# Alcantara cleaning and protection



## bally191 (Jul 8, 2010)

Helllo everyone,

I am looking for the best cleaning product for alcantara and the best protection product for alcantara to stop it soiling and becoming "flat" 

any ideas??


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

I use the Raceglaze Alcantara cleaner, works very well, freshens up the surface and kills bacteria.
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/raceglaze-alcantara-cleaner.html


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## bally191 (Jul 8, 2010)

Gleammachine said:


> I use the Raceglaze Alcantara cleaner, works very well, freshens up the surface and kills bacteria.
> http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/raceglaze-alcantara-cleaner.html


Thanks for that much appreciated, is there anything to protect it?


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## billyp (Jul 24, 2010)

+1 for raceglaze, mind and give it a good hoover first


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## wish wash (Aug 25, 2011)

swissvax alcanta is pretty good, Raceglaze is cheaper though


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

Swissvax product is £33, our Race Glaze product is £9.99.

As with many comparisons between these brands, don't assume that the more you pay the better the result - the RG product has been very widely used on so many different cars and is recommended by many that its £23 saved in my book and a clean set of seats, steerring wheel, gear knob and other trim for you.

http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/car-care...leaning/race-glaze-alcantara-leather-cleaner/


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Autobrite do one. Maxolen are doing one in there xmas group buy so thats a very cheap way of trying one.http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=242372

For protection Gtech i1.


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

Maxolen product is 'Alcantara safe' not specifically designed to do the job.
Our Fabric Cleanse is alcantara safe, but my personal view is to use a product made for the specific job in hand, if it exists, as it will work better


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

RaceGlazer said:


> Maxolen product is 'Alcantara safe' not specifically designed to do the job.
> Our Fabric Cleanse is alcantara safe, but my personal view is to use a product made for the specific job in hand, if it exists, as it will work better


Maxolen product is 'Alcantara safe' not specifically designed to do the job.
Our Fabric Cleanse is alcantara safe, if it exists, as it will work better.

:speechles

Mark are you saying that because Maxolen has a product that will do more than one job its not good enough? Because i welcome a product that does this as it means less re branding which goes on far to much imho!! Or are you stating it will not work???


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

chillly said:


> Maxolen product is 'Alcantara safe' not specifically designed to do the job.
> Our Fabric Cleanse is alcantara safe, if it exists, as it will work better.
> 
> :speechles
> ...


Have to agree with Chilly here far too much re branding to make money, in detailing it seems to happen a lot.


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

ITHAQVA said:


> Have to agree with Chilly here far too much re branding to make money, in detailing it seems to happen a lot.


Cheers Doug. Not only that mate but Maxolen are also doing it for *Whizzers Charity*


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## quattrogmbh (May 15, 2007)

given that the thread has morphed into a competitive analysis, what features of the raceglaze "alcantara" cleaner differentiate the product from a generic fabric detergent that the maxolen product is being described as?


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

chillly said:


> Cheers Doug. Not only that mate but Maxolen are also doing it for *Whizzers Charity*


Never knew that, well done Maxolen! :thumb::thumb:


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## Patrickm (May 27, 2011)

In all honesty Race Glazer you are not in a position to say a product will work better until you have tried both or even tested them side by side, we are always willing to do tests and have someone independently test them side by side if your up for it? 

Our core values are to provide products that care for every aspect of the job, the user, the environment, and of course to do the job we say it can do, it's not only the cleaning we consider when developing products and would never recommend a product which is not capable or suitable for the job we say it can do. 


Let me know about the test?


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

This is what I said:
'my personal view is to use a product made for the specific job in hand, if it exists, as it will work better'

Its a generically applicable comment.

Our Alcantara Cleaner is made for one job only, cleaning Alcantara. I have no idea what its like as a general fabric cleaner, as we have a different product for that purpose. I didn't say the Maxolen product wouldn't work, it probably does for this application, and if you want to only have one product in your armoury to deal with all interior fabrics, then pick a good allrounder, which it may well be, but if you want something specifically designed for a specific job, to get the best possible result, buy the specialist product, for any application. 
Or not, thats the wonder of consumer choice.


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## quattrogmbh (May 15, 2007)

But I'm still genuinely interested in what separates a specific alcantara cleaner from a generic fabric detergent.

Putting this more specifically, what features does the raceglaze alcantara cleaner feature?

without me buying it simply because its termed an alcantara cleaner, what does it do differently?


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## Patrickm (May 27, 2011)

Alcantara is a man made fabric made to look and feel like suede and is some times mistaken for just that, we have tested our interior cleaners on all man made and natural materials used to upholster with in the automotive industry. 

I guess this is our benefit by working with the car brands at a manufacturing level who use these materials, alcantara is usually composed of about 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane and is made this way to try and make it stain resistant, some times a number of other processes are carried out needle punching, buffing, impregnation, extraction, finishing, dyeing, etc which interact with each other and in some cases with the addition of certain chemicals added to the low denier fabric to make it fire retardant.

so if you have a cleaner which is alcantara safe you can be sure it will work on other fabrics of the same or similar nature. 

One thing to watch out for using some cleaning products on alcantara is water staining and I can assure you this doesn't happen with our upholstery cleaner even on light colours of this material :thumb:

Now with natural hide materials (Leather) this is another story because what you are doing by cleaning with a detergent is taking moisture/oils from the hide, so just be sure to feed the hide afterwards and put the moisture back after cleaning with a good leather cream/feed. A little similar to cleaning your own skin with a detergent then having to use a moisturiser to soften the dry skin :thumb:


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Alcantara is a very delicate piece of skin, with use and sun, it gets shiny in time, using a dedicated cleaner on the market is the best step in the right direction, follow the instructions on the back on the product, and way you go...

Got be very gentle with Alcantara, don't want to put you off, but having time with patience will sort this material out for you, spraying a product will certainly deepen the colour of Alcantara whilst wet, when the materials dry, it gives you a better insight of the cleaning action and end result......

Not to sure of theres a protector spray on the market for alcantara, if there is use this afterwards when the alcantara is fully dry to the touch...


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## bally191 (Jul 8, 2010)

thanks for alkl the comments guys its much appreciated, I will look into the three products i.e swissvax, race glaze and maxolen.

This is all to look after a steering wheel and I have seen Alcantara get hard and shiney if not looked after properly so I want to treat the area to prolong its look, feel and colour


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Trip tdi said:


> *Alcantara is a very delicate piece of skin, with use and sun, it gets shiny in time, using a dedicated cleaner on the market is the best step in the right direction*, follow the instructions on the back on the product, and way you go...
> 
> Got be very gentle with Alcantara, don't want to put you off, but having time with patience will sort this material out for you, spraying a product will certainly deepen the colour of Alcantara whilst wet, when the materials dry, it gives you a better insight of the cleaning action and end result......
> 
> Not to sure of theres a protector spray on the market for alcantara, if there is use this afterwards when the alcantara is fully dry to the touch...


Trip this is a little misleading...

It is a man made composite material not a "skin" if you like and I wouldn't say it is delicate


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Spoony said:


> Trip this is a little misleading...
> 
> It is a man made composite material not a "skin" if you like and I wouldn't say it is delicate


Spoony thanks for pointing that out to me, i totally agree with yourself, its slightly misleading, thanks for spotting it :thumb:, the last thing i want to do is give the wrong info on here, i always try to give my honest feedback and response.


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

I'll add that RG Alcantara Cleaner also contains a bactericide which kills 99.9% of nasties - this stuff is used in the NHS etc. It penetrates the fabric at a molecular level and stays active for around 6 months. 

I'm of sick recovering from an operation so don't have access to our formulae from home and am only dipping in at odd hours while I heroically fight the pain (sorry, couldn't resist that bit in case any attractive ladies want to offer some nursing)


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## judyb (Sep 7, 2007)

> Now with natural hide materials (Leather) this is another story because what you are doing by cleaning with a detergent is taking moisture/oils from the hide, so just be sure to feed the hide afterwards and put the moisture back after cleaning with a good leather cream/feed. A little similar to cleaning your own skin with a detergent then having to use a moisturiser to soften the dry skin


Sorry but this is simply not true. Detergent cleaners (normally water based) do not take moisture out of the leather in fact they add it back in and no oils are stripped from the leather during this process. Remember it is only the finish on the leather you are dealing with not the leather itself. 
You do not need to 'feed ' the leather and doing so can lead to additional problems.
Leather is not skin any more it is highly processed and should not be treated like your own skin for this reason. Please don't feed it it's dead!!!!

Hope this helps
Regards
Judyb

P.S. We have a very good protector for Alcantara. Alcantara can be wet cleaned quite successfully.


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## Patrickm (May 27, 2011)

judyb said:


> Sorry but this is simply not true. Detergent cleaners (normally water based) do not take moisture out of the leather in fact they add it back in and no oils are stripped from the leather during this process. Remember it is only the finish on the leather you are dealing with not the leather itself.
> You do not need to 'feed ' the leather and doing so can lead to additional problems.
> Leather is not skin any more it is highly processed and should not be treated like your own skin for this reason. Please don't feed it it's dead!!!!
> 
> ...


I do stand to be corrected Judy but if the protective coating which is added to leather cracks or wares away as you would expect with use this then leaves the surface open for penetration do you not agree as can many products have a negative reaction to the coating?

Most things people use to clean are water based and will have some form of detergent within it which will when dry in turn have taken some of impregnated moistures from the leather.

Yes its dead and to make the material workable it has to go through a number of processes to allow it to be used to upholster otherwise when dry it would be too brittle and eventually break, lets not forget it is a skin it isn't bullet proof.


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## Patrickm (May 27, 2011)

RaceGlazer said:


> I'll add that RG Alcantara Cleaner also contains a bactericide which kills 99.9% of nasties - this stuff is used in the NHS etc. It penetrates the fabric at a molecular level and stays active for around 6 months.
> 
> I'm of sick recovering from an operation so don't have access to our formulae from home and am only dipping in at odd hours while I heroically fight the pain (sorry, couldn't resist that bit in case any attractive ladies want to offer some nursing)


This is a very bold statement Race Glazer (kills 99.9% of nasties) and the length of time you say it stays active is for too long and could not be possible.

If this is used in hospitals as you say it is then it needs to carry an EN certification number, this will have been given to the product after medical laboratory testing for approval before it can be used in any hospital.

We have products which are healthcare approved as this is another area we cover, one of the products we have in this area is a sanitizer which we produce and has been through these tests and is proven to kill Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E-Coli) as well as many other fungi bacteria's 15 in total. 
But it is proven as with most things which kill bacteria they will deal with the issue but it is only a matter of time before the bacteria starts to form again because the protective layer left behind eventually disappears. This is why in the health/hygiene sector they introduced a cleaning times table for house keeping purposes very similar to what you will find in a washroom at any chain of fast food restaurants (McDonalds etc).

I have never heard of such a time span on bacterial prevention. :doublesho

If this is the case I think your product is wasted in car care


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## WaxOnWaxOff (Sep 12, 2010)

Well it's surely pretty wasted anyway. There's this whole nuts thing going on in the cleaning market for years perpetuating this idea that surfaces are only clean if they're sterile. It's BS. Why does a car seat need to be sterilised? It doesn't.


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## Patrickm (May 27, 2011)

WaxOnWaxOff said:


> Well it's surely pretty wasted anyway. There's this whole nuts thing going on in the cleaning market for years perpetuating this idea that surfaces are only clean if they're sterile. It's BS. Why does a car seat need to be sterilised? It doesn't.


Foul odours are caused by the build up of bacteria so to kill the root of the odour the bacteria needs to be dealt with, which I'm sure you would agree with? This is what a decent odour killer/eliminator is for, I fully agree with you that everyday things such as the interior of vehicles have no need to be sterile as it is far too difficult to keep on top of unless it is for a medical reason for example the interior of an ambulance or food transportation where there is a health risk :thumb:


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Maxolen UK said:


> This is a very bold statement Race Glazer (kills 99.9% of nasties) and the length of time you say it stays active is for too long and could not be possible.
> 
> If this is used in hospitals as you say it is then it needs to carry an EN certification number, this will have been given to the product after medical laboratory testing for approval before it can be used in any hospital.
> 
> ...


Pat can you please explain exactly what your odour killer does please mate and does it stay active for as long as Raceglazers ??


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## Patrickm (May 27, 2011)

chillly said:


> Pat can you please explain exactly what your odour killer does please mate and does it stay active for as long as Raceglazers ??


Hi Chilly,

Maxolen odour killer is exactly that, it is in no way to be confused or mistaken for a cleaner. 
What the odour killer does is deal with the odour at its root by killing the bacterial source which is creating the bad smell. 
It will deal with pet smells, nicotine, mould and sour smells from spilt milk etc.

Bacteria can form quickly on any surface and over time can start to smell in any environment for example:

A child's car seat can be cleaned thoroughly then the next day they drop food or spill a drink over it, you wipe the surface and think you got it in time but over the next few days the sun is beaming in through the window thus helping the bacteria or fungi spores grow. 
This is similar to growing something in a green house although its something which isn't visible to the naked eye, so you start to get the stale smell in the vehicle. 
Spraying the odour killer in to the fabric kills the bacteria at its root stopping growth and then spraying it in to the air will deal with the airborne spores so in turn eliminates the odour. 
However you are only dealing with a problem that is there at the time so is not to be mistaken with a preventative product.

Hope this help :thumb:


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## B17BLG (Jun 26, 2012)

Ok, going to dig up an old thread here as we have acquired a car with such interior materials.

What products are now out on the market an what do people suggest as we are now 3 years down the line?


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## shanew (Sep 23, 2011)

Maxolen upholstery cleaner still does the job it did when the original posts were made. Fantastic cleaner with a nice fresh scent


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## bigmac3161 (Jul 24, 2013)

Used l1 on my golfR seats stinks to high heaven for couple of days but does great job not a single mark on the grey bits and I've a dirty job 👍😎


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