Is there anything "better" than Zaino for leather care?

I

imported_Mighty HD1

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Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!



A bit of background:

I had a 2008 Tahoe Z71 with the ebony leather and always used Zaino leather conditioner since the day it rolled off the lot into my driveway. I had excellent results; the leather was always soft, never cracked and showed absolutely minimal wear on the drivers seat.



I traded the 08 on a 2011 Tahoe Z71 with ebony leather as well. Again, since the vehicle rolled off the lot with 2 miles in August, I have used nothing but Zaino leather conditioner and cleaner. The cleaner has been used every other month, the conditioner has been applied once a month.



Upon my application of the conditioner today I noticed the driver seat getting lines/cracks in some of the leather that's close to the door. It certainly seems as if the Zaino does not absorb into the leather and keep it soft.





For those of you who deal with leather products every day, have you found anything better than the Zaino leather conditioner?





:ohwell:





Edited:



The first photo in the series below by TSC17 illustrates what my leather is doing, despite being conditioned regularly ..

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-brag/119564-08-bmw-m6-esoteric-auto-detail-very-long-thread.html
 
The vehicle, as do most domestic produced brands, has a polymer coating on the leather.

Some products meant for use on "un-coated" leather can break down the protective coating the factory applies.

The recommended, by the factories, to take care of the coated leather is to just clean it with a very mild soap/shampoo type cleaner and water. (read your owners manual).

As far as your concern, it sounds more like the leather in that area is just not up to "snuff'.

Suggest once again that you read your manual and the factory warranty part that covers this sort of concern.

Grumpy

It is possible that GM will have that part of the leather area replaced.
 
I would think that Leatherique Rejuvenator and Prestine Clean would be a good product to look at or the leather care product line by leather masters.
 
Woolite/water at 20:1 dilution makes a great leather cleaner, Leather Master's Leather Vital does a nice job softening older, hard leather. Then if you want the scent of Zaino, pick up some Duragloss 221 Leather Conditioner. Smells exactly the same.
 
Scottwax said:
Woolite/water at 20:1 dilution makes a great leather cleaner, Leather Master's Leather Vital does a nice job softening older, hard leather. Then if you want the scent of Zaino, pick up some Duragloss 221 Leather Conditioner. Smells exactly the same.
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Smells exactly the same because as far as I've ever been able to tell it IS exactly the same. Good stuff indeed.
 
The hides used for automobile upholstery are treated with fat liquor and then sealed at the tannery. The only 'conditioning' required for finished leather upholstery is hydration (transpiration and evaporation of moisture); oil-based products cannot permeate the finish (urethane pigmentation or covering) that is used in 95% plus of modern automobiles, urethane doesn’t require conditioning or rejuvenation.



Always keep in mind that you’re dealing with the finished coating on the leather and not with the leather hide itsel
 
David Fermani said:
The best smelling products for leather are:



Zaino Z-10

HD Protect

Leather Doctor Scent
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what sort of scent are we talking about here?

The adams conditioner I have has what most would consider a faint traditional raw hide smell, I like it just fine but I'm always looking for something new.
 
Z-10 & LD smell like pure unadulterated cow (minus the manure smell). It doesn't get more authentic then that. And it lasts a long while.
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
Smells exactly the same because as far as I've ever been able to tell it IS exactly the same. Good stuff indeed.
Click to expand...



Yep. Local Car Quest sells Duragloss products, easy to get, no shipping and cheap.
 
Scottwax said:
Yep. Local Car Quest sells Duragloss products, easy to get, no shipping and cheap.
Click to expand...



What are your thoughts on Optimum Protectent Plus since it is water based??
 
While I do like the use and smell on Zaino, it did leave a subtle gloss on my dark grey seats and they became squeaky too.



My preference on new well cared for leather is Leather Masters or LTT. No gloss at all, just soft, clean, OEM looking leather! ;)



LTT Leather Essence smells much better than Zaino too! Zaino had a bit of an artificial hint to it IMO.
 
RaskyR1 said:
My preference on new well cared for leather is Leather Masters or LTT. No gloss at all, just soft, clean, OEM looking leather! ;)



LTT Leather Essence smells much better than Zaino too! Zaino had a bit of an artificial hint to it IMO.
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The thing is, it looks like you have to order LTT from England. I couldn't find the Leather Essence product on their site.
 
Bill D said:
The thing is, it looks like you have to order LTT from England. I couldn't find the Leather Essence product on their site.
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Yeah, that part does suck...really wish someone in the US would pick them up. :(





Leather Essence can be found here. ;)



I'm out of the cleaner and Leather Essence and will be ordering more soon...wish they came in larger sizes too.
 
This stuff is on it's way to me from Darryl at Dr Leather

Conditioning leather with anything oil based is a waste of time these days with the clearcoated leathers



I do use permanon supershine to protect leather, sick and tired of the old school leather conditioner products that give the leather a satin or shiny look but doing

sweet bugger all positive to the leather



Dr Leather - Innovative Leather Technologies - Leather Consultancy - Home



UPDATE - Received the leather cleaner today and man does this stuff lift crud off of leather, gave the leather lounge in the family room a going over with a paper towel just to test for a moment and did it pick up some filth. towel was black in a couple seconds
 
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