Leather care recommendations?

[Quila]

I've always been a fan of Autoglym inside & out, but Since the XF's the first car I've had with leather worth caring about, I wondered if you guys have any opinions as to the best leather cleaner & conditioner. 

I'm currently torn between Autoglym & Gliptone. Any opinions?

[knightsmith]

Amanda,

 

I just use saddle soap. and on the leather furniture indoors,and coats, seems to work fine .

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saddle-Leather-Conditioning-Soap-250mls/dp/B001F40E10/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404077210&sr=8-1&keywords=saddle+soap

 

 

One of the reviews : "Great product, cleaned the car seats removing the ingrained dirt and restoring them to somewhat near their original conditional.Would recommend. "

 

ATB,

 

Trevor x

[Quila]

Thanks, reasonable price so I might give that a shot

[Old Peter]

Saddle soap is great for cleaning seats, but you still need a product for feeding the leather, and Mer and Autoglym are both good.

 

I currently use Scotts Leather cleaner and preservative [which came free with my X Type] and that is quite good too.

 

I used both Mer and Autoglym on the Rover Sterling for 12 years and the seats still look perfect when I part exchanged it for a Jaguar.

 

Regards,

 

Peter.

[knightsmith]

Peter,

 

Saddle soap does preserve the leather, I have used it on the last six cars, the house furniture, our leather coats and jackets, the wife's handbags . My friend uses it on her horse's tack . I have found it to be excellent stuff.

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Old Peter]

Hi Trevor

 

I use Saddle soap quite a lot on boots, handbags, shoes etc and it does a great job insofar as the cleaning goes.  I have relied on reviews of other products and what people have said about the preservation of car seats.

 

However, just to make sure, and prove the point to myself, I have just done the cleaning of one car seat - drivers - with Saddle soap, and will be giving it the final buff up now.

 

I will be back in 10 minutes to announce the result!

 

Peter.

[Old Peter]

I have buffed up the seat, and have found that there were certain marks of where the seats had had dirt removed  --  good sign.  I think that the seat will need a bit more hard work till the colour is restored.

 

The leather on my car is Dove Grey, and the overall trim is two tone - dark grey and dove grey on the doors, and I do like to keep the car in best order.

 

Peter.

[knightsmith]

Peter ,

 

Same here, that's why I won't allow the dog in the car unless it's for the vets or kennels.  And being Ivory colour you have to keep on top of it. The saddle soap is quite hard work in all fairness to do it properly , but  Amanda will probably get the butler on to it

 

White leather in the house and a dog do not mix well though .

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Quila]

The butler? I wish! No, I'm the one wielding the power tools and doing the manual work around here, whilst his nibs is a pencil pusher and thinks he's the only one who works for a living 

 

White leather and a dog, Trevor? You enjoy cleaning, then?

 

I found some cleaner and conditioner that came with the settees, so I've tried that. The passenger seats look great, but the driver's seat needs something more thorough. I've ordered the saddle soap and will try that at the weekend. And in the meantime... I'm off to unblock the wet room drain... like I said, I do the manual work  ;)

[knightsmith]

Amanda,

 

No I don't enjoy cleaning, and cannot stand dogs. It doesn't bother the wife as she is a professional mad person ( don't mean that in a nasty way, she is manic depressive) and I do all the slavery, including taking her dog for a three mile walk at 5-30 every morning .

 

In her defence (she calls herself Princess Marcie of Ilfracombe) she did buy me the XKR for my birthday.

 

A wet room eh, just how posh are you ? are you sure you haven't got a butler?

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Old Peter]

The saddle soap seems to working on the Driver's seat, which is the only one that really needs cleaning.  But like everything, it does need a bit of application, in both senses of the word.

[knightsmith]

Peter,

 

But look on the bright side, it is a Jag, it takes a lot to beat a clean sparkling one !

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Old Peter]

I have always kept my cars sparkling, Trevor.  When I had a company car, which I had for almost 30 years, my car was always known as the "Pride of the Fleet".

 

Owning a Jaguar, built only 6 miles away, does encourage me to keep it in showroom condition.

 

Peter.

[knightsmith]

Peter ,

 

Same here, I even cleaned the XJ Supersport on the morning I sold it to the garage . People said I was  daft as they would clean it also. It just seemed like good manners to me.

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Quila]

Decided on Gliptone in the end (it adds to the leather smell).

 

This was before I started:

 

 

... and after the first treatment:

 

 

I think there's a significant improvement, but it does need another treatment.

[knightsmith]

Looks good young Amanda .

 

ATB,

 

Trevor x

[Old Peter]

Hi Amanda,

 

The car seats look good.  They are the same colour as my x type, so ​ I think I will try the same product.

 

Peter.

[frosty1]

any idea on how to remove cracks in leather I have cream leather so looks bad

[Old Peter]

HI Brian,

 

I have seen a programme on Wheeler Dealers where the cracks in leather were removed on a Bentley.  There is site somewhere which I found by googling that will identify the exact colour of you seats and have a product  ---   a dye   ---  that will restore the look of the leather.

 

I use either Autoglym or saddle soap  every couple of months.

 

Regards,

 

Peter.

[Andy665]

Look here for leather restoration kits, I have restored the leather in my last two Alfas

 

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk

 

The seat below was quite badly worn and cracked - after treatment with a Furniture Clinic kit

 

 

Personally I would never use saddle soap, car leather needs stuff that is much gentler

[Old Peter]

Look here for leather restoration kits, I have restored the leather in my last two Alfas

 

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk

 

The seat below was quite badly worn and cracked - after treatment with a Furniture Clinic kit

 

01 15 13_2157_edited-1s.jpg

 

Personally I would never use saddle soap, car leather needs stuff that is much gentler

Thanks for the tip, Andy.  Saddle soap was recommended to me, but it has gone into the boot polish box!

 

Peter.

[Andy665]

Thanks for the tip, Andy.  Saddle soap was recommended to me, but it has gone into the boot polish box!

 

Peter.

I had this confirmed by someone on a leather restoration stand at the NEC on Saturday - whilst saddle soap is very good at what it does its generally designed to work best on very thick, very tough saddle leather and can damage car leather which is generally much thinner and softer.  Whilst you can use saddle soap I personally would prefer to use products that are designed specifically for the job

[Old Peter]

Hi Andy,

 

I was thinking of going to the NEC myself on Saturday but SWMBO said that there were too many things to do in the house!

 

Peter.

[Andy665]

Hi Andy,

 

I was thinking of going to the NEC myself on Saturday but SWMBO said that there were too many things to do in the house!

 

Peter.

It was worth going just to see the line up of 288GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari - simply spectacular

 

The alloy XJ13 replica was something to behold as well

 

 

[RedguardAutoSpa]

Swissvax and Furniture Clinic do restoration kits.

Gliptone Leather Care is A Superb Cleaner but gentle as well.
£15 for a full set including conditioner.
award winning product