Leather conditioner Question

SilverLexus said:
This is more marketing hype to justify Leatherique's premium pricing.
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Z9 - $1.12 per ounce

Z10 - $1.37 per ounce



Leatherique Pristine Clean - $1.00 per ounce

Leatherique Rejuvenating Oil - $1.50 per ounce



Lee,



What am I missing here for Leatherique to have premium pricing? It is on average with Zaino. Buy the 32. oz bottles of Leatherique and they're cheaper than the Zaino products.
 
Casebrius said:
These seats are brand new, they don't need cleaning, just conditioning. Noboday has even sat in any seat but the drivers.



Kingranchman, what color is your truck? I'm trying to decide on KSG or Wolfgang SG for this truck. Its a shame, but its going to spend half of its life sitting at a salty Sea-side dock so I'm leaning toward KSG for its durability.
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My Truck is Estate Green. I have several different sealants on my truck and I like KSG the best (so far
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)



Leather CPR is pretty cheap to try (something like $9) that you can probably buy locally. I can't stress any more how much I like the stuff
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I also found this link off of Autogeek that you could probably give a shot as well Connolly Hide Care Conditioner
 
I would be willing to bet leatherique would darken these seats. I'll be sending the owner to Ford for some King Ranch specific stuff, takes the liability out of my hands. Well as long as we opened up the "best conditioner" can of worms, whats the best OTC conditioner/cleaner that does the same as Leatherique? I was going to give the M3 seats a go with the Woolite and brush, but it doesn't sound like this will give the leather a deep down, 'push the dirt out' type clean.
 
Uh, the Zaino products do this also.
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Actually, it doesn't...nothing does, because nothing uses the same method as Leatherique. I'm not dissing Zaino...I'm confident its excellent, but nothing can treat un-finished leather like Leatherique because no other product works in this manner.



whats the best OTC conditioner/cleaner that does the same as Leatherique?
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As I just mentioned, no product will work the same as Leatherique, because it really is the only leather treatment to work in the 'push the dirt out' type method, as you eloquently expressed. :)



I'm not a Leatherique zealot to the exclusion of all other treatments. I've used and still use several products like Gliptone Liquid Leather (excellent for finished and un-finished), 4* Leather Conditioner (excellent for finished), Mothers (average), Connolly Hide Care (good for treating unfinished leather but bad for cleaning, in the long run.)



Most leather products are for finished (painted) leather and work by cleaning and treating the surface as very little get past the sealed urethane skin.



They are no good for un-finished (unpainted) leather since they generally contain both synthetic oils and silicone which are both anathema for natural leather.



Connolly Hide Care (formally Hide Food) is ok to nourish the leather, but is mainly lanolin (sheep wool fat). Its a natural product which in some ways mimick the leather's own oils. The trouble with lanolin is that, along with petroleum, mineral, neatsfoot, it can encourage rotting of leather fibres and stitching, and dirt that is driven in and trapped by the greasy lanolin abraids the fibres.



Leatherique gets sucked into the fibres and expel all other contaminants. I've used nearly 1 litre of Rejuvenator Oil to treat my neglected Alfa seats as the leather just gorged itself on it and expelled so much gunk out of the fibres.



Not for the detailer, more for the enthusiast. :up
 
"Actually, it doesn't...nothing does, because nothing uses the same method as Leatherique. I'm not dissing Zaino...I'm confident its excellent, but nothing can treat un-finished leather like Leatherique because no other product works in this manner."



Paul, what specific part of the Leatherique process is different from Zaino? It also uses natural oils from leather, smells like leather, and is well absorbed into the fibers. Here is what the Zaino website says:



"Two years in the making and already rated number one in the industry. Z-10 Leather in a Bottleâ„¢ Treatment and Conditioner contains a perfectly balanced, solvent-free blend of special oils and other natural conditioners. Z-10 Leather in a Bottleâ„¢ penetrates, softens and preserves all fine leathers for years of beautiful service."



"Z-9 Leather Soft Spray Cleaner contains the finest blend of emulsifiers, mink oil and synthetic lanolin to safely clean all fine leather surfaces. Alkaline and detergent-free, Z-9 Leather Soft Spray Cleaner gently lifts soil and stains without harming the dyes, clear coat protection or natural oils in leather. Z-9 Leather Soft Spray Cleaner is so gentle, it helps prevent premature leather damage, including cracking, shrinking and drying."



Greg, thanks for the price comparison. When I priced it out a few months ago Zaino was a better deal...maybe I was comparing smaller sample sizes. 32 oz. is way too much for me.
 
Lee, as I previously stated:

"Leatherique gets sucked into the fibres and expel all other contaminants. I've used nearly 1 litre of Rejuvenator Oil to treat my neglected Alfa seats as the leather just gorged itself on it and expelled so much gunk out of the fibres."



I know the Zaino description sounds similar but there a important differences. All other leather products treat the surface, regardless of what they claim. Whatever ingredient "penetrates" the leather is minimal. How does something penetrate clear-coated leather? As such, they work best to remove surface grime and condition the surface of coated leather.



Un-finished leather is a different animal. Any grime, salts from perspiration or oils are driven deep into the fibres by body contact and pressure. Over time they go very deep. Cleaning the surface will only give an appearance of cleaning. Then when a typical leather conditioner is applied to the surface after 'cleaning' it adds its own oils and whatnot pushing the gunk deeper, and if it has silicone it'll seal in all the below surface grime which will deteriorate the leather fibres further.



Leatherique's method of treating leather is the opposite of what we're used to. You condition/restore first, then clean. The Rejuvinator Oil (RO) uses the principle of displacement to clean the leather, and at the same time conditions. As I've said, I used almost 1 litre on the back seats. It drinks in large quantities of the RO which contains natural collagens and fatliquors that condition and restore/soften the leather. These beneficial ingredients have an affinity to the leather fibres and restore it to its natural state. What cleans the leather is displacement. As the leather gorges on RO, it dissolves and displaces deeply ingrained contaminants. These rise to the surface and look like a white sticky scum. This can happen quickly or over several days. Heat accelerates this process.



Then you use Prestine Clean (PC) to dissolve the surface scum and wipe clean. Then you repeat this process until the leather stops drinking. 1 Litre later, portions of my seats are still drinking. :eek: But what was once cardboard hard is now like kid-leather...you just sink into them.



BTW, PC can be used on both coated and non-coated leather, an vinyl. Its a very diluted version of RO, so it still mildly conditions while it cleans.



So as you can see, its a long process on neglected seats and is more than a surface dressing/cleaner, which most others are.



Sorry for the essay, but I'm trying to explain as best as I can the differences. :bigups
 
I was just looking at a BMW forum I frequent and they were able to work out a 50% discount on 32oz. bottles of PC and RO if 10 people ordered direct from Leatherique. Would anyone be interested in trying to get a group buy going on this stuff for Autopia? Many people on many forums praise this stuff. If only 4 people are interested, we could always split a gallon (1 gal PC & 1 gal RO) for $130. With Shipping and containers it would probably be aroung $40-$42 each for 32oz. of RO&PC.

Refer to this thread if interested:

http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57658
 
Casebrius said:
Would RO work on these?
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Its hard to tell from the photo, but my guess is that it would, although your seats look coated.



Even coated (finished) leather develops breaks/fissures in the coating after some use. This will allow the Rejuvinator Oil to absorb into the leather and do its job where its needed the most. If the coating is still sound it'll just sit on top of the leather and clean the grime on the clearcoat, which will be removed with Pristine Clean.



From the photo it looks like some parts of the dye are quite worn...if the dye is worn, the coating has definitely gone. Also those deep creases are trouble spots the RO will deal with nicely.
 
I know the Zaino description sounds similar but there a important differences. All other leather products treat the surface, regardless of what they claim. Whatever ingredient "penetrates" the leather is minimal.
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You may be right, but without more data I'm not sure that the Zaino chemicals are not penetrating the leather as you say...when I use the product the leather shows noticeably more softness and flexibility. It is also my experience that lumping Zaino in with other products as a group is dangerous as I have seen higher levels of performance in many of their products and compared to other leather conditioners which I have about a dozen or so.



Perhaps Leatherique is better...I may try some soon. In the mean time I'm naturally skeptical about manufacturer claims without direct experience in using the product.
 
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