BlkSapphire
New member
My E36 M3 has dove gray leather. I can say for certain the leather has not been cleaned or otherwise maintained for at least 8 years, because that was the last time I wiped it down. The driver's seat in particular is in sorry shape; the left-side bolsters are worn and cracked, and there was a layer of dark grime covering all the exposed areas.
First I tried spraying the Zaino Z9 leather cleaner on and just wiping it off. This lifted a layer of grime but the terry towel just pushed the grime around. I then went at the driver's seat with a soft horsehair leather brush and the Z9, wiping it off after about a 1 minute dwell. It took 4 passes to really lift all the grime and get to the point where the Z9 would produce thick white suds; at this point the leather was no longer hard, stiff, sticky and shiny, but instead it was supple and pleasant to the touch. In some areas it looked new again. However, on the left head bolster, the grey dyed surface was so damaged and filthy that the very light brush