What product to deep clean leather?

[funcrew]

While I was at work today, Mrs. Funcrew went after the old OEM leather on my sport interior with grade 0000 steel wool and some purple power cleaner. That definitely took off a layer of grime, but I'd like to get a little more aggressive with the cleaning before I apply rejuvinator oil and steam that in. I've seen a mix of acetone & other solvents recommended, but I'm hesitant to get that crazy. What would you use to clean the leather thoroughly with steel wool?

Discuss.

[td325ic]

If you're just trying to remove grim then a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works very well on leather and amazing on vinyl. Much better than steel wool or scrotch brite pad surprisingly.

The leatherique rejuvinator oil will bring the deep embedded grim to the surface, so you actually don't need to get the seat super clean before putting on the rejuvinator oil for the first time. Let the oil dry and then wipe off the grim from the surface.

So really for simple cleaning just leatherique's rejuvinator oil and pristine clean work well. For things you can buy locally, Meguir's Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner and Blue Magic Leather & Vinyl Cleaner both do a good job on cleaning the leather without hurting the finish. Just apply the product, give it a few moments before scrubbing it off with a terry cloth.

There are further steps I could recommend which will actually get the leather noticeably soft again but unless you're willing to do some dye work as well then it's not worth going that far.

[maco325e]

I remember a few years back I used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on my rear seat and took the dye off the leather, so if you are gonna try it, start working on a small area just in case the same hapens to you.

[aworthybrother]

I just used the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on all my vinyl seats and door cards. It cleaned my interior well.

[StereoInstaller1]

Magic Erasers are a chlorine bleach based product.

Personally, I would never let chlorine touch my leather.

I use acetone when prepping the leather for paint. Didn't remove any color, but certainly got 100% of the "sheen" off.

GL and post your results!

Luke

[NC325iC]

magic erasers do not use bleach they clean like a very fine sand paper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Eraser

[StereoInstaller1]

magic erasers do not use bleach they clean like a very fine sand paper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Eraser

Wow, Weird. To me it smells like bleach and it makes white nylon turn yellow, so I suppose that is why I thought it had chlorine.

That article is interesting though.

I wonder of they add anything to it?

[funcrew]

Thanks to all - will clean again with acetone and 0000 steel wool. I will be using the Obenauf (butchering the spelling there) fine leather oil & steaming it in per the Leatherique instructions, followed by final cleaning with Leatherique "pristine clean" from my shelf of random leftover stuff. Will report back with results.

[91E30-318is]

I'm going to dye my seats soon. So how do get the leather soft again?

[John in VA]

I'm going to dye my seats soon. So how do get the leather soft again?

Use the method detailed in the thread - Rejuvenator Oil followed by Prestine Clean. That way the leather will be nice & clean, as well as softened before dyeing.
Here's a link to doing it correctly:

http://www.detailedimage.com/Pro-Detailers/Articles/Leatherique-How-To/

[robspeed325i]

i saw leatherique work in person at a clinic last winter up at reggie's... if i hadnt seen it with my own eyes i would never have believed it! stiff brittle leather turned to absolute butter soft wonderful!

https://www.reggiesmotorworks.com

[naplesE30]

Hey I am getting ready to do my seats, but I wanted to bounce this idea off you guys.
My seats are really cracked and dry. I was thinking of wet sanding the dye off my seats before using the rejuvinator to get better absorption. Has anyone gone this route?

[ck_taft325is]

^ No.

[TheB1G Lebowski]

Yeah i need some help with this too. I just got some cardinal red door cards and interior pieces the only problem is they are faded a bit darker than original. I got some Armorall leather conditioner and it worked well to bring some life back to the leather but it still is very dark. has any one had experience bring the color back to life in older panels? Thanks.

[Mless5]

but it still is very dark.

= dirty.

Woolite mixed with water 10:1.