How to Guide: Neglected Leather Rejuvenation

[JustCruisn]

How to Guide: Neglected Leather Rejuvenation
How do I know if my leather needs work? Is your leather stiff/cardboard like, with crack forming and an overall shine?

Step 1: Thoroughly clean this seats with a vacuum
Step 2: With a slightly damp microfiber wipe over entire seat and pay attention to the seems of the seat
Step 3: Depending on the condition of the seat you can skip this step completely
Spray some leather shampoo onto a small section at a time, recommend something like the duragloss leather shampoo (strips dirt and grime without removing the good natural oils).

Then work this spray in with something like the mint leather brush (helps lift dirt without scuffing leather),

making sure to get all the seems, then wipe away with a microfibre cloth. Step 2 should be repeated until no dirt can be seen on the microfibre any more, 2-3 times.
Step 4: Apply a high quality leather rejuvenation product, I personally found leathique rejuvenator oil amazing

For best results, use your hand to apply a generous amount of this oil into the seat, the more you work it, the deeper the oil penetrates (giggity). The higher the wear area, the more you should massage it in. If seats are in the car still, put all the windows up and park in the sun, for best results wait for 12 hours before cleaning off. I had the seats out and this worked best for me as I could do it in the comfort of my lounge room. For cardboard/stiff feeling leather, reapply the rejuvenator oil every 12 hours to the seats until they stop absorbing the oil. For my seats, I applied about 5 coats of the oil, each time I put less on as some sections still had not absorbed the previous layer of oil.

Step 5: Removal of the oil
Same process as step 3, but you'll be surprised at how much dirt now comes out after the pore's have re opened, if you have the $$$ buy some leatherique pristene clean, but duragloss leather shampoo is still an excellent product. Make sure this seat has no dirt coming out whatsoever at this stage. You should be left with a soft, supple leather.
Step 6: Apply leather conditioner
I used a duragloss leather conditioner, you just apply a light coat of the whole seat with a soft cloth, the leather should absorb the liquid after a few minutes.

A before and after shot


For regular maintenance to ensure all that hard work isn't wasted (every 2-3 months, just do steps 1,3 and 5)

This thread is a repost Swainey32's original in his build thread Swainey32's Build Thread Space