# Review - Dr Leather Cleaner Spray



## jbenekeorr

Hi all,

This is a first for me, but I fancied giving my thoughts on a product I've recently tried - this is a product many of you regulars will no doubt be familiar with, but I wanted to share my thoughts.

*Dr Leather - Leather Cleaner Spray*










I want to give this review from a layman's perspective - I don't claim to know much about leather cleaning, I'm just going on what I've read here on DW and I hope that this thread will prove some use to others in a similar position.

The product was tested on 3 cars with differing styles of leather -

- MINI with 'smooth' leather with very little grain

- Discovery with more traditional grained leather

- Freelander with quite coarse and (sort of) perforated leather

I understand them all to have the modern style of coated leather which only needs cleaning, not conditioning.

*Background and previous products*

Over the years, I've tried a few different leather products. Meguiars Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner http://www.meguiars.co.uk/shop/gold-class-rich-leather-cleaner-conditioner-400ml was the weapon of choice for some time - it is readily available and gives ok results. It was a good product for my previous cars, as they were only a few years old and only needed an occasional maintenance wipe over.

When I got the MINI (Project thread here) I realised that Meguiars was only making a very limited impact on the seats - they remained lightly marked and very shiny which I just put down to age.

Wanting to try something new - I saw that many on here rated Dr Leather wipes very highly, so gave them a go.

***EDIT - Seems I had a very dodgy tub from an eBay seller. I've since received a tub from the manufacturer which were far far better! The below grey text was what I originally wrote.***

I must say I was really disappointed by them - I went in fully knowing that they wouldn't be quite as effective for removing marks as the Meguiars I was used to - however my experience went as follows:

The hinge for the lid snapped off the tub, the top few wipes were dry, they wouldn't feed through the top of the tub.I found myself using several wipes per seat and even then only getting rather average results.

In the interests of fairness - I should say that I bought them from an eBay retailer, so perhaps they were old or badly stored. I personally don't like using wipes, as you end up wiping it down with a microfibre anyway - it just seemed like a waste throwing the little individual towels away.

I finished the tub (which didn't take long as there are 4 cars in my care which have leather seats ... only two of them are mine, I should say!) The seats in my MINI had now become so shiny that they had begun to look like a bin bag - so I began to look for alternative leather cleaners. Yet again, I found repeated recommendations for Dr Leather and people saying that they would no longer use anything else! Willing to give it a second chance, I opted for the spray version instead.

I bought mine from Perfectly Cleaned on eBay (A seller I have had good experiences with in the past).
It was £17.94 for 500ml. It is a similar price on CYC, however you would be paying for delivery on top of that.

*Technique and results*

It arrived today, I eagerly went out to try it. I had ordered a new leather cleaning brush, however it hasn't arrived - so I used a Sonax fabric and leather brush which I had around - it's hardly been used but looks dreadful because I left it in a bucket with some damp cloths which sent the coating on the wood a bit gross!










I decided to throw myself in at the deep end and give it its biggest challenge - the MINI.

These seats are 14 years old and have 145,000 miles of bum time on them. They are notorious for the base piece going saggy - even the lowest mileage R53 MINI with full leather will be baggy like this. Aside from that, they don't have much damage - save for some scuffing on the driver's bolster. My main gripe is that they've gone very shiny - the leather is a very smooth finish - there is next to no 'grain' which I think attributes to this.

Do you agree with my bin bag likeness?! Apologies - some photos were in direct sunlight at the front of the house, I moved the car quite quickly after.




























As I wanted to see if the product would make a visible difference to the leather, I did an old DW favourite and taped off a section of the seat (I stuck it to myself a few times first so not to damage the seat) - because who doesn't love a good 50/50?!

Product sprayed on to the test patch.










I then gently scrubbed the area with the Sonax brush in a circular motion - I could see the excess spray turning grey. Although it's worth mentioning that the Dr Leather cleaner doesn't seem to foam up when worked in as I thought it might. I then wiped with a clean microfibre and could immediately see the improvement! The cloth however, didn't look very dirty.










I peeled back the tape and this was the result!










As you can see, it has comprehensively removed the shine and restored a lovely matte finish in one application!
It was at this point that I pulled the car round the back of the house where there is (marginally) less sun.

I then extended the tape up the entire seat and got a few 50/50 shots























































I couldn't believe the improvement it has made! It has stripped tens of thousands of miles off the seats!

Next was the steering wheel which was typically shiny










It wasn't practical to use the brush on the steering wheel, so I just used a microfibre to apply and wipe it. It feels far nicer in the hand now.



















And a few finished shots. The passenger seat yielded a similar improvement to the driver's. The rear seats were virtually perfect anyway (as it's not really human sized in the back), but I gave them the same treatment anyway.

Passenger's bolster































































I also tried it on my Discovery's cream leather seats. These weren't particularly shiny, but they were a little grubby. It is 20 years old and has covered 148,000 miles.

50/50 - the difference is particularly noticeable on the centre panel










And finished. The cleaner has really brightened the colour of the seats and left a nice clean feel. It has removed all the visible dirt - there are still some imperfections in the leather which will only be solved with re-trimming which I intend to have done one day.










As I was on a roll - I tried the driver's seat in my Mum's Freelander HSE - 13 years and 116,000 miles. These seats have a habit of going shiny and becoming 'grippy' with dirt in a matter of weeks. The leather feels and looks rather cheap to my eye. That didn't stop Dr Leather working a treat on them!

Obligatory 50/50



















And finished










*My two penn'orth*

In short - I think it's fantastic.

The smell is quite pleasant (sort of leather-ish) however just after spraying the product onto the seats, it can be quite choking and unpleasant to be close to (which you can't really avoid doing!). There is a nice leather smell left behind after use - I don't know if this is the product or the seats themselves, however it was a noticeably different leather smell between cars which would indicate to it coming from the seats themselves.

The spray head on the bottle works very well - you can choose between spray and stream depending on your preference. The spray setting worked well for me - giving good coverage without going everywhere! It's refreshing to see that the spray head doesn't drip.

I would recommend using it with a leather brush like I did, to get the most out of the product. You do have to change microfibre cloths frequently to ensure you aren't wiping dirt back into the seats.

It's rare that I buy a product and think it's so brilliant that I need to tell everyone about it, but this is truly deserving. It has yielded results that other products couldn't come close to.

I'm tempted to buy another tub of the Dr Leather wipes (this time not from dodgy Des on eBay) to use for maintenance cleans, and save the spray to use occasionally.

Now i'm tempted to try their Dye Block which I hear good things about too!

:wave:


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## Andyblue

That's an excellent write up and really informative and you can really see the difference in the MINI - def on my list to pick up :thumb:


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## FJ1000

I need to buy some immediately 

Thanks for the write up!


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## Coachman

What size did you get ? 
Been tempted but don’t think 500ml will last long?


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## Cookies

A properly informative and excellently constructed review, bud. It really looks like a fantastic product. I really must get myself some!!!

Thanks for sharing btw. 

Cooks

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## fatdazza

Great honest review.

DW needs more of these.:thumb:


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## SystemClenz

Great review :thumb:


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## WHIZZER

Great review


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## jbenekeorr

Thanks for the replies, I'm glad you all liked the review.



Ljh1991 said:


> What size did you get ?
> Been tempted but don't think 500ml will last long?


I got the 500ml. I didn't want to risk the 1l bottle in case it was rubbish!

Obviously I can't yet comment on how long it'll last. But you don't have to use a whole lot of product to get results, so I think the 500ml bottle will do several full interiors - mine doesn't seem noticeably lighter yet.


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## euge07

well done, great review

I was skeptical of this leather cleaner as it is very expensive

But, having purchased it and used it a number of times it really is a fantastic product, a little goes a long way I found


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## LostVulpine

Thank you for taking the time to create such a 'reader friendly' review mate. For new people like me, this is the kind of write up that really helps make informed decisions!

Thanks again!


Adam.


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## Bill58

That's a great review.


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## tehvlb

thanks for the review, i just bought the 500ml on the back of this.


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## chris.t

I use Dr Leather on mine and i think its great. I do a deep clean every 4 to 6 months with the spray cleaner followed by a layer of dye blocker as a protection layer. Then i use the wipes as a maintenance wipe as and when required and this keeps the seats and wheel looking great:thumb:


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## tehvlb

chris.t said:


> I use Dr Leather on mine and i think its great. I do a deep clean every 4 to 6 months with the spray cleaner followed by a layer of dye blocker as a protection layer. Then i use the wipes as a maintenance wipe as and when required and this keeps the seats and wheel looking great:thumb:


just did my wheel yesterday, didnt think it needed it but the dirt that came off with just some degreaser was awful.

will give it a proper going over when this product arrives.


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## Peter77

Great review and brilliant 50/50 shots. Will really help people looking for a leather cleaner. Top job fella


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## westerman

Great write up. Makes me want to buy some and I don't even have leather seats :lol:
Looks amazing stuff.

Harry


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## chris.t

tehvlb said:


> just did my wheel yesterday, didnt think it needed it but the dirt that came off with just some degreaser was awful.
> 
> will give it a proper going over when this product arrives.


Yeah, you dont realise how dirty the steering wheel gets!


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## Brian1612

That is an excellent review mate, really well done! Well structured and informative. Product looks really impressive.

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## Dr Leather

Firstly I have to say I have deliberated on whether to make a post, in case it is misconstrued, but I do want to say thank you to jbenekeorr who has spent so much time completing this review. Clearly a lot of thought and work has gone in to it, and it makes us feel proud that we do have a good product.

I am concerned about the comments on the wipes, as really there should be no difference. Exactly the same formulation goes in to the wipes, and so it should yield exactly the same effect. In addition we put in a large amount of fluid in to the wipes, and so the dryness on the first few wipes makes me wonder if it was a very old batch.

As for the lid snapping, I will be honest in that the plastic is not the most flexible on the cap hinge. We have looked at different options over the past few years, and we were looking to try to source a different compound, almost rubber like, but so far we cannot source anything at a sensible price. Please let us know if you know of any better options out there!!!!

We are always looking to try to improve the formulation, but we have to constantly balance all the various aspects of the product. Recently we have seen a competitors product that looks to clean well, but then we found it had an extremely alkaline pH and upon repeated testing on the finish we found it was causing micro-damage to the grain. That is why we feel our product has the best balance we can create at present, and with a view to looking after the leather coating. We always complete full physical testing on our products in the lab to ensure they complement to cleaning process. And in truth is why we only do leather products, as our main core business is developing leather technologies for brands and tanners around the world. 

So I'll sign off for now. But rest assured we are always happy to have feedback, good or bad, to generate a product that is the best for our consumers. 

Best wishes,

Darryl


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## bigmac3161

Great review personally only ever used the wipes to clean and the the dye blocker every 4 months or so great products 

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## Bustanut

Great write up and nice to see Dr Leathers input too. This is a product I love and use all the time, it leaves a really nice smell in the car after application which never lasts long enough for me ( quick tip from others on here is to leave some wipes under the seat to prolong it). Daryl my only feedback on the product would be (and the write up refers to this) that the product would feel better if it was a little bit thicker to allow it to foam up a bit when agitated. It’s hard to describe but it feels a lot more satisfying when the product does this ( might just be me being a bit wierd but would like to see what others think on this). Now I’m no chemist so have no idea if or how this could be achieved but as always I’m happy to review any developments in the product and feedback on findings as I have done in the past.


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## Derekh929

Great review and write up there thanks for sharing, well I will be honest many years ago In the early stages of the DR Leather for the car cleaning side I wondered if it was just another leather cleaner?
Well Darryl kindly sent me a free bottle to try as he knew he had a good product and I would yield good results, as over the years I have seen more and more reputable retailers stock the products.
Well from the liquid to the wipes I have used many since and the new merc got the dye block another product that many tests and time went into to develop I bet, been great on the platinum white leather its due another coat again.
Daryll always comes on if anyone has an issue with a product and follows it through even though its found to not be the product but a repair to a seat that was done badly, he still tried to sort it all out without any need to but that's how it is.


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## Dr Leather

Bustanut said:


> Daryl my only feedback on the product would be (and the write up refers to this) that the product would feel better if it was a little bit thicker to allow it to foam up a bit when agitated. It's hard to describe but it feels a lot more satisfying when the product does this ( might just be me being a bit wierd but would like to see what others think on this). Now I'm no chemist so have no idea if or how this could be achieved but as always I'm happy to review any developments in the product and feedback on findings as I have done in the past.


Hi Bustanut

Thanks for the feedback. We can increase the foaming, but it plays havoc with our bottling system. What we do have is a new trigger which can be used as standard, or with a cap you fit on it it foams the product. I'll send you one for testing. PM me with the best delivery details.

Cheers

Darryl


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## RICH2508

A great write up, I had a large tub of wipes for four years and they were great with the three cars we had at once with leather seats, right to the last wipe, but always made sure the lid was on securely. I only switched to the spray last year as we were down to just one car with leather and found it equally as good.

I have just had my 15yr old Audi TT judged in a concours event and the judge couldn’t beleive how original looking the leather was.


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## Bustanut

Dr Leather said:


> Hi Bustanut
> 
> Thanks for the feedback. We can increase the foaming, but it plays havoc with our bottling system. What we do have is a new trigger which can be used as standard, or with a cap you fit on it it foams the product. I'll send you one for testing. PM me with the best delivery details.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Darryl


PM sent Darryl, thanks.


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## dannyd21

I have just ordered a tub of 150 dr leather wipes, I can't wait to try them out.

I recently bought a new car and they attempted to clean the leather and left spray marks all on the seats. :wall:

I saw this product while watching White Details on YouTube and he loves this line of products. :buffer::thumb:


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## jbenekeorr

Hi all,

Darryl from Dr Leather got in touch with me directly shortly after posting the review (A thoroughly nice chap). He very kindly offered to send me a new tub of leather wipes to try out, as I had mentioned that I had been disappointed with my previous tub (bought from eBay).

Earlier this week, the postman arrived with a rather heavy box containing a tub of 150 wipes (a bucket more like!) and a bottle of Dr Leather's Dye Block which I had mentioned in the original review I was planning to try! I messaged Darryl back to thank him for this lovely gesture, but thanks again!










Whilst the Dye Block is probably more intended for light coloured leather in terms of Dye transfer, I've seen several people say that they use it on dark leather to to act as a barrier for dirt transfer as well as dye. So I thought I'd give it a go on the Mini.

Yesterday evening once the sun had gone down, I wiped the seats down with the new wipes - I can honestly say they were night and day different to the previous tub I had. I did a whole seat with one wipe, whereas my old tub took 3-4 wipes per seat! I then wiped down with a micro fibre and left them to air dry for a while as I'm told the seats need to be totally dry for the Dye Block to work best.

As per the instructions online, put on a pair of disposable gloves and sprayed Dye Block on to a small micro fibre applicator. I had been concerned that I would apply it too thick or in such a way that it would make marks - this turned out to be no issue at all. It goes on to the leather like any other liquid, you can see when you've covered all of it. It appears dry after about 5 minutes, however it should ideally be allowed to dry over night, so I haven't even touched the seats since applying it!

I had also wondered if the Dye Block would leave some sort of shine on the leather - this also turned out not to be the case! They look exactly as they did before applying it! This was taken after doing both front seats.










I then left the doors open for 10 minutes (not sure if this was needed, I just wanted a coffee...). I then realised that the car needed to go in the garage and I couldn't sit in it :lol: so mustered all my strength and pushed the car slightly up hill into the garage. I may not have got it entirely straight!










I obviously can't comment on the longevity of Dye Block, but my experiences with the product so far have been excellent. Simple to apply and no change in the appearance of the leather. The small details are right too - it's a nice trigger spray similar to that used on Auto Finesse Iron Out - small and precise with no dripping. It's also in a metal bottle which I didn't initially realise. Overall - it's brilliant.

I feel i should also formally revise my opinion of the wipes. The new tub I have been sent is so much better than the tub I purchased previously. I will certainly be using them as a regular maintenance cleaner from now onwards. This leads me to believe that the tub I purchased from eBay were left open for an extended period or something.

A bit of a strange one - I went in search of more things to use my leather cleaner spray on. I bought an office chair last November which is a mixture of black and white leather (or possibly vinyl). It was a bit of an indulgence, I do like a bit of occasional gaming and have a steering wheel setup - I find normal office chairs break quickly as they're not designed for the pressure you're putting on them getting a bit carried away on Project Cars, however this chair is designed to take the abuse and is also very comfortable and supportive.

Naturally, having white leather (or vinyl!) makes for a lot of transfer! It had already become quite grubby.










I don't even know if this cleaner is designed to work with this type of leather/vinyl, but I gave it a go anyway. I used the same brush as I had on the car previously. Naturally, it did a great job!

50/50 - left side cleaned.










And done










In time, I'll be making full use of the Dye Block on the cream leather seats in my Discovery where I think it'll be able to pay dividends.
Unfortunately, I won't be doing anything else on my Mum's Freelander's seats for the moment, as the first time she drove it after I cleaned the drivers seat on it - the clutch went!!! So it's sitting in disgrace awaiting a clutch, flywheel and master & slave cylinders!

To conclude - these products have all earned a place on my shelves! The wipes wouldn't fit on the main shelf though :lol:










:wave:


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## shl-kelso

It’s nice to see a manufacturer going above and beyond when dealing with a poor customer experience. 

I’ve been using the wipes for around 18 months too (I bought the large tub although I’ve not made much of a dent into the contents so far!). Although I only have black leather to deal with they still work brilliantly - I’m always surprised at the dirt they lift in use even though the seats did not look at all grubby. 

I have no difficulty in recommending them to anyone, they really do perform well


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## Bustanut

Received a parcel in the post today. Darryl has sent me a foaming trigger spray to try. Also threw in a bottle of dr leather spray as a double bonus.
Thanks Dr Leather, I will let you know my thoughts once I have tried it out.


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## jbenekeorr

Bustanut said:


> Received a parcel in the post today. Darryl has sent me a foaming trigger spray to try. Also threw in a bottle of dr leather spray as a double bonus.
> Thanks Dr Leather, I will let you know my thoughts once I have tried it out.


That's great to hear. Please do post your findings


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## Andyblue

Wow, very generous from the company to provide these extras - being sent the foaming head to try is very good customer service and sending a bottle of the cleaner spray is excellent. 

Having read this (and seen they’re customer service), I’m going to ask for a bottle of the cleaner / tub of wipes for father day (they’re struggling to know what to get as usual). As I’d like to see what it’ll do to my seats  

:thumb:


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## bluechimp

I must be doing something wrong, I don’t get a anything like that, my steering wheel is still super shiny . 

I don’t use a brush so that must be a factor, but then again you say you didn’t use one on your wheel and that went back to normal....hmm I wonder where I am going wrong.

Great write up mate, the mini seats came up a treat, you could always swap over to the JCW Recaros lol to get rid of the bum sag.


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## garycha

Can the wipes be used on seats that have been treated with Gtechniq Leather Guard - or might one product compromise the other.

I am long term user of Gliptone leather cleaner/conditioner, but find it all a bit messy especially on newish hide seats - especially brushing the stuff in and out of contrast stitching. Having been dismissive of using wipes, this review and the manufacturer responses, has tempted me to try the wipes. 

Thanks


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## ishaaq

Would this product get rid of pen marks from leather? 

thanks


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## tosh

ishaaq said:


> Would this product get rid of pen marks from leather?
> 
> thanks


Depends on the pen, depends on the leather. 
It's a relatively strong cleaner, so should make a dent, but depends on how deep they are.

Have a look at this guide
https://www.colourlock.com/tip/furniture/removal-ballpoint-pen-marks.html

Cars have coated leather, so don't worry about the other types of leather in this guide.

Furniture clinic do some specific pen products as well


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## tosh

garycha said:


> Can the wipes be used on seats that have been treated with Gtechniq Leather Guard - or might one product compromise the other.


Impossible to say without trying as Dr Leather will only test with Dr Leather and GT with GT. But if their coated with Gtechniq, I would use I2 Tri Clean to clean those seats instead.

If you want the same effect as a wipe, get some "J-Cloth" on a roll, and use that as your disposable cleaning wipe. Paragon microfibre sell disposable MF wipes on a roll as well.


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## Sid

Over a year old.... thread bump.
Thanks to the OP for such an excellent review. I'm getting Dr Leather too!! Thank you.

I will use on the 911 997 2005 Black Leathers, RRS 2010 Cream Leathers, and household furniture, especially a cream sofa. 

How did the foaming cap of the Dr Leather clean review?


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## Tykebike

Dr Leather said:


> As for the lid snapping, I will be honest in that the plastic is not the most flexible on the cap hinge. We have looked at different options over the past few years, and we were looking to try to source a different compound, almost rubber like, but so far we cannot source anything at a sensible price. Please let us know if you know of any better options out there!!!!
> 
> Darryl


How about a metal can with a screw lid eg Illy coffee type. You could then offer 40 refills in a sachet which could be decanted (excuse the lame pun) or simply slit the top of the sachet and put the whole lot in the can.


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## JAISCOSSIE

It really is a great product, have used it in all my cars over the last few years and have yet to find anything better.


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## Exotica

Simple , Megs APC is cheaper and just as effective.


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## riz

Wish they did Air fresheners


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