..Forgive all, but I did a search and could not find any threads about this subject, but then I am not surprise since I always had problems searching in the forum.
Has anyone had a situation in which there is a "tinge" of blue (I guess is from blue jeans) on the leather driver seat?.....Has anyone found a way to clean it?....I have a faded line on the side of the sea,t which I think is vinyl, but still very visible....
Thank you all for any advice, appreciated...

 

Yes mine has that too. Yes it is likely from blue jean. I use leather cleaner to clean them and it works out ok.

 

svofan, I'd suggest you visit the Automotive Care and Detailing forum. Start with this thread about Lexus leather for suggestions. It's a well discussed topic there.

 

First off, my apologies to Anita. I am not trying to open up a new discussion on leather cleaning. I just need to know if both the semi-aniline leather in the Luxury Package and the "regular" leather in the Premium Package in the 2013 RX 350 have a top coat (perhaps polyurethane)? If the Premium Package leather does have this topcoat, should I still use something like LeatherMasters cleaner and protection cream?

I ask this because of what I read in a 2-22-07 post under "All About Lexus Leather" in the Automotive Care and Detailing Forum. See below:

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I have talked to a couple detailing/carcare people about softening up and conditioning 2nd Lexus GS leather and they seemed to agree that there is nothing you can really do for that leather because of this awful protective top coat that has been applied to the leather by Lexus that does not allow anything to penetrate it. The stuff you put on it just sits on the top and evaporates. They said with this protective coating that conditioning it or trying to soften it is about as effective as taking a shower with a raincoat on. Your not going to get cleaner no matter what you do with that raincoat on and your leather is not going to get properly conditioned or softer no matter what you put on it. Even though most leather has some kind of protective coating but the stuff that Lexus used for the 2nd gen GS will not allow anything to penetrate where others seems to allow stuff to penetrate and work

The guy at carcareonlin seemed to say this was very common with the 2nd GS and maybe other late 90s designs and has not really experienced it with other brands of cars or earlier Lexus models and they have found no way to soften the leather and don't understand why Lexus would put this on leather as it is terrible for it because there is no way to nourish it or soften it once it gets hard and waxy. He said just about all leather gets hard or dried out but most can be brought back to almost like new except for your GS leather because nothing is able to penetrate that plastic coating and said there was not much of a point in purchasing any leather products for the car. The worst thing is that the citrus cleaners used to try to break this stuff down or get some off ends up taking up the dye with it. He seemed to know exactly what I was experiencing before I told him. What a dissapointment, I think I will give it one more shot with a thorough cleaning and conditioning with Leatherique and Surflex soffener and if there is no difference I am giving up and just living with the crappy leather in the car.

 

Are the following places convered with REAL leather on my 2011 RX350 (without semi-aniline leather upgrade):

1) Arm rests on the doors
2) Top of the front and rear arm rest consoles
3) Front seat backs

 

You might want to check out BertL's posts in the Detailing Forum and check out his link to his own blog. I found his comments and advice to be very informative and I plan on treating the leather in my new 2013 RX the way he has.

 

I think Anita's point is questions on detailing are best suited to reside over in the detailing forum where people that really focus on such things hang out -- it's really not a topic specific to the RX.

Anyway, my 2013 RX450h with semi-aniline leather has a "top coat". From what I've read, I believe the "regular" Lexus leather does as well (just as most modern leathers do), but cannot swear to it as I don't own that kind. I used Zaino Z9 / Z10 in my 2006 RX400h for as long as I owned it which didn't have semi-aniline leather, but I guess what one would call "regular" light gray leather with the luxury package when I purchased it back in 2005 -- and yes it had a "top coating" on it as well. The leather looked like new when I traded it in last year. I verified with the developer of Zaino products their products would work on it as well as semi-aniline leather in my new 2013 before it arrived. Despite my good luck with the Z9/10 for the last 10+ years, I ended up using Leather Masters Protection Cream & Cleaner on my 2013 because of recommendations from some of the gurus over on the CL Detailing forum and it's working out well especially with the ease of removing blue jean transfer on my parchment seats. I also read the Leather Masters web site along with a couple others after seeing some of the posts, and quadruple-checked it would work with all leathers that have a top coating such as those in Lexus vehicles. I doubt you'd have a problem using either set of products. I certainly have had no issues using either one, combined with doing a damp wipe down of the seats every time I wash my vehicles to help keep the moisture level up.

 

1) doubt it
2) doubt it
3) I would think so

I also noticed that the leather on the side of the seats, like the bolster area where the seat controls are, is a different shade of black so I think that might not be leather either

 

OK folks, we moderators need a little help here. For the 2nd time today I've had to merge threads of the same topic. These threads were three separate ones dealing with the leather interior and/or care there of started in the last two days. Our forum is just too large to keep doing this and makes it really confusing for those reading or searching for information on a topic.

Please help by not starting a new thread when one exists such as here in leather interiors.

Thanks for your help.

 

wlpncp, no need to apologize. I pointed out that thread you took the post from because it's chock full of information and thought it was a good starting point. Like BertL said, the automotive care and detailing forum is where you'll probably find the answer to your question. I'll just add it's best to err on the side of caution.

 

...thank you all.....I will go there.....

 

Reason why I get black interiors on all my cars. Can't really see how dirty the seats are.

 

...Lexol cleaner did the job...it was not that bad but it worked...now I will stay on top of the seats....clean them every 90 days or so...thank you all again...