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Best Routine Cleaning For Leather Seats

Strommen95

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After trying several products over the years, I found this one easy to spray on, wipe on and wipe off. Doesn’t leave residue, and smells great, too.

You can find it in the cleaning section at Lowe’s
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Anything Zep is high quality for the price.
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Bryce

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After reading @JABCAT 's reply, I looked it up in my manual. Along with what was posted, the manual also says "Mopar Total Clean is specifically recommended for leather upholstery."

Anyone use the Mopar Total Clean or know an equivalent product that Mopar is rebranding?
 

JABCAT

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That's because the Corvette's dash is not leather. It's vinyl. That upholstery shop put real leather on your dash (or at least they claim they did). Like the Wrangler, the Corvette's "leather-trimmed seating surfaces" are mostly vinyl. That's why owner's manuals will always tell you to just use a damp cloth...cause that's all you need for vinyl and even for the little bit of real leather, cleaning it that way will make it outlast the warranty period, and that's all they care about. They are covering themselves from damage due to silicone-based "cleaners" like Armor-All. Nonetheless, without conditioning, what leather you have in your vehicle will be damaged and cracked by 100k.
Actually my Corvette's dash is full leather, it's not vinyl. The upholstery shop didn't replace anything, simply re-glued it due to the lack of, and very poor adhesive used by GM. That's a different story only pointed out because it & the "leather" portion of my seats are very easily distinguished as differnet materials. So to reiterate what I said initially, that you have agreed with, is that the seats in the Wrangler are not leather. Therefore any of these leather conditioners people use do nothing to condition it, if anything they will degrade the oem protective coating. The last two vehicles I traded in had over 100k miles on them, "leather" interior looked like it did day one. The JKU I just sold last week with 61k mi on it, same thing. No conditioners, no products, simply a damp microfiber cloth once a week.

If people want to spend money on products that's fine by me, not my car. 🍻
 

TheRaven

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Actually my Corvette's dash is full leather, it's not vinyl. The upholstery shop didn't replace anything, simply re-glued it due to the lack of, and very poor adhesive used by GM. That's a different story only pointed out because it & the "leather" portion of my seats are very easily distinguished as differnet materials.
I assume you are referring to this issue?

https://www.corvetteforum.com/articles/is-there-a-problem-with-c8-leather-dashboards/

That's not leather. It's not even a real a great imitation product. There are some very good vinyls out there that do a great job impersonating leather...they get used a lot on higher end vehicles when they need to have vinyl right next to leather. Otherwise you can clearly see the difference (like you can on the Wrangler, for instance). However the product in that picture is pretty bone standard automotive vinyl. The grain is patterned and the top is completely flat, which obviously does not happen on a natural hide.

It's not impossible that it could be a processed leather product (like bonded or "genuine" leather) but they don't generally use those products in automobiles because they aren't durable enough. They also would not be considered "actual leather". Most vehicles with leather interiors are advertised as "leather trimmed' or "leather seating surfaces" so they must actually contain some full-grain leather. As a result, you will almost unanimously find that cars with "leather interiors" will have real leather inserts and vinyl everywhere else, including the dash and door panels.

They do have some new "leather" products that i'm not familiar with yet, but I would have to see it in person to be able to tell if it is some kind of hybrid product. But that's irrelevant to this conversation.


So to reiterate what I said initially, that you have agreed with, is that the seats in the Wrangler are not leather. Therefore any of these leather conditioners people use do nothing to condition it, if anything they will degrade the oem protective coating.
Whoa there, that's not what I said. What I said is that the Wrangler, like most modern vehicles, contains very little real leather. That said, you do need to maintain the leather that is actually there or you will have a mess later in the vehicle's life. It is true that if you want to be a penny pincher, you can just clean and condition the few panels of leather that are actually there. Only problem with that is that you are going to create a visible mismatch of color shade (the conditioned panels will be darker than the surrounding panels)...so I always recommend just doing the same treatment on the whole seat, so you end up with a nice uniform finish. This will also hide the slight difference in color that lazily pieced together interiors inevitably have, because of the combination of natural and synthetic products. The conditioner does nothing for the vinyl other than give it a nice matte sheen and slightly deeper color...which makes it match the leather.

