A few months back I purchased a 1990 300CE and in TX and drove it back to NY. Great trip!

After the first cleaning of the car, I noticed that the leather had been "sprayed" with a lacquer based dye. The job was actually first rate, but I didn't like it since it was not the original finish to the leather that Mercedes would do. So I contacted the folks at Leatherique, and they said the first step is to remove the Lacquer Dye from the leather....using Lacquer thinner. I thought to myself that this was crazy at first, but after further converstation with Leatherique, it made more sense.

So this weekend I embarked on the trip of removing this coating off of the leather. I used about 1/2 gallon of thinner and lots and lots of white terry towels ripped into little squares. I started on the arm rest and was shocked at how easy the lacquer dye came off...very little rubbing. I knew when all the lacquer dye was removed since the rag would no longer get gunked up with the dark grey material. (my interior is grey leather). I took about 4 hours to complete the removal, and then I followed up with a generous coating of Lexol.

The finish/color/feel of the leather as if the seats had just been installed in the car. I found no previous damage tothe leather, or any fading, and premature wear. It is very possible that some of the lacquer dye soaked into the leather and became permanent and that possibly covered up any fading the leather may have had. Several people have seen the car before and after, and they all agree the seats look better then new. They are softer and now look like leather and not like that fake leathette that is used by american car makers. This morning I had to get something out of the car and was amazed at the strong leather smell in the car...it smells like a new Benz.

Now I am not saying that to go out and attack you leather seats with lacquer thinner...that would not be a good thing. But in my case I now what had been done to the seats and got some real good advice from the folks at Leatherique. I just wanted to pass on weekend experience on cleaning the leather in my car. If you have any questions, just ask!

-Kevin

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1990 300CE-24
1995 Jeep Wrangler
1995 Ford Thunderbird