2002S2K

Hello everyone,

I have been all over this site for the past year and a half trying to answer scattered leather questions that people have, given mishaps, wear, or manufacturer defect.

Just so you don't think I am a quack, I work for The Leather Institute, A Member of the Townsend Leather Group. We at The Leather Institute specialize in leather service, products, and training. Townsend Leather as you may or may not know is the premium leather company Rick's Uses for all his accessories, but really where they shine is in the aircraft industry, they supply to virtually all aircraft manufacturers in the US and abroad.

The Leather Institute has been around for about 15 years now and during this time, we have gained an exceptional knowledge of leather and how to clean, maintain, and restore this natural product to keep it looking like new for years of useful life.

So instead of everyone trying to get answers for their questions and potentially getting incorrect information, I started this thread to help out my fellow S2Kers.

Please post away and when I get some time later I will go through some of the basics of cleaning and general care.

Kodokan_4

When I was working on my car, I rested my knee on the seat, and now I hava a small pressure ding in the leather, where my knee was.

I took out the seat and put it in the sun, to see if I could tighten up the leather, and get rid of the loose spot. After a few hours in the sun, it was completely gone, but when I put the seat back in the car, and it cooled down, the ding came back.

Any way to tighten up that area permanently, with heat, or by using another method?

I can get a pic for you, if you need it.

-Pete

hokiemax

Oh goody. I've been waiting for a thread like this !

ok my questions are:

1)how often do my leather seats need to be treated? (my s2000 is almost 3 months old and I haven't done any treatments yet)

2)someone told me that you should always leave a crack opening in the window because its good for the leather. is that true ?


ok thats it for my questions now. thank you.

xviper

I think most (if not all) of us have seen the "wear" effects on the driver's seat from getting in and out on a regular basis. I'm talking about how the bottom and side bolsters begin to look very dated (even at an early age), with all those "wrinkle, spider web" like lines that go pale or whitish in color. A leather treatment will make it look much better but quickly returns once the treatment has completely sucked into the leather and dried. This may only be an hour or two. Anything that we can do that will bring the leather back on a long term basis?

GChambers

Also, what is the best thing to treat them with? I use Meguiars Leather Wipes now. Is there something else I should use instead?

HI SPEEDR

I treat my leather once a month using Meguiar's...is that too much?

2002S2K

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kodokan_4
[B]When I was working on my car, I rested my knee on the seat, and now I hava a small pressure ding in the leather, where my knee was.

I took out the seat and put it in the sun, to see if I could tighten up the leather, and get rid of the loose spot. After a few hours in the sun, it was completely gone, but when I put the seat back in the car, and it cooled down, the ding came back.

2002S2K

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hokiemax
[B]Oh goody. I've been waiting for a thread like this !

ok my questions are:

1)how often do my leather seats need to be treated? (my s2000 is almost 3 months old and I haven't done any treatments yet)

2)someone told me that you should always leave a crack opening in the window because its good for the leather. is that true


OK, being that our car is a convertible and my seats always are getting dusty, I will clean them once a month, of course I am probably overdoing it, but every 2-3 months should be fine. For hardtops, every 3 months is fine.

If you leave your windows open, it will just alleviate some of the heat. Heat can take moisture from the leather, but not really in a big way at those temperatures. I do not do this, nor will I in the future.

Now what to use...or well what not to use

Do not use:
1. detergents of any kind
2. Vinyl Cleaner
3. alcohols
4. Silicones like Armor All
5.OK, anything that says it is not specifically designed for leather

Since we supply all our own products I have to put in a plug for us. You can go onteh web at www.leatherinstitute.com to see our products, under the consumer products you can order a cleaning and conditioning kit or under the complete product listing you can order larger quantitities of what is involved in the kits. My personal favorites in the complete section are the Cleaner for Finished Leather to get off any dirt that has landed on the seats and then to use the Cleaner, Conditioner, Protector (CCP) to further clean, lubricate the leather fibers, and leave a protective barrier against further soiling getting into the leather itself.

If you choose not to use our products, there are many others available, although many of these manufacturers have not the slightest clue. Some can strip the finish off on the first cleaning and thus deteriorate it more each subsequent cleaning. We saw in one instance where 1 million dollars of leather was thrown out after it was cleaned nightly for 1 month using the improper products, you could tear it apart in your bear hands effortlessly.

To answer a later question, Meguiar's makes good exterior care products, wouldn't you rather buy from a company that just does leather, don't you think they put in the time there to make sure it is the best on the market, being that they don't have any other products to fall back on. Even Shell gasoline is making leather products now...hmmm

2002S2K

So here is the list of potentials:
1. The Leather Institute/Townsend Leather Products
2.Lexol Products
3. Leatherique

2002S2K

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
[B]I think most (if not all) of us have seen the "wear" effects on the driver's seat from getting in and out on a regular basis.