SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys:

I have noticed that when buying a car that has not been garage kept, the upper leather can get a little hard. Anyone know how to re-condition this leather to get nice and soft again?

How about mink oil?

Thanks,

Ryan

Classified

Kind of wondering the same thing actually. Anyone know?

shern

iTrader: (6)

Once the leather dries out, it's a done deal. There is nothing you can do.

I do know that there are procedures where the top level of the layer is scraped off and a new softer coating is applied. I blieve that is what was done on my fronts by the previous owner as you can see where the new coating ends under the headrests. However, it sucks! It is sticky as hell, especially in the summer time. I can't wait to recover my seats.

If your seats are dried out and hard, no amount of Lexol will bring them back to life. You're better off giving leatherseats.com a call and recover them.

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

I bought some Supra seats for my SC that were a bit untended to. I used the leather cleaner and conditioner made by Meguiars in their Gold Class product line. It ran ~$8 from the Auto Part Store. Here is a link.

The product not only cleaned the leather but made it more smooth. It also gave the car a lasting "buttery leather" smell similar to "new car" smell (~2 good weeks). I was very satisfied with the product.

Obviously, there is no magic product that can be applied to repair cracked leather, but the product I used did restore the leather quite significantly to where the cracks are much less noticeable than before. The dirty rag I was left with at the end of the application also told me just how dirty the seats were before I got to them. It was worth $8.

xinvazn

use lexol, IMO, its better then meguiars

SC400MAN

iTrader: (1)

Griots on the west coast offers conditioners and cleaners, but also a leather rejuvinator. It did make the leather on my old SC softer for a short time - a month or more. It is a thick liquid that you put on, let absorb in and then you wipe off the excess. It's worth a try. It is not expensive.

tuan92129

+ 1. you can never re-soften the seats. This would require re-tanning the hide...but you can't do that. If you take out the leather seat cover, you will see the back side of it, where its kinda fuzzy really stiff. Even if you put a high qualit conditioner on that (which is the actual exposed hide itself) it gets hard in a couple days when the conditioner dries out. The leather has a clear coat as well as a color coat on top of the leather, and so the conditioner never really reaches all the way through the leather. The only way to fix it is to replace the leather with new covers from new leather seats .com...or just ignore it

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Gang:

If you will go back and read my original post, it stated leather that has been in the sun, that is only partially hard, not stiff, cracked, split, sanded, etc... So, in extreme cases, I agree, replace the leather. Since I posted this thread up, I did some research, and found out a lot of things about what most people think is "good" to put on our leather interiors, such as:

• Lexol
• MaGuires
• etc

What I have found out is that most all leather products on the market use different combinations of petroleum based ingredients, waxes, and silicon. All of these actually serve to further harden the leather, and cause it to lose even more of it's own natural moisture and oils. This will actually speed up the process of deterioration. Natural oils and ingredients seem to work well at restoring leather. Since I really want to know, I will test it myself, and let you guys know how it goes...

Ryan

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

I am going to try Leatherique...I understand there is nothing else like it on the market. I will post back to you what my results are like.

Ryan

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

My leather is in decent shape, but was looking to get it a little softer. I've been using Lexus leather conditioner with some success (with better results than Lexol, Meguiars, and Eagle leather products). Leatherique seems to have been only used by a few, but what were your results? I do understand that you have to cover up the seats and let it sit in hot weather for a few days to get the product worked into the leather.

Anyone else try other leather conditioners that have a basis of comparison? That is, if you've used conditioner A, how does it compare to conditioner B, C, D, etc.?

Thanks for any input.

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

I use meguires atm only because that is what is in my arsenal. I do plan on trying some Lexol from many recommendations for conditioning. The name almost implies it is for our cars, but just a coincidence. Key to keeping it in good shape is limited UV rays (tint) , garage, parking decks, sun shades. And frequent application of protectants. Say once a month minimum.. once every 2 weeks is better.

radicalrev

iTrader: (2)

Lexol FTW....

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

I have used Lexol. It cleans well, but I did not notice any change in the softness or condition of the leather in my previous Lexus interior. the Leatherique on the other hand, is phenomenal... This stuff reconditioned and softened up the leather. It also plumped up the leather so that it became more like it was in it's original condition when new. It also richens up the color and texture of the leather. If you leave it out in the sun wrapped in saran wrap after slathering the Leatherique on it, only leave the plastic wrap for the day. As the interior cools down, moisture will form, so just remove it at the end of the day. I also recommend applying the rejuvenator daily for several days and leaving your car in the sun for optimal results.

Ryan

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the headsup w/ Leatherique. I'll give it a shot for $55 (Rejuvenator oil and Pristine Clean, 32oz. of each)--won't know unless I try eh? Will post back later. However, I read that you really want the outside temp as high as possible, so I may wait until later this spring when the temps rise so that Leatherique fully soaks into the leather fibers.

As a side note, I heard from an unsubstantiated source that Leatherique MIGHT soften your rubber seat cushion (lies under the leather cover) and gives you more cushy seat bottom (something I definitely don't want)--any hint of truth to that? Thanks for the info.

I've tried the Lexol (smells like a human cadaver and sits on top of my seat covers, leaves oily residue if you don't fully wipe it up), Meguiars (I'm a big fan of their car care lines overall, but their leather conditioner doesn't do it for me), Eagle (hmm... seems like water with some emoilients in it, nothing special--that was a few years back when I used it ), and Lexus leather conditioner (it works the best out of the above products, but again, looking for more conditioning power--hence I'll give the Leatherique a shot). Thanks for the input so far.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

OEM lexus leather cleaner/conditioner.....