You can do what you want with your vehicle. And, if you are meticulous about keeping your interior clean, regularly wipe down the seats, and park in a garage or continuously shaded spot, you could very well see your leather last a VERY long time. But that's not good advice for the general population who overwhelmingly do not like to be bothered with cleaning or maintaining their vehicles. They like to do the bare minimum...so if you tell them "simply wipe down your seats with a damp cloth"...that's going to happen like once a year maybe, and that's a recipe for disaster.
 

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Jeepster21

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So you would just use something as simple as maybe quick detailer spray that you use on the exterior of your Wrangler?

Actually my Corvette's dash is full leather, it's not vinyl. The upholstery shop didn't replace anything, simply re-glued it due to the lack of, and very poor adhesive used by GM. That's a different story only pointed out because it & the "leather" portion of my seats are very easily distinguished as differnet materials. So to reiterate what I said initially, that you have agreed with, is that the seats in the Wrangler are not leather. Therefore any of these leather conditioners people use do nothing to condition it, if anything they will degrade the oem protective coating. The last two vehicles I traded in had over 100k miles on them, "leather" interior looked like it did day one. The JKU I just sold last week with 61k mi on it, same thing. No conditioners, no products, simply a damp microfiber cloth once a week.

If people want to spend money on products that's fine by me, not my car. 🍻
 

JABCAT

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So you would just use something as simple as maybe quick detailer spray that you use on the exterior of your Wrangler?
I only use a damp microfiber cloth on the interior of my cars. I also don't get the interior of my cars dirty, but if I did, I would simply use a cleaner specific to the materials. There's no need to "condition" them. Now, if you're going to be spending a lot of time with the top & doors off, I would recommend investing in a high-quality set of waterproof seat covers, e.g. Bartact. Those you can spot clean frequently or take them off & throw them in the washer if they get really dirty all the while protecting your leather seats.
 
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Jeepster21

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No I am like you, the interior of my cars do not get dirty.


I only use a damp microfiber cloth on the interior of my cars. I also don't get the interior of my cars dirty, but if I did, I would simply use a cleaner specific to the materials. There's no need to "condition" them. Now, if you're going to be spending a lot of time with the top & doors off, I would recommend investing in a high-quality set of waterproof seat covers, e.g. Bartact. Those you can spot clean frequently or take them off & throw them in the washer if they get really dirty all the while protecting your leather seats.
 

JABCAT

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No I am like you, the interior of my cars do not get dirty.
I know people have feelings re: products they like to use, if they think they work, etc. Fwiw the interior option on my Corvette was over $7,000 compared to the leather option of $1,795 on the Wrangler (or standard with certain models). If there were some magical interior cleaner/conditioner I'd definitely be using it on that car. But the damp microfiber cloth seems to be doing well keeping it in show condition. :like:
 

areuriding

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Hmmm, for years I'd clean with a damp cloth and every couple of months apply a nice leather conditioner. Coated seats or not the conditioner made the seats look nicer when applied, I'm sure it doesn't hurt anything and it keeps me happy.
 

Pinion

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I do my Jeep the same as I've done my BMW. I use Lexol leather conditioner in the orange bottle, spray it all over the seat and wipe it all in/on with bare hands. You can feel it soaking in, know when to move on, and don't waste any on an applicator.

I use one of my wife's old slipper socks to wipe it off. Old Terry cloth works well, too.

If it's cold out, do it after you've been out on a long drive, or just crank the heat for 15 minutes and crawl in there to do it while it's running.

I just did my Jeep's very first conditioning this afternoon in 45° weather. I thought the leather was thin, and then it tightened right up like it was supposed to.
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