Cleaning leather with woolite..

First, read your cars owners manual on leather care. Most do point to using mild soaps. Woolite has been used many times in the past by me and others as well with no ill effects.



Also, what do you think is in "leather cleaner"? It has one form or another of soap, then water, coloring, fragrence etc. So why spend $$ on a cleaner unless you are using a cleaner that is clearly to be used by your car's manual.



There are also companies that deal strickly in leather, both automotive and home furniture. Those are the ones you want to purchase a product from. There is even cleaners conditioners for Alcantara and suede.



Since most leather in an auto is coated, you can clean it with a mild solution of Woolite/water mix. What I do is use only 100% white cotton towels to judge how dirty it is and how much more cleaning and rinsing with water in a spray bottle and wiping left I have to do. Once cleaned, I let the leather rest overnight with the windows open to help drying. Sometimes to speed it up, a few big bags of Desiccant in the car for good measure. It's an old trick I use also when storing the car over the winter.



Then, you're ready to put your conditioner on which should be for coated leathers.



It's not rocket science when I comes to using a mild soap or detergent to clean leather correctly. Problems happen when people do not go mild, or use agressive tools to clean with. Use distilled water on all work to avoid any mineral stains.



To quote from my Porsche manual as to leather:



Leather care and treatment



Clean all types of leather regularly to remove

fine dust using a soft, damp, white woollen

cloth or a commercially available microfibre

cloth.

Remove heavy contamination with Porsche

leather cleaner.

Please always follow the instructions for use

given on the containers.

Caustic cleaners and hard cleaning objects

must not be used.

Perforated leather must under no circumstances

get wet on its reverse side.

Once cleaned, leather (particularly the heavily

stressed leather seats) must be treated only with

Porsche leather care liquid.



There is speculation as to who makes "Porsche Leather cleaner/conditioner" but this is what they require to maintain leather in a Porsche.



So it pays to read your manual FIRST!



Regards,

Deanski
 
mrgoochio said:
For those that clean with woolite, how often do you guys clean with it? I take it you guys wipe down with a damp towel on a regular basis and woolite comes out on special occasion?



Still curious on what conditioners/protectants, if any, woolite-users are using..
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Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I clean the interior leather about every 4 - 6 weeks with the Woolite. I apply 303 Aerospace Protectant to the entire inteiror, including the leather (coated except for the shifter boot), about 3-4 times per year. Works for me! Car has 196K miles, bought it with 37K about 7 years ago FWIW.
 
If anyone cares to read it, I put a sort of compilation together regarding leather types/cleaners/protections on another forum as I got extremely tired of going by the hearsay and decided to compile everything I could find into one thread.



FAQ: Automotive Leather Care - VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com



Take it for what it's worth. It is meant to be a compilation of various sources so that the reader can come to their own conclusions about what they would like to do, based on multiple sources' opinions.
 
mrgoochio said:
Now I feel like I've strayed from the original topic, and for that I apologize.



For those that clean with woolite, how often do you guys clean with it? I take it you guys wipe down with a damp towel on a regular basis and woolite comes out on special occasion?



Still curious on what conditioners/protectants, if any, woolite-users are using..
Click to expand...



For regular maintenance cleaning, a damp MF towel is usually more than enough to keep the leather clean. If you do that, you won't have to use cleaners very often.
 
A member of this forum beat me to it and rang woolite about using their product on leather and then emailed me the response



"....I actually called Woolite and spoke to 2 of their tech people about using their product on leather. They do not recommend it at all and don't know why a few auto manufacturers suggest using it? Their stance is that it is for fabrics and is designed to be totally flushed/washed out of the material being cleaned. The product residue left behind could cause problems......"



This certainly goes along with what the leather industry has been saying for some time now.



The key to keeping leather in good condition is to keep it clean



Most leather in cars these days is 'coated' leather. This is essentially a 'painted' leather with a clear coat finish over the top. The leather may or may not be dyed through with aniline dyes prior to the finish coating. The simple test as stated above will tell you what type of leather you have.



Essentially it is this top coating that needs looking after. Cleaning is vitally important as the top coat will wear away if allowed to become dirty. Dirt on the surface will aslo become ground into the finish by constant abrassion.



'Conditioners', balms, feeds etc (traditionally oil and wax based) cannot penetrate this finish as you rightly say so are not worth applying - they can also leave behind residues on the finish which will only attract more dirt if allowed to remain.



A protector will make the finish easier to clean and also inhibit dye transfer etc on pale coloured leathers.



Leather however finished has to remain breathable and it will allow the movement of moisture back and forth (transpiration) so the use of water based cleaners and protectors will keep the leather correctly hydrated which is essentail to keeping it in good condition.



The routine for correct care should be

Protect from new

Maintain with a regular clean or maintenance product

Deep clean with a foam cleaner once or twice a year



This will prolong the life of the finish on the leather



Hope this helps
 
Leather care makes me more confused than anything else here.. I have heard very few suggestions on actual products. Just the basics, mild soap(woolite??) And water based conditioner(I am not sure what products are water based??)
 
Judy,



great post as always! I am glad I brought this thread back up, so that we cgot to see the woolite response.



why though all the secrecy? which products re water based? and why will noone in the leather industry recommend a product? I am very confused why this secrecy continues!?
 
I wouldn't expect Woolite to recommend their product for leather cleaning - in today's sue happy society, it wouldn't take too long before some buffoon used it full strenth every week and had some issues. The fact that many people use it diluted for cleaning and haven't had any problems seems lost on the "experts". Should you use it weekly? Depends - are you a hog farmer or asphault contractor and are we talking bout that work truck? You get the idea - personally - I use it to clean nasty interiors and use Megs leather cleaner/conditioner afterwards to maintain it. As far as Woolite leaving residue on the leather, I did a test using Woolite vs Lexol, several APC's and some leather AIO products, the Lexol (a dedicated leather cleaner) was the soapiest and hardest to rinse clean.



My technique, get a bucket of hot water, clean white terry cloth towel, soak the towel, wring it out, spray diluted (8:1) woolite on the towel, clean seat - flip towel and wipe, rinse towel in water, wring out and wipe down seat. If anything other than water is left on that seat, only Grisson from CSI could find it.
 
Scottwax said:
Direct from on of the largest suppliers of automotive leather:



Eagle Ottawa Leather Company :Leather Care



Automotive leather is typically finished with coatings which protect the surface from the sun's damaging rays as well making it resistant to soiling. The finishes used in automotive upholstery leather are unique – much different than furniture, garment or shoe leathers. Leather is extremely resilient and easy to clean and maintain.



Before cleaning leather upholstery, vacuum it to remove dust. To clean leather, simply use a clean, soft and lint-free cloth dampened with lukewarm water and mild soap. Use a gentle, circular motion – do not rub the leather or apply extreme pressure when cleaning.



Wipe the leather again with another clean, slightly damp cloth to remove soap residue. Dry with a soft cloth.



To maintain its resiliency, leather should be cleaned whenever it becomes soiled. Dust and dirt may harm leather if allowed to work into the finish.



Woolite is about as mild as it gets. Lexus specifically recommends using a wool safe detergent (20:1 dillution) in their owner's manual.



I got the Woolite tip directly from the leather care tag attached to headrest in a customer's Cadillac-and at the time, Woolite was specifically recommended. Been using it on customers and my own cars since 1995 with absolutely no issues.
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Can always count on you for GREAT input!!! thanks Scott!!
 
I looked at what I have been using and it's Meguiars GC leather cleaner & conditioner. It doesn't say anything on beeing waterbased or not.. But it seems to do a good job.
 
Just so I can understand, when we are talking Woolite, we are talking the laundry detergent correct? Also which selection would you guys recommend? There are like 6-7 different Woolites (colors, whites, regular, etc.)



Just curious, don't mind my noobishness on the subject ;)
 
judyb said:
...



Most leather in cars these days is 'coated' leather. This is essentially a 'painted' leather with a clear coat finish over the top. The leather may or may not be dyed through with aniline dyes prior to the finish coating. The simple test as stated above will tell you what type of leather you have.



Essentially it is this top coating that needs looking after. Cleaning is vitally important as the top coat will wear away if allowed to become dirty. Dirt on the surface will aslo become ground into the finish by constant abrassion.



'Conditioners', balms, feeds etc (traditionally oil and wax based) cannot penetrate this finish as you rightly say so are not worth applying - they can also leave behind residues on the finish which will only attract more dirt if allowed to remain.



.....



Leather however finished has to remain breathable and it will allow the movement of moisture back and forth (transpiration) so the use of water based cleaners and protectors will keep the leather correctly hydrated which is essentail to keeping it in good condition.



The routine for correct care should be

Protect from new

Maintain with a regular clean or maintenance product

Deep clean with a foam cleaner once or twice a year



This will prolong the life of the finish on the leather
Click to expand...



I find it interesting that top coated leather is sealed to the extent oil and wax based conditioners cannot penetrate yet it is breathable and water can rehydrate it. Lexol does talk about this by claiming their synthetic oil can go where traditional natural oils from animal fats cannot.
 
nesneros said:
Just so I can understand, when we are talking Woolite, we are talking the laundry detergent correct? Also which selection would you guys recommend? There are like 6-7 different Woolites (colors, whites, regular, etc.)



Just curious, don't mind my noobishness on the subject ;)
Click to expand...



When I use Woolite, I use Woolite for hand washing fine fabrics.
 
Still it sounds like leather care is a very difficult and secret art.. But my leather, both in my home and car looks good after many years of just keeping it clean and using Meguiars Gold Class Leather cleaner and conditioner..

I don't care if it's waterbased or not, it seems to work, this discussion won't lead anywhere since no one can give a straight answer here..
 
Mark77 said:
Still it sounds like leather care is a very difficult and secret art.. But my leather, both in my home and car looks good after many years of just keeping it clean and using Meguiars Gold Class Leather cleaner and conditioner..

I don't care if it's waterbased or not, it seems to work, this discussion won't lead anywhere since no one can give a straight answer here..
Click to expand...



What is so difficult and secret about it? There are a lot of threads going on about this subject, but it is not rocket science. Keep your leather clean is the most important thing you can do.
 
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