I just bought a beautiful 1986 300sdl. The interior is showroom new. The dealer told me that the trick to maintaining the interior is to simply wipe down the leather , vinyl and the dash with a solution of murphy's oil soap and water. I never heard of that. I did a google search and got alot of hits about using oil soap on leather as a cleaner and then conditioning it with something else like lexol. Anyone ever just use Murphy's?
thanks
Dave

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1986 300SDL

Dave,

I've never used Murphy's before nor have I really heard much about it. If you want to use a home product to clean the interior of your car try diluted woolite. It's safe to use on everything in your interior.

If your willing to buy purpose made products here is what I would suggest:

Vinyl:
Blue Coral Interior Cleaner to clean
Vinylex, 303 Aerospace or Mercedes Vinyl Care to protect

Leather:
Leatherique to restore and clean
Griots Leather Conditioner to maintain

Carpet:
Blue Coral Interior Cleaner to clean

I've used all of the above products now and can say they are all top notch.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Yes I have used Murphy's but on wood only. Pretty good stuff but I don't know if it was formulated with leather in mind.

For cleaning leather you could try saddle soap. It cleans and leaves leather soft and supple.

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

I don't really care about whether or not it's a home product but I have to say that the interior of this 18 year old car is mint.

On my porsche I've been using Lexol. Its helped rejuvenate the leather somewhat but I think I'll give the Leatherique a try.

thanks
dave

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1986 300SDL

Dave you won't be disapointed with Leatherique. I used it for the first time yesterday and my leather looks in nearly showroom condition. The finish is soft, pliable and has a matte appearance to it. It also has a decent smell to it.

Just a comment on Saddle Soap, on Leatheriques instructions it states in bold print not to use saddle soap. They state that saddle soap wiill remove any dyes off of the surface of the leather. Haven't tried it so I'm not sure if it does or doesn't but just be to safe I thought I'd post it.

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Sounds great, the mercedes are soft and supple. This car must have been a garage queen. The porsche seats are pretty stiff. I'll definitely try the leatherique.
Dave

__________________
1986 300SDL

I have never had that problem and I have allway used it on all my leather products.

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

Think twice before using the Murphy's product. Leatherique will give you better results than anything else available...take it from someone who has used everything on the market at one time or another. I have loaned my Leatherique to some skeptical and picky friends and they always wind up buying their own once they have seen the results.

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Richard Detoy
'84 300SD
'76 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans

rdetoy, whats wrong with Murphy's? I bought a bottle with high hopes, and now that you mentioned this, i'm skeptical.

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Jason

00 Subaru Legacy (fun wagon)
96 Nissan Sentra (disavowed)
82 300SD (garage queen, will run again hopefully)
87 300DT (Gone: 10/15/2010)

Murphy's oil soap is a hard surface cleaner. It is not appropriate for leather unless you want to shorten the useful life of the leather itself. Using Murphy's on an unsealed wood surface, for example, will strip any stain from the wood. Is that what you want for your dyed leather? It's not what I want for mine. I recommended Leatherique because it is the best product of its type I have used in more than 40 years of detailing cars--in my experience nothing else comes close. Try it and you'll be amazed.

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Richard Detoy
'84 300SD
'76 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans