Kelk

Guys

Some of us in the UK are starting to use Zymol leather cleaner and conditioner.

Please see thread....

Zymol leather cleaner

and we hear you guys are the gods when it comes to this stuff.

Could you share any hints and tips with us not that familiar with the products please

Thanks

wanabe

the car shampoo... i think they call it auto bath, or something like that, is great stuff!
the leather products are a cleaner and a preservative, but dont remember much about them- (clean first then preserve)
but you are in the right place, and we will get you more info!

autopia

The Zymol products are nice, but I think they took a step backwards since they teamed with Turtlewax. The old formula Treat (leather care) product used to be one of my favorites. Now it's just so-so. It goes on nice, and smells great, but after a few warm days I noticed the finish on black leather started getting blotchy. I have the same issue with Lexol. Both products care for the leather just fine, but the final finish does not meet my standards. When I'm done treating my leather, I want it to look just like it did when I got the car from the factory. Slip-n-slide at Mach-II with my hair on fire is a bad thing!

db

wanabe

hey db... so what leather products are your favorites?

autopia

wanabe,

There are two things that are most important to me:

1. Performance. I want the product to be easy-to-use and to protect from sun (UV) and soil (oils from my skin, dust, coffee stains).

2. Looks. I want my leather & vinyl to look like it did when I brought my little roadster home.

Let's understand how to get all of these things by learning about the surfaces inside the car. We have plastic, vinyl, nylon, glass and in some cases a bit of paint. Did I forget leather? No, the leather is covered with a thin coating of vinyl.

All of these surfaces, except glass, have a great distaste for harsh cleaners and solvents. So, stay away from them. You should be able to keep everything looking fresh and new for years with water based products. So, that rules out all traditional leather care products like Lexol, Hide Food and Zymol. Hide Food in particular has a very high solvent content, which will remove the vinyl coating from modern, coated leather upholstery.

Water based products I like for general purpose care include 303 Aerospace Protectant and Einszett Tiefenpfleger, which create a satin finish if you don't wipe it down and a matte finish if you do wipe it down. By that I mean apply the product and buff it dry with a soft microfiber towel.

Another Einszett product I really like is their Leather Care, which uses carnauba wax as the protective agent. That sounds kind of funny, but the carnauba wax goes completely flat when applied to leather and vinyl upholstery. I use it on both leather and vinyl because the finish is exactly what I want.

Another product you might like to know about is Einszett Cockpit Premium, which is best described as a quick detailing spray for your interior. If you're like me, and never put your top up (I took mine off!) you need something to dust the interior. 1Z Cockpit Premium can be used on everything (except the carpet). It lightly cleans and protects.

So, let's recap... oils/solvent/heavy cleaners = bad. Water based protectants with UV blocking agents = good. Your leather is coated... treating it like vinyl with a good protectant is okay.

db

wanabe

thx db...
i think that these are the products that you refer to:

http://autopia-carcare.com/autopia/303-30340.html

http://autopia-carcare.com/autopia/1z-972610.html

http://autopia-carcare.com/autopia/1z-924510.html

i have not used cockpit premium, but it sounds like a great product... several of us use 303 products- a very versatile family of products.
thoughts on using other detailers sprays that you might use on the exterior also on the interior (for a quick clean i sometimes use a spray on a mf and wipe down the interior to get the dust and light grime)?

2002S2K

The solvents used in most of the conditioners mentioned above are not damaging to the finish on the leather. It is a cleaner with an improper pH that will ruin your finish much worse (and faster) than a conditioner. If any of the products contain alcohol that is another big no-no, alcohol can ruin your leather the first time you touch it with the stuff. If you see a cleaner with a pH over 6.5 or 7, it has the potential to do a lot of damage to your finish.

Check to make sure the Zymol is properly balanced in terms of pH, just take one of those little pH tester strips and put it in the stuff and see if it comes out ok, if so you can use it, if it is 7 or above, I would begin to rethink putting this stuff on my leather.

From our years of experience in doing leather work, we have only found one conditioner that damaged the finish and it was only because the finish was not given 24 hours to cure after it was applied to the leather.

The finish on the surface is somewhat different from vinyl in that it is only as thick as a human hair. Vinyl is mainly a rubber (petroleum based) or soft plasic of varying thicknesses while being a solid color throughout. It also does not allow penetration of liquids like a finish does. Every liquid you put on your leather gets into your leather. The finish of the leather is a pigment in a binder layer followed by a protective top coat (aka clear coat) that will give the finish its durability.

The protector portion is correct, it allows for easier subsequent cleanings. Anytime you see "conditioner and protector" it normally means there is some type of wax in the product that leaves a film on the surface (be it carnauba or ???) It basically keeps dirt from penetrating beyond the finish on the surface into the leather fibers themselves where the real damage can occur.

Moral of this post: ONLY USE PRODUCTS SPECIFICALLY MADE FOR LEATHER ON YOUR LEATHER!!! (303 is not one of them)