Leatherique, What am I supposed to see? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Tom McMenamin · #1 06-07-2003, 11:16 PM

After reading about the subject product, I bought some Leatherique. I got the Conditioner and the cleaner. The directions say to use the conditioner first then use the Cleaner. I think it's called pristine cleaner. At any rate I did what I was told and I don't see a great deal of difference?

Is it me, my application or is it that it simply cleans and thats it?

MTI · #2 06-08-2003, 12:02 AM

Much is going to depend on what condition your leather was before the treatment. The cleaner and conditioner are not so much "restorative" as they are "protective"

ksing44 · #3 06-08-2003, 07:04 AM

Hey I just bought the same some stuff from Leatherique, but I didn’t use it yet. I tried a little bit of the Meguires stuff and, like you; I couldn’t see much difference. I was thinking that the Leatherique might be better. It isn’t that my leather is terrible, I just wanted to see if it could get nicer and more supple so that it would not deteriorate. In fact, I really wanted the stuff for my sofa that is getting kind of dried out from being located close to a window. The sofa leather isn’t as tough as the Mercedes. The leather in our car is made for heavy use. The sofa is definitely made for comfort, although we did upgrade to the highest quality leather when we purchased the sofa.

Well now I know not to expect any miracles. Thanks for the information.

Chris Blanchard · #4 06-08-2003, 08:46 AM

If you are not getting good results, perhaps it is your technique.

Here is a link to an article that shows how to do it right:

http://www.mbcoupes.com/repairarticles/leatherrepair/leatheriquetreatment.htm

When I followed this technique on my 300SD's seats I was impressed. A lot of dirt came out and the seats were much softer. I think the key is to slather the cleaner on and then let the car sit in the sun with the windows up. The heat seems to be key.

Chris

Tom McMenamin · #5 06-08-2003, 04:15 PM

Two problems!

1) A warm sunshine day is tough to get this Spring. 2) Need to let the Restorer sit longer. Excellent site. Thanks!

Mr. BILL · #6 06-08-2003, 05:40 PM

I think they suggest if you don't have a warm sunny day, try covering the seats with plastic.

#7 06-08-2003, 10:50 PM

So does anyone have a good recommendation for cleaning the leather seats and getting dirt out?

I have a grey 300SD with the grey interior and although the seasts are in very good condition, I want to really try to get everything out.

Tom McMenamin · #8 06-08-2003, 11:18 PM

http://www.mbcoupes.com/repairartic...uetreatment.htm

Flash Gordon · #9 06-09-2003, 04:42 PM

I have tried Leatherique on my Acura before. I used the conditioner and cleaner last summer. You have to baked it in in the hot sun. Since mine was not that dirty, the leather felt softer afterwards, and I did not see dirt got drawn out from the leather. I think the cleaner is meant for the seats that had a lot of mileage. If you have a relatively new car, you won't see any difference compared to Lexol, at least, I didn't.

#10 06-18-2003, 09:31 AM

Bought Leatherique conditioner and cleaner to try in early spring. My son's porsche had a rear panel that was baked in the sun. I was going to get it recovered in new leather but thought I would try Leatherique first. The leather on the top of the panel was hard cardboard, cracked, and discolored. It was so hard that when I touched the area that was baked - a little piece cracked off. The rest of the panel was good. I put the Leatherique on in the basement and after 3 days saw only a slight softening of the cardboardy leather. Disheartened, I left the panel sit for a few weeks. The leather was still not too soft - only slightly less cardboardy. Last week it went up to 85 F here. I took the panel and saturated the cardboardy area again and massaged the Leatherique condtioner into it again and put the panel in the car with windows up in the sun and left it for 2 days. There was a lot of gummy sticky stuff on top of the treated area. I used the cleaner to clean it off and was surprised to feel the leather was quite supple and almost as soft as the rest of the panel. I reapplied the conditioner several times, cleaning with the Leatherique cleaner in between applications until there was no more gunk coming out of the leather. Each time I let the leather bake in the car on hot days. Well, the leather is now as soft as the rest of the panel with a few cracks and discolorations. I sent a swatch of the leather from under the panel to Leatherique and they are doing a color match for dye for me. The next step will be to use their latex filler and sand it and re-dye the panel. The real trick to using this product is extreme heat. If your leather was not kid leather soft to begin with - Leatherique will NOT make it kid leather soft. Leatherique does restore leather to it's original softness level. I went from a non- believer to a believer after much frustration. Just remember - HEAT is important - don't try and do it in the winter!! If others on this thread will re-try the Leatherique with a closed car in hot sunlight and re-post - I would love to hear if they too become believers.

Morris

#11 07-07-2003, 10:50 AM

OK Guys - bit the bullet and tried the Leatherique on my 560sel black leather seats. As a bit of history - over the last 3 years I have used Maguire's leather cleaner, Lexol leather cleaner, Mother's leather cleaner and some stuff from the Tannery. All cleaned the leather as stated and their conditioners seemed to replenish oils in leather as stated but leather looked good. Now I took my cleaned leather seats and massaged Leatherique conditioner into them as per instructions. I let the car sit outside in the sun for 6 hours with the windows up as per instructions. I had a shiny gummy mess on my leather seats. I took 6 1 foot x 18" white cotton cloths and proceeded to spray and clean my seats with Leatherique prisine cleaner as per instructions. I was shocked - the rags were dark brown with dirt! The seats now looked dull and splotchy. After reading their website again - I forgot to wash the leather seats with mild soap and water. So I went back and washed the seats after having applied the Pristine Clean. The wash water was filthy - my "clean" seats were not really clean! I ended up having to wash them twice and then I rinsed them with clear water. The results are spectacular! My seats feel softer and they really gook good - nice low sheen. So I went on to step two and used their latex crack filler on the 2" tear on the side of my driver's seat bolster. Took several hours as the filler is very runny and you have to build it up. After it was built up enough - I took 400 grit sandpaper and sanded it and the surrounding leather until smooth. I then prepped the leather and dyed it. Fantastic! The only one who knows where the repair was made is me. Guys - this stuff is great - but be warned - it is labor intensive and the results are worth it.

Lou K · #12 07-07-2003, 01:11 PM

I have been using Leatherique for about 5 years now after using all of the other conditioners/cleaners. While the others apear to condition the leather thay also trap in the dirt. Lexol has an ingredient in their formulation that will in time rot the stitching as I learned from "bad experiencie".

Recently I decided to clean the seats in my 1991 560 SEL for the heck of it. The car has 15,000 miles on it and the seats were last cleaned in the fall and did not appear dirty but it was about time. Following the instructions and leaving the conditioner on over night in hot Sacramento, CA weather, I cleaned them using pristine clean the next morning. I was amazed, even after using Leatherique as long as I have, how much dirt came out of the seats. In my estimation this is a miracle cleaner for any type of leather surface.

ESVIC · #13 07-08-2003, 05:12 PM

Someone just told me about They said it is suppose to make the leather softer and cleaner.

DOES IT WORK?

The condition of the leather only cars are all great condition..it's more for maintenance.

Thanks

BoostnBenz · #14 07-08-2003, 10:44 PM

Will the cleaner help my MB-Tex at all, the tex in the 83 is like cardboard compared to the 84. If not, what can I do or use?

Mr. BILL · #15 07-08-2003, 11:15 PM

Leatherique works on MB tex