Hi,

The ~1960 220Sb I'm restoring has a blue leather interior. The leather has, in places (e.g. top of rear seat completely hardened (like cardboard) but not in a single place is the leather cracked, torn or worn through.

The original leather is beautiful and incredibly thick (which is why it lasted 47 years without wearing through), and I fear I may never be able to replace it with similar quality. The stitching at the seams are also gone, and the panels will have to be re-stiched (by hand I guess, since it will have to be through the original [still intact] holes).

A local trimmer (who no doubt wanted to sell me his fancy vinyl leather reproduction product) said "it can't be done" and "it's not worth it" but after a fair amount of online research, I am adamant that it can indeed be done, and that we are willing to personally do the work even it involves great effort.

The character of this original leather will be worth it for me. So - apart from having to re-moisturise the leather, and then applying a dressing (such as Leatherique's product, or by mixing a museum-quality dressing [which may make the seats a bit oily though])
is there any advice you can give me? My girlfriend and I are prepared to put several months of hard labour into this, but I want to go about it the right way.


Thanks for any assistance. I have also started the wood restoration process, and I want to properly and photographically document this online - I am going the route of gentle paint stripper and steel wool, in order to not damage the delicate laminate on the wood, and it seems to be working great (but again, very very labour-intensive).

Neatsfoot oil

I am considering researching and applying (maybe some variation of) one of the recipes in a research document for Australian museums, which seem to refer to some interesting lubricant solutions in their "recipes" section, found here: http://archive.amol.org.au/recollections/2/2/20.htm

My question is, I have read (admittedly in marketing material by Leatherique) that solutions based on Neatsfoot oil can make the seats oily / fatty - have you had experience with this, and is this the case? Is it a problem?

Or do you think this is only sales talking? I am not sure if I will be able to easily get hold of Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil here in South Africa, but I am sure I can source the ingredients such as Neatsfoot oil to mix my own solution, as indicated by the (excellent) Australian Cultural Collections document.

One of the strategies they recommend is also a "moisture tent" (seems easy enough to do) and I may try some combination.

If I can't get an upholsterer to do the whole job for me, I am considering restoring the leather / doing the re-stitching myself, and then just taking the whole lot to a trimmer to re-stuff the seats (and replace some springs if needed, etc) and do final finishing, such as piping. The seat stuffing / springs don't feel too bad (still perfect in the rear, in fact) but after all these years the front seats are pretty soggy :-)

Anyway, anybody with actual experience with a Neatsfoot oil-based solution, please share!

Philo:

I suspect it can't be done, but there is always hope...

Neatsfoot oil will soften leather, I use it on boots, and it works well but it also tends to darken the leather. Suggest trying it on a concealed area first.

Also, while browsing the mag rack at Borders, I spotted one on Brit classics, from England of course. There were several adverts for products to rejuvinate leather seats. Very hopeful before/after pics. Can't recall the specific names, but the mag was littered with them. Might look into this as an option, but some stuff may only be mail order from UK.

230/8

Botox....

I did a search here on Leatherique before I ordered it and read mixed reviews.

I still tried it though - and if you let the car sit someplace really warm and let it absorb, it does work pretty well. If you cover the area with plastic it seems to help in getting it to absorb in.

I'm not saying that like its a new interior, but the back of my back seat, which was pretty stiff, is now pretty soft.

The cleaner worked well too. Got all the dirt off the inside of the drivers door.

Anyway, multiple applications are supposed to help.

Wear gloves!

Then - The Great Sheep out of Long Island makes wonderful seat covers. Elaine gives a 10% discount if you are MBCA.

Ann

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1972 280 SEL 4.5 "Henrietta" - The Learning Experience
1972 280 SEL 4.5 "Brunhilda" - Pretty Sponge for $100.00 Bills

Thanks for the replies. I don't have visions of some magical product that takes old, hard leather and turns it into "like new" leather - there is no way you'll get this leather to be like new, and hat's not what I want anyway: I might as well replace the leather then.

I don't mind the character of the old leather, it is still in unbelievably good condition, have a look at this:



All that I want to accomplish is to soften it (it really is pretty hard at the top of the backseat) and re-stitch the seams - the old thread is completely brittle, it basically snaps if you try to sit on one of the seats.

If the general consensus is that Leatherique does not darken the leather like Neatsfoot oil does, I'll try that first.

P.S. I was under the impression that the real leather seats (as opposed to the MB Tex) were always the perforated variety, but this car's is not perforated, and it's guaranteed that these seats were never restored before. Was the perforation maybe one of the changes applied in 1963 and later? Or could this be some variation due to this car being built in South Africa (according to the builder's plaque in the bonnet).

This car is completely untouched, the doors still have the original plastic dust covers underneath the panels - an amazing experience to take it apart.

I am by no means an expert, but I have heard or read ( and it stands to reason) that the most effective way to deal with what you have is to get the product ( whatever you use) on the BACKside of the leather- somehow. It will not penetrate well from the front due to the tanning process. If you can get it back there you may be able to get some very nice seats. Maybe you can disassemble them? Maybe inject stuff with a syringe from behind and through the foam??

Please let us know what you ended up doing and how it worked- I love leather seats but I can see this happening a lot in Florida where I live.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Hi Rick,

I will be completely disassembling the seats (the leather stitching is gone, so I am literally going to end up with many [carefully numbered, I assure you! ] leather panels, so the leather will be fully treated on both front and back.

The only thing I am still looking for is a solid opinion (keeping the unfettered access I will have to the leather in mind) of whether Leatherique's Rejuvenating Oil will be better, or worse, than a Neatsfoot-oil based solution (as per the "Australian Cultural Collections" recipe I linked to in my first post).

This may sound crazy, but I am so looking forward to getting the time to finish all of this - for now, I've only completely disassembled the entire interior wood trim, and the dashboard.

This is just a guess, but I would think neatsfoot oil will work well enough from the back. I would guess it would be cheaper and more available. Perhaps you can experiment with it on a small area first and see how well it works.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Hallo,

I am facing the same dilemma with my 1987 W124 wagon with leather interior. It also is fairly dry and hard, and has some crackes in places. I have heard good and bad about Leatherique, there is a product in the US called Lexol which I have heard good things about, and if a museum is using neatsfoot oil (what is a neat anyway, and do they have oily feet?) there must be some merit to it.

The bad reports I have heard about Leatherique is that if the leather is cracked and hard, that when the Leatherique softens it up, the cracks can become tears, particularly in the perforated inserts that so many Mercedes of the 50 through the late 80s have. From your photograph of the back seat, it appears that you have no perforated panels. I am sorry I have no actual experience I can report, but maybe this is of some help. I agree with other posts that talk about adding the moisture to the inside of the leather because it will penetrate much better. I think the best way is to figure out what you want to try and use it in an inconspicuous area in case it does something bad to the leather.

I have a question regarding the car. I know SA has domestic content laws and I think the first Merecedes factory outside of Germany was built there. Is your car made in Germany or SA?

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

I have a '60 Fintail 220Sb, and many years ago my dad had a '60 220SEb. Both cars have/had the original leather interiors, with solid, un-perforated leather.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Another option is to lightly sand the paint as it is a barrier and then apply the leather conditioner.

Then red dye the seats.

It can be done, a gentleman from the M-100 forum took this seats


and bought them back

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With best regards

Al

Wow! That's amazing. I was going to suggest Neats Foot Oil, too. I've been able to bring back some pretty badly dried out leather with that in the past, mostly shoes, belts, and stuff like that.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I agree, the resurrection of those 6.3's seats are amazing, I am now full of hope that I will be able to bring mine back (going to try a neatsfoot oil -based solution first), and that I will be able to do so without having to re-dye them.

Thank you albbassi, you have given me hope :-)

Riethoven, neatsfoot oil is a yellow oil rendered and purified from the feet and shin bones of cattle. (Pretty gross, actually) I suppose it has all the chemical properties the leather needs to be supple and "healthy".

I'm first focusing on the wood, but thereafter I'll keep you guys updated with my progress, and what works (and what not). Thanks for all the feedback!