is painted and has a urethane topcoat. When caring for the protected leather in our cars, it is often overlooked that we are really cleaning and treating a painted surface and not the leather itself.

Much of the vinyl in our car is indeed hard to tell from leather. It is engineered to look, feel and perform like real leather. If you can see the backside of the material it is easy to tell them apart but in most of our cars, this is not an easy task. Fortunately, caring for our leather and the engineered vinyl look-alike material is not much different. Keep it clean and protected, and it will look good and last a long time.

Rogarven

Thanks for all the great info here. I have been using Lexol conditioner and the cleaner for several years. I had not heard of using the 10 to 1 Woolite. May try that as well. I would always try to lather up the Lexol cleaner then dry and put the Lexol conditioner on last. Here in the desert Southwest, leather doesn't seem to hold up as well as more humid places. I try to keep the seats as moist as possible.

Rogarven

After reading ALL pages here, I am convinced that the Lexol did not work that well for me on my Accord leather seats, they ended up cracked and then split. Granted, wife had parked out in the sun 5 days a week, but it did not hold up like I thought it should have. I used both the cleaner and the conditioner. Anyway, I am going to try Leather Masters on the mint ES350 we just got and hope it does better. Also gong to change to LM on the Caddy that I drive. Hope it can survive the West TX sun and dry heat. Thanks for all the expertise here.

jayclapp

If you really want to protect the leather (and all interior parts) you need to use a car cover as much as possible. The more use, the better.

BertL

...and be sure you do damp clean towel wipe downs of the leather in-between the LM applications - as often as you can (I quickly do mine every time I wash the car/truck). Hydration is the key. The LM applications themselves won't keep the leather as subtle as it should be. Good luck!

Max707

Anyone here use some of the material from their third row jump seats to patch up the seat bottom outside section on the driverside front bucket seat? Figure an upholstery shop could do this pretty cheap. That section of leather is cracked on mine, had to use some super glue to keep it together. The rest of my seat's look good.. Las Vegas dry heat and sun is really hard on leather and rubber .

Rogarven

Thanks, I always thought that water would not be good for the leather. One thing that is different this time is that the car is not going to sit out in the hot sun 5 days a week. Both wife and I are retired and both cars will be in the garage most of the time. The Accord was sitting out in the sun for many hours while wife was at school. I do know that it is important to not let pebbles or small hard objects get in the cracks as they will split the seams of the seats. Thanks again for all suggestions.

jfelbab

Standing water is bad for leather but wiping down the leather regularly with a wrung out cotton towel is very good. It leaves a moist, but not overly wet, surface that allows the leather to acquire the proper hydration through a process of transpiration, the passage of water vapor through the coating of your protected leather).

Moisture is the life blood of leather. Too much and you can get mold or can lead to hardening, too little and the leather will shrink and stiffen. Proper hydration will keep the leather plump and soft. It will also help the leather to resist creases and wrinkles which often lead to cracks.

puckhead85

Can someone recommend a leather clearer and conditioner. What seems to be the standard here like Sonax wheel clear we all agree that it's awesome... what about for leather care?

I want to avoid this - https://www.clublexus.com/forums/8350139-post9.html

Thanks!

rustyd

Read back to the beginning of this, there are many options of brads people have used and will recomend.

CharlesBs

Fascinating post I well thanks for your wonderful tips regarding on the car.

greeknasty

so i skimmed most of these pages..and was curious what type of leather is in a 2014 RX? Would using a "leather" conditioner be a waste of time if its vinyl protected? I intended on using the lexus brand leather products but dont want to waste time or money if im not even protecting anything really.

Max707

Get the 303 aero from amazon that's what I did. All Lexus leather is plastic coated so you treat it like vinyl. If you have the Nuluxe it's vinyl so you treat it like vinyl, same with my LX plastic coated leather treat like vinyl.