Leather care options for the seats?

[srichards]

I was wondering what others were using to keep the leather in order. I've pretty much ignored the seats over the years as it is garaged so doesn't really get the wear or use. But this year it seems to have finally caught up with it as there is more cracking in the seats.

I've just slathered some leather cream all over the bad bits but is there a good specific treatment that I should try? I know leather cream shouldn't be used too often as it can lead to the leather ending up a bit soggy.

Is there a good tub of magic goo I should be using once a year or so? Or is the leather cream used that often all it might need?

[Shoppinit]

I use Gliptone Liquid Leather cleaner and conditioner. It seems to keep the seats in good condition and nice and supple.

[steve2003rs6]

Ditto the above.
Chunky79 put me on to it some years ago.

[srichards]

Ordered. That was easy!

[ChrisA]

As above. However some people aren’t too keen on the smell, I love it though.

[Shoppinit]

Really? Weird. My car smells new when I’ve done my seats.

[Lander91]

My 2 cents is for Autoglym, the leather cleaner and the balm. The balm/conditioner leaves the leather with a nice matt finish and smells like new leather. I clean the leather when it's 'cold', then move the car outside for a few hours so the interior warms up then massage the balm in using my hands, then buff after 5min with a micro fibre towel. I do this every other month, even if the car hasn't been used.

[anditsoundslikebells]

With my new found spare time I'm going to tackle my front seats. I've kind of ignored them, it's stored out if the sun, and doesn't get driven often.
I actually feel bad that I've left it this long.
I'll use GT12&GT11
Given that it's been four years... any thoughts on how much I should be feeding/soaking the leather in conditioner?
I'll have some good before/after.

[anditsoundslikebells]

this chap lays out the process well + getting some heat into the car

https://youtu.be/VaXxrWZJx0A?si=_co1JumYRAugNk02

What do you think the further steps are he refers to? Some of the restoration looks quite surgical and in a way destructive. I'd prefer a well maintained looking seat from 2003... although I forgot the maintaining part.

....anything else I could consider beyond a couple of GT11 applications?

[Shoppinit]

Yeah, Swissvax leather cleaner is awesome. Not cheap though. Don’t do anything agressive to your seats.

[anditsoundslikebells]

I'll stick to G11 for now... I'm a little bitter with Switzerland at the moment
Reading around the topic it seems that wrapping the leather to assist with the conditioner penetrating is a thing.

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-forum/7 ... t-oil.html

I'll give this a shot on a sunny day.

[Shoppinit]

I don't think it's worth it. I'm pretty sure that the top layer is synthetic and none of that will make any difference. The Gliptone stuff is pretty good. Just use that.

[steve2003rs6]

I Must admit I have neglected my seats for a while.
Must do them soon with gliptone.
Also been looking at two stage machine polish and then Gtechnique ceramic coating the paint and glass.
That’s if I can be without the car for 3 days.

[anditsoundslikebells]

there were a few sunny days here so i took the time to sort the leather. i used gliptone cleaner and conditioner.
i'd not done this properly since i got the car.
i cleaned it twice, let it dry for two days. then applied 3 sets of conditioner with my hands over two days. i think the leather could have taken more. I ended up doing my sofa in the flat so ended up using 3/4 of the gliptone. next time i'll use the swissvax.
here is the before:

[anditsoundslikebells]

and the after: