# Best leather care products?



## thg (Jul 21, 2016)

I have contacted Dr Leather with some questions about leather protection (also UV protection).

They tell me that there is no protection in their cleaners and they don’t recommend that, but I don’t understand because leather in 5-10 year old cars are often completely dried out and cracked and I want to avoid precisely this.

When you buy a leather sofa so it says that it must not be placed in direct sunlight, but in a car are they in direct sunlight all the time and is therefore extra exposure, so I do not understand that is not required a UV protection on leather seats i a car. Dr Leather tell me that sofas are made to a lower specification than automotive leather and modern leather have good coatings, but I do not understand that one sees so many worn leather seats in cars and that is why I think that leather needs protection inclusive UV protection?

Dr Leather write to me: “Our philosophy, having made leather for almost 30 years, is to ensure the leather is kept clean to avoid any possible damage to the all-important top coat on the leather” but I have difficulty understanding how clean leather will avoid any possible damage more than dirty/not cleaned leather?

I am very convinced Dr Leather 's Cleaner product that I have seen many pictures with good results, but I want to take care of my leather seats most as possible and are very unsympathetic towards the protection of the leather would not be a good idea, since I can not understand that a leather cleaner should be able to prevent fading, cracks and dryness?

I considering the Chemical Guys Leather Serum to protect my leather seats because it just is not a standard conditioner - what is your opinion about this or what have other recommendations and experiences?


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

All you need to keep your leather seats well maintained.
http://lttleathercare.com/product/auto-leather-care-kit/

Dave


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## ah234 (Nov 10, 2015)

Like they said, there is a top coat on leather so nothing put on top is in contact with the physical hide. I suspect the auto leather experts will chime in, like the dr himself, but the cleaner is a really good formulation to prevent wear on the topcoat (it is not a super harsh cleaner) which for me is more important because I don't want anything I use to cause damage.
I don't think you will face a massive UV issue, as a lot are blocked out by the car windows (if they are tinted a slight green) and the rest absorbed by the topcoat.

However, using something like Gtechniq L1 will provide the layer you want, but Dr Leather is my go to cleaner and his expertise is astonishing


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## Ceejay21868 (Jan 27, 2016)

Always nice to see the leather thread.

Plenty of discussion, will watch this with great fondness.


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## thg (Jul 21, 2016)

Are Gtechniq L1 better than Chemical Guys Leather Serum?

And I still do not understand why Dr Leather think that leather would not be good for anything Protection? Leather in 5-10 year old cars are often completely dried out and cracked and Dr Leather Cleaner surely can not prevent this since it 's only cleans!


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## ah234 (Nov 10, 2015)

I don't particularly think it dries out, my last car I traded in was 6 years old at the time and covered 87k miles with me (an IS220d with beige seats) and the leather was fine- supple and soft, just s few creases on the bolsters of the front seats 

Most these treatments prevent the seats from getting dirty quickly

Are your seats particularly cracked or dry?


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## thg (Jul 21, 2016)

ah234 said:


> I don't particularly think it dries out, my last car I traded in was 6 years old at the time and covered 87k miles with me (an IS220d with beige seats) and the leather was fine- supple and soft, just s few creases on the bolsters of the front seats
> 
> Most these treatments prevent the seats from getting dirty quickly
> 
> Are your seats particularly cracked or dry?


No my leather seats are fine, but the car is only 3 years old (VW Golf 7) but I just want to prevent that I suddenly faced with some worn seats!


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## SystemClenz (Oct 31, 2008)

Car manufacturers use leather that is highly resistant to sun damage in their interiors. It usually holds up a lot longer in the sun than most furniture leather, but it’s still a good idea to clean and protect it a couple times a year.


