I figured I'd post this question on the GS forum, since you folks are the most active posters. Does it pay to condition the leather after cleaning it? Does it really make a difference? What is a good leather conditioner? I used to use the Lexus conditioner on my old Lexi and I never noticed much of a difference. Finally, I have heard that conditioning the leather can lead to premature wearing and cracking of the leather. Is this true? Thanks.

 

There are many discussions on this topic in the maintenace section.

 

t-rock, drying and cracking comes about from.................drying and cracking. Leather has natural oils and is a porous substance, even after finishing. So, dirt gets ground in and oil evaporates. Cleaning may get the dirt out (important since dirt is abrasive, as well as dirty), but actually removes oils. Therefore conditioning is necessary. Don't know who makes the Lexus stuff that gets re-labeled, but it's OK. However, most here seem to prefer Lexol (go to their website for a much more in depth discussion of leather and it's care) but Zaino has it's adherents, too.

As far as noticing a difference, you'd have to clean and condition one seat and leave the other alone. After a few years (sooner if you have an ivory interior, since the dirt will show sooner), you'll notice a big difference in both appearance and condition of your leather. Which you may not care about if you are on lease, but I buy and then keep for a while, so it's a little more important to me. After all, the guy who gets my ride after 3 years is............me. Plus when I do sell, I get the high end of the scale. Finally, my personality is such that I can just let stuff I have go to sh*t.

But that's just me........

And 400DGRZ is right, there's much more on this subject in "Maintainence".

 

Thank you both. I'm such a moron that I did not even know there was a maintainance section. I own my car too and I want the interior to remain soft.