Leather Conditioner
 

Hey guys , I am new to these threads , not sure if I am in the right spot ,
What products do you guys use for cleaning and condIition the lether on the rx450h

Just any leather conditioner wipes you can buy.

Wipes? Jeeez! To keep the leather from drying out and cracking, you need to rub some good emolliants into the leather, and a "wipe" won't do that. At best, it might take off some of the spilled chocolate sauce.
For some actual conditioning, and a fabulous smell, try the Zaino Leather Conditioner, used by many detailers and generally considered among the best. Lexol is not too bad, and is more readily available.

Use this:

Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the Best Leather Conditioner 8oz Bottle
by Leather Honey Leather Conditioner. Bought it on Amazon, from Auto speciality retailer.

Product Features
Softens, moisturizes and promotes flexibility leaving your leather feeling and looking beautiful!
Water repellent formula prolongs the life of all types of leather, including leather furniture and upholstery, automobile and motorcycle seats, boots, gloves, purses, saddles and tack.
Deeply penetrates into the leather's pores to protect new leather and rejuvenate old leather.
Made in the USA by a small family business since 1968.
Non-toxic, non-solvent, not sticky, no odor and does not contain silicone. A little goes a long way!

I just use the Weiman leather wipes.

Zaino - Leather in a Bottle. Good stuff

I have used Turtle wax platinum leather cleaner and conditioner. It is a cream based product and seems to make the leather more supple and smooth. It also cleans any stains or marks off. I use it on our RX and our 02 T-Bird. If your vehicle sits outside a lot in the hot summer sun, I would definately use a leather conditioner of some kind to help keep the seats from drying out and cracking. Once or twice a year would be recommended.
Cheers,
Jim

Pinnacle - http://www.autogeek.net/pin410.html

lexol is garbage. Leaves the leather all greasy feeling.

I agree, that is what I use. Their wax is awesome too.:thumbup:

I don't know about Turtle Wax, and I don't want to knock a product based upon a character from Entourage (love the vodka), but if a single product purports to both clean and condition leather, it is probably not doing a very good job at either. Conditioners and cleaners are very different chemically, and all the products for leather that I have ever seen discussed at Autopia by the professionals is a single purpose product, designed to either clean or condition. Generally, as I recall, anything that is seriously cleaning the leather is taking emollients from it and drying it out. You must use a conditioner afterwards to keep the leather from getting dry and cracking.
It's why you (or your babe du jour) rubs a skin lotion on her legs (and elsewhere) after a shower. Soap removes the oils from your body, which drys out the skin. Ask a dermatologist (or any girl over 15).

MEP:
Zaino does not make a wax, but polymer sealants. There is a big difference.

I stand corrected. I was using layman's terms. Please forgive me.

Just bought the honey leather conditioner at amazon, free 2 day prime shipping before it expires. Will apply this after my wipes are out.

Zaino here as well

Meguairs Cleaner and Conditioner spray, I wipe spray it on, smear it around with my hands, and let the car sit in the sun. Leather is porous and the heat makes it sink in.

Wipe with MF cloth and your done :)

Thanks for the imput, I used maguairs and it left the leather kind of greasy and with "streaks" not too happy with it , also if you get overspray onto other surfaces it marks it. Sounds like Zaino might be the way to go next time , thank you

I use the same Maguairs, it's a bit greasy. Still like it anyway. Looks newer. But i hate the spray. Next time, i'll use a soft cloth instead.

I've never heard of or used a "conditioner" (as opposed to a cleaner) applied in a spray. The good ones are too thick.
The two best things about the Zaino conditioner, besides its effect on the leather, are the fabulous rich smell, and the way it leaves your hands feeling after an application. They smell and feel good, too, and at no extra charge.

exactly what are the steps to keep the leather looking good? The wrinkles on my 5K RX driver seat look worse than my 80 year old grandma. what do I need to buy besides the conditioner, or is that sufficient?

RXSF, the seats do seem to wrinkle worse than previous gens. I'll be at the dealer next week and ask them what to do about it.

Please keep us posted on this Anita. It seems to me that the leather in that area should be a little thicker to avoid this. This would alos give it extra wear as this the worst part of the interior for tears and discoloration.

My previous Lexus I had since 1998, bought new, and traded it not long ago. Its leather seats were in amazing condition for its age, looked like 3 year old car. This is what I used: not an infomercial :-)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IS3HV0

Professionals in auto detailing swear by this stuff...

Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the Best Leather Conditioner 8oz Bottle
by Leather Honey Leather Conditioner. Bought it on Amazon, from Auto speciality retailer.

Product Features:
Softens, moisturizes and promotes flexibility leaving your leather feeling and looking beautiful!

Water repellent formula prolongs the life of all types of leather, including leather furniture and upholstery, automobile and motorcycle seats, boots, gloves, purses, saddles and tack.

Deeply penetrates into the leather's pores to protect new leather and rejuvenate old leather.

Made in the USA by a small family business since 1968.

Non-toxic, non-solvent, not sticky, no odor and does not contain silicone. A little goes a long way!

RX asks: "The wrinkles on my 5K RX driver seat look worse than my 80 year old grandma. what do I need to buy besides the conditioner, or is that sufficient?"
Maybe grandma needs some skin lotion.