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## judyb (Sep 7, 2007)

Dirt allowed to build up on the surface of leather will act as an abrasive which will then affect the top coatings on the leather. Once these begin to break down the leather itself becomes vulnerable. 
Protecting your leather together with regular cleaning will help to keep it clean and therefore prolong the life of the coatings.
Regular care and maintenance cleaning will definitely prolong the life of the leather itself. 
Deep cleaning is recommended once or twice a year depending on usage and colour.
Feel free to contact me if you need more information - always happy to help with technical advice 
Cheers
Judyb


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## thg (Jul 21, 2016)

But are Gtechniq L1 better than Chemical Guys Leather Serum?


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## Dougnorwich (Jun 27, 2014)

Horses for courses......I always use gtechniq l1 nice Matt finish and so easy and quick to apply

Price wise it's excellent a little goes along way

Why would you not


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## Dr Leather (Sep 8, 2010)

Not really sure what else I can add to the e-mail correspondence I supplied to you thg.

You honestly wouldn't believe some of the tests we have to go through for modern day automotive leather. Things like heating in an oven for days and days and then performing physical testing and colour fastness testing to simulate high internal cabin temps. The UV aspect is being very muddled with marketing. So let me try to explain.....

1. UV is a certain wavelength range in the whole spectrum of light. It is particularly dangerous to 'living' skin as it can penetrate the skin and cause cells to mutate, and hence can be a cause of skin cancers.

2. The body produces Melanin, which absorbs the UV light (in particular UVB) and dissipates the energy, thus protecting the natural skin.

3. The majority of heat from the sun comes from the Infra-red wavelength range, not from UV. 

OK, so that is for a living skin......

But leather is effectively dead skin/hide that has had all the non-collagenous parts removed. It is then processed through the beamhouse, tanning, retanning, dyeing and fatliquoring before t is finished (coated). Therefore we must look at what UV light AND heat can affect with regards to the chemicals, as the leather is effectively dead collagen type 1 triple helical strands that have been chemical processed. And basically the two things that can happen are that fatliquors (which naturally lubricate the internal fibre structure) can oxidise and yellow, you can get fading of colour and you can get yellowing of the resins used in the finishing (coating).

Drilling in to this further:

1. The fatliquors that are used are synthetic, so they are heat and light stable and they are chemically bound to the fibre structure to avoid migration issues.

2. Dyestuffs can suffer from fading, it is true, but nowadays they are developed to be minimal for this reason. But dyes are used to colour the leather structure..... in the finish (the coating) the colouration is from pigments, which are opaque particles of colour and have extremely high colour fastness values and have 10 - 20 years lifespans before they should fade. So there is little chance of fading from OEM's, but be cautious of re-finished leather where aftermarket companies can substitute cheap and poor quality pigments.

3. The resins used in the finishing (coating) are specially selected to be aliphatic, as opposed to aromatic, so that their heat and lightfastness is extremely good. 

So from this you can see that all the hype about UV protectant is just that.... hype. The modern day leathers are designed and developed for such climatic conditions. I've written about this at length before. The key thing is trying to keep the temperature in the cabin down, and we have this technology where we can make black objects appear white to the sun so that they do not heat up. 

Anyway, I could easily create and market a placebo product, saying it has all this fancy UV resistance, but at the end of the day it really is not necessary. You need to keep your leather clean to avoid micro-abrasion issues.

There's my take on it anyway after doing this game for 30 years!!!!

Cheers

Dr Leather


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## thg (Jul 21, 2016)

Thank you Dr Leather 

But why do we see so many cars with worn leather seats and perhaps fissured surfaces? Could regular use of Dr Leather Cleaner have prevented this?

Examples:
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mechanizeddeath/media/Leather/PICT3784.jpg.html
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v241/mechanizeddeath/Leather/PICT3784.jpg
http://www.paulfordleather.co.nz/images/car-leather.jpg


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## Dr Leather (Sep 8, 2010)

Those pictures are of surface abrasion, that has then led to further related damage. Without knowing the history of what has happened to the seat you cannot fully tell what has caused the issues. Once a small area has abraded it leads to a weak point which can then worsen as you sit in the seat. Remember the leather is not indestructible. We can make it very tough to certain conditions, but at the end of the day the material has to perform many functions, including remaining flexible.

Cheers

Darryl


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