Leather conditioner for car seats and sofa

[opus]

What leather conditioner would you recommend for car seats and sofa?  Does it matter if it is on a new car or old, or the type or leather? 

I currently use Zymol, and have been happy with it, but always on the look out for something better.  Leather Honey has been highly rated at Amazon.  Lexol...don't like the smell of it.

[ccm911]

Prior to using any leather treatment, it is essential to clean the leather.  I have had great luck with Saddle Soap.  Once that is done, follow up with any good leather preservant.  The Zymol you mention is good stuff.  I picked up some Lexol with Neat's Foot Oil in it at the Hershey Swap meet, and it has worked pretty well.  I don't much like the regular Lexol.  Too weak!

Now if you really want to go crazy, I would suggest Connelly's(spell?) Hide Food.  From all I have read, this stuff is the bomb.

[944BlueS]

It does matter what kind of leather:  products made for dyed/European car leather can be damaging to sprayed/US and Japanese leather.

I believe the Connolly's product is now called Hide Care in the US, changed from Hide Food (thanks FDA, I was about to spread some on a cracker!).

I used Lexol cleaner and conditioner last year in my car and my truck and I didn't notice too much of an impact.  Maybe my application technique wasn't great.  Some people recommend Pinnacle or Wolfgang conditioners, others swear by Leatherique, Mothers, or Griot's.  Application and in some cases letting it sit and absorb can have big impacts.  My seats are in overall great condition with a couple of small tears, off seam and deemed "unrepairable" by upholstery shops.  Any tips on seat repair, restoration, re-dying or good values in replacement leather or vinyl covers would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks and good luck!

[944BlueS]

[ccm911]

Mark - Get in touch with our resident expert, Brian Minkin.  He can most likely help you.

[jmr3]

Just an FYI for everyone -- do not ever use Lexol Cleaner on BMW seats.  It "cleans" the dye right off of them and you end up having to go see Brian M.   

[Brian Minkin]

OK I will pipe in.  Most commercial leather cleaners use some sort of fine grit or solvent and some a combination of both.  I would not touch my seats with them. Almost all modern seats are surface dyed as opposed to vat dyed and these cleaners will take off the finish.  I redye many seats every year for owners who had a opps using these commercial cleaners.  I recommend using a bar of Ivory soap. Ivory soap in a bar is pure soap with no additives and will not dry out your leather. Put the soap in warm water for about ten minutes agitating it several times and it will create a soapy solution. Use a soft 3M scrubby (They come in different stiffness) and dip it into the soapy solution and clean one panel at a time with the scrubby.  After cleaning a panel wipe of the dirt with a terry or micro fiber towel.  Once all the seating surfaces are cleaned this way wet a towel with plain water and wipe them down to pick up any soap residue.  After this condition with your choice of conditioner. 

[opus]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

Sounds like the lesson here is be very careful about the cleaning step.  Conditioner type matters less. 

Currently, I just wipe the seats down with a damp microfiber.  But then I never had something dirty on the seats - I allow riders to drink only water, no coffee, soda, etc on my car.  hock:   That way, no chance of spilling any bad liquids.  After 12 years and 96k miles, so far so good - no cracks of any kind.

[968SilverCab]

I have had good luck using Leather CPR, available at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

YMMV,

Jay