Maybe grandma could use some Leather Honey Leather Conditioner.

Well, I have to toss in Leatherique for consideration.

The leather in Lexus is coated as was pointed out earlier but this is not some super coat which remains impenetrable forever. It begins to crack and wear immediately allowing not only conditioners to penetrate but sweat, body oils, dirt and other enemies of leather. So, don't let someone tell you it is useless to condition your leather.

Leatherique comes in two bottles, one is the conditioner and the other is the cleaner. Using it is somewhat counterintuitive in that you apply the penetrative conditioner first then the cleaner.

The process is not easy. It is best done when the weather is hot to allow the most penetration and three applications over a three day period are optimal. You can see the conditioner soaking in and becoming dry and tacky between applications.

Frankly, most people will never do this process because it is simply too intrusive in your life especially if you have children or use the car in business. LOL, to use the car during the procedure it is de rigueur to place a large black plastic lawn bag over the drivers seat to make provisions runs. :) Tres chic!

After the final 24 hour soak period use the cleaner on a soft white cloth and clean the conditioner remnants off the leather. The rag will become dirty and should be changed as required.

I do this once a year and just use a damp cloth until the next time. I haven't used it on my 330 as yet but will in August. Here are some shots of my 2001 RX300 from last year, this leather is 10 years old...

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/7924433c.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae86/VRF1/arm2.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae86/VRF1/arm3.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/617cdee2.jpg

It's fairly expensive, about 55.00 for 16oz bottles of the conditioner and cleaner (both, not each) but you can get two (three coat) applications for the car.

http://leatherique.com

I used Leatherique once on my SC400 and it worked really well. It is expensive, but highly regarded. It is easy to use, but the procedure is time consuming and cumbersome. From what I gather it is especially recommended for leather that is already pretty well dried out, or at least on the way. Since then i have been applying Zaino conditioner, which prevents the leather from reaching the point at which Leatherique is necessary.
Using Leatherique on any kind of a regular basis (once a year?) would probably be nice, but who has that kind of time?
Like toast, it's a process that just can't be rushed.

I use M brand GC leather cleaner/conditioner.
It really depends your leather condition: If your leather is in good condition, go with the above or similar. These will keep it nice and supple. If your leather is older with dry creases or worse, you might wanna try a stand alone conditioner eg. leatherique

I have been using Zymol Treat (leather conditioner) and Zymol leather cleaner as I use their estate wax with good result. For their leather products, first the cleaner, warm the leather under sun or with heat for 15 minutes and then apply the leather conditioner, Treat. The Treat is cow collagen-based.

I use Bickmore http://www.bickmore.com/bickmore/Lea...are/Bick4.html

It's recommended on exotic leathers. I use this stuff on my home family room leather furniture too. Good stuff.

http://www.dailyequine.com/horsesadd...onditioner.jpg

Leather Conditioner
 

Hmm. I decided to make a response after seeing some of the products people were recommending. Granted, I have used Zaino for a car wax (before using Rejex) and I would assume that is a sufficient product.

Personally, for all our cars and anything I have leather, I've been using Lexol.

http://www.lexol.com/

I've found this stuff to be great, and apparently, unlike some other conditioners it uses no synthetics, which sounds good for me. I've been around some car shops in Vancouver, and I've only heard good things about Lexol. The owner of a shop in North Vancouver, Wagstaffe Automotive, who is a Austin Mini rebuild specialist and has repainted my dad's Porsche 944 Turbo (won a concours in Whistler for 944's) and rebuilt my friend's rear-ended Audi A4 (mechanically perfect since, including the intricate trunk mechanism) suggested that he would use Lexol on his entire interior, plastic, anything. So do I, and I've only great things to say about it.

Lexol is the only leather care I use, I use it on my leather dress shoes and casual shoes(I am in particular OCD on keeping my shoes white or black), and to even consider switching from Lexol...I don't know what could even be suggested.

Anyways that's my two cents, I hope this is helpful.

I have used Lexal on my leather for years. It works well, just another idea. I am sure many of the products posted work equally as well.

dirty leather cracks in 2010 RX 350??
 

My 2010 RX350 drivers seat cream colored leather. has worsening what appears to be spreading dirty cracks. This is "supposedly top line perforated center seat aniline leather.... My wifes 2003 GS 300 has far better leather! It is twice as old and looks twice as good. Anyway looks like its unreachable to cleaning materials since it probably under the clear coating!!! and spreading at right angles to the crack. So how does one remove the damn clear coating so the dirt under it gets cleaned (Pay more to get less syndrome!) Help . Thanks.

Usually this will happen when the leather isn't taken car of in the beginning, if its been there for a while you mot likely can only lighten the dirty color. Completely removing out of tan/light grey etc.. is very difficult. You have to start conditioning the leather right when you get the car. As far as clear coat im not sure what you mean, the dirt is most likely embedded in the leather.

I suggest calling Lexus, or your dealer (if they care)
Lexus leather has cheaped out, and isn't even in the same league as their competitors.
Their 'semi-aniline' is so thin, that it suffers wear at a rate far faster than other manufacturers.