jfelbab

Last try to see if your can grasp this. I've been dealing with leather products and processes for over 50 years and I have leather in some of my vehicles that is over 20 years old so I actually do know what products and processes work, not how I think they should work. Try to reread this a couple times so that you have no confusion about it. OK, got it?

Now lest you still think this is just "MY" opinion, here is a direct quote from the American Leather Chemists Association (ALCA).
Next... No Lexus2000 is not a paid troll. He has had good results using Leatherique, as have others. Many folks have had good success using any number of products. I know people who swear by saddle soap for cleaning leather. I know people who love glossy looking leather. I don't believe I specifically mentioned Leatherique in this thread. With any car care product, if it works for you, use it and be happy. If you ask for my opinion I'll freely give it based on my knowledge and experience but I'm not getting into an argument over it. Use whatever you like.

You mentioned Leather Masters Leather Vital, a product for older, neglected leathers. At least that's where the manufacturer places it. This is a non-oily solvent based product and not your typical conditioner based on oils, lanolin, aloe, neatsfoot, or other elements from the old tack leather days. I specifically suggest avoiding the use of oily, greasy or slippery conditioning products. Read the labels and if they contain the above, make your decision accordingly. According to Leather Masters, this product actually softens the urethane coating and not the leather. Not sure that I'd want the coating softened, particularly on a newer vehicle, but if you have old neglected and hard leather it's a reasonable choice.

The question is why would I want to use a conditioner? Typically the answer I hear is to make my leather softer. Modern leather is an engineered product much different than leather of the past. The leather is made soft in the tanning process and all the oils (fatliquoring) needed to keep it soft are locked in at that time. These oils do not migrate out of the leather over time. Kind of like a car battery that loses water over time but not acid. Leather gains and loses moisture through transpiration. The more consistent the hydration the better the leather will age. Dry leather shrinks and moist leather swells. The topcoat does neither. Leather that drys out gets hard. Restore the moisture and it softens again.

This thread has gone on way to long and I have run out of time. I suggest that you contact the ALCA or visit some of the organizations or leather pros I've linked directly for further information.

UDel

That stain looks nasty but I don't think leatherique caused it, I have never seen or heard of a reaction like that using Leatherique. I have used Leatherique on treated and untreated Leathers and on perforated leathers. Did you buy that car used or have you had it the entire time. I think what might have happened if you bought it used is that stain was on the finish and the seller was able to hide it with some kind of dye that did not set properly. When you did a Leatherique treatment and other cleaning treatments the dye may have come off or had a bad reaction and caused it to change color, etc.



I have had mostly positive results with Leatherique when using it on untreated Leather. My GS has black leather and it is just not soft or supple like Leather should be, there are areas that are waxy and hard, it was like that when I bought the car. I tried numerous Leather treatments, including Leatherique to soften the Leather, none worked, if your leather is protected these conditioners won't do anything to soften the leather but the surface seems to benefit a little as Leatherique cleans and leaves a matte or satin finish even on the urethane coating which looks a little nicer and is slightly nicer to the touch. I used a product called Surffex soffner which seemed like a more concentrated version of Leatherique Rejuvinator, very similar smell, I wrapped everything in plastic, soaked the surfaces, and put them out in really hot temps, nothing much changed, maybe some parts improved a little but nothing of any significance. I tried Leather Honey which had the same results, nothing. You can't soften protected car leather, the conditioners won't penetrate, Leatherique can clean really dirty seats and make the finish look better(take away the shine) which may make the surface feel slightly softer and I think that is where those positive results are .coming from but leatherique is not penetrating and softening the protected leather. For older unprotected Leathers or Aniline to Semi Aniline leathers they can be softened with Leatherique and some other products. The best thing to do with protected leathers is white them down with a damp rag or a whoolite/water concentration.

jfelbab, I hear mixed results with LeatherMasters products too, some say they work great while others say they did nothing, did not remove or protect against blue jean dye transfer. You mentioned that Leather Vital was said to soften the urethane topcoat which is interesting, I have not seen where that was said but that sounds like the only real solution to soften what I feel on my leather if it is true. I actually thought before when I had no success with Leatherique that the only thing that would work is something that softened the urethane topcoat. I have some blue jean transfer I have been asked to deal with so I will probably give LeatherMasters.

g1kon1whee

iTrader: (4)

[QUOTE=UDel;8382156]That stain looks nasty but I don't think leatherique caused it, I have never seen or heard of a reaction like that using Leatherique. I have used Leatherique on treated and untreated Leathers and on perforated leathers. Did you buy that car used or have you had it the entire time. I think what might have happened if you bought it used is that stain was on the finish and the seller was able to hide it with some kind of dye that did not set properly. When you did a Leatherique treatment and other cleaning treatments the dye may have come off or had a bad reaction and caused it to change color, etc.



