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

[Swainey32]

haha I was thinking that's strange, I just did a write up this morning as well, probably better out of my build thread
**Noticed a mistake on re reading that, step three is leather shampoo not conditioner

[dylan8]

haha i was confused too Swainey32
Nice write up and top job though, think im going to have another crack at the mk3 seats after seeing this

[Swainey32]

haha yeah stumped me for a second,
thanks mate, it works awesome if you're patient with it and take your time, and spend some money on decent products. Think is cost me like $80 for everything in the end.
Go visit mr detail, 73 Poath Rd, Murrumbeena VIC 3163, he is a stockist for CarCareProducts and sell's everything you need
Shot me a text if you need any tips 0405 504 636, your only like 20 minutes from mine, but overall it's pretty straight forward.

[dylan8]

yeah I did it with some basic all in one meguires stuff, it worked in that it cleaned and gave some life to the leather.
will look in to some specialist products for next time as you said

[SLAJ]

Pfffffffft! All you need is ArmorAll leather wipes!
Lol joke, I think I'll give this a go too, mine are starting to look a bit dry

[JustCruisn]

I did not mean to confuse anyone, just making sure such a good write up is kept safe where it can be found easily.
Fixed step 3 shampoo too.

[Stan]

great info, thanks

[Swainey32]

I did not mean to confuse anyone, just making sure such a good write up is kept safe where it can be found easily.
Fixed step 3 shampoo too.

Cool thanks, yeah no stress, hopefully it will save people some time

[Wolfgang]

Great write up but using the Leatherique Oil after the Duragloss cleaner is doing the same thing twice. The Leatherique system is different to the norm in that you apply the conditioner first then the cleaner. The reason why is because the conditioning oil forces all the dirt and gunk out of the pores of the leather and the cleaner removes all of that and conditions the leather at the same time. You would be better off following with the Duragloss conditioner.

Car Car Products website explains the Leatherique system in more depth.