I did buy the car used. It very well could have been a non visible stain or a repair/ redye from a prior owner. Not sure. It was weird because I removed the seats from the car so that I could clean and condition all of the leather. After I conditioned them and the cleaned the rears they looked great. So I put them back in the car. A couple of days later I finished the fronts and after putting them back in the car I noticed the shiny part on the rear seat. I thought that I might have just dripped some sweat on it while putting in the fronts. At first I just tried to wipe it off using a microfiber towel, 1 wipe and the towel had an orange tinge to it, that's when I broke out the pristine clean and tried to clean it gently, the end result was what you see in the picture. It was sticky too. It actually lightened up a lot once the moisture from the PC evaporated. I am not blaming the Leatherique for causing the problem because there are just WAY to many unknown variables ( used car, prior repair, some sort of a stain,etc ) but just wanted to give my experience and results. We should also keep in mind that these results are POSSIBLE for ANYBODY who has bought a used car. My leather had no visible stains or marks on it either. The other thing that bothered me was how rude and unhelpful Leatherique was when I did contact them for assistance. So my advice would be unless your leather is horrific I would stick to extremely mild cleaning products and be gentle, and never let your leather get really dirty. Thanks

LeX2K

You made a very strong impression with your post that Leatherique is what caused the problem, read what you wrote again.

jfelbab

If dye transfer has occurred no cleaner will do much to remove it. This moves into an expensive restoration process.

As to Vital, I got this info on a phone call with a Uniters NA rep. I had asked if Leather Vital was able to penetrate the topcoat and soften the leather and was informed that it was softening the topcoat. They also confirmed what a tanner told me that protected leather is softened in the manufacturing process and could not be made softer than originally designed with any product application. My results with Vital were only marginal when I used it on older BMW leather. Nothing I tried would soften that leather. I have not verified how this topcoat softening is possible and what the consequences of altering the topcoat would be. I don't use LM Vital since the results I achieved were not what I wanted.

I've had good results with LM Protection Cream preventing permanent dye transfer from jeans. When I say that I mean that the blue dye from jeans will still occasionally rub off onto the seats but due to the protection, it wipes off with a damp towel and doesn't penetrate the topcoat.

g1kon1whee

iTrader: (4)

Really. You really need to get out of this thread and maybe off this website if your just going to come in here and harass people when they give their personal experiences with products / companies they've used.

First I put this and why I wouldn't RECOMMEND Leatherique

i would not recommend Leatherique to anyone that has perforated leather. i did quite a bit of research prior to purchasing the Leatherique system. it does seem to soften up the leather BUT i had a few issues:


Then I put this stating that this was MY EXPERIENCE

Once again this is just my experience with the Leatherique product. It is ironic but the lady that I had do my seat repair does all the leather/ interior repairs for my local Lexus dealers ( and other dealers ) and she had never even heard of Leatherique. She recommended that I use Jergens mild soap and water with a soft brush. Hope this helps the original poster. Thanks

Sorry to the original poster and anyone else who has come in here looking for advise and experiences and have had to waste your time reading this B.S. from Lexus2000. Hope everyone has a great day.

jfelbab

Just a note of warning here. When we chat with one another on a forum it is different than when we chat eye-eye with a person. Often inflections and emotions are missing and things can get taken in the wrong way if not worded carefully.

I'd suggest to all members to take a deep breath before posting and remain polite and civil at all times. I'd hate to see users given a time-out. This is a very helpful and friendly forum so lets ALL work to keep it that way.

'nuf said.

ttaylor993

Well, this has been quite interesting. I was reading this thread in hopes of finding information about Leatherique. I purchased the rejuvenator and the cleaner in December. I was doing some mechanical maintenance on my '00 GS300 first before I started on the interior maintenance. I just re-covered a badly worn arm rest and wanted to do something about the shiny, waxlike, moderately "Xed" leather seats.

Although I had done some researching the Leatherique, this thread has provided me with quite a bit of leather lore. Leatherique is a relatively expensive product and I didn't completely buy the hype, the logic from the maker of how it works made sense; at least until I read this thread.

The information presented here gives a rather thorough vetting of Leatherique and other products and of the reconditioning process itself. While I am not as optimistic as before I will use it over the next few days. One of the things I will pay particular attention to is the "steaming" process that is recommended by the product maker. That is, coating the leather with the rejuvenator and raising the temp in the car (the hotter, the better) and letting it sit for several hours. I would think this would cause some of the product to vaporize. Information in this thread seems to verify that moisture vapor may penetrate coated leather.

I will post before and after pics, FYI. Lastly, let's not take this so personally. I don't think anyone intentionally intended to insult anyone. As jfelbab stated, we can't see body language and hear vocal inflections from the little blurbs. Keep mind, we're talking about car seats here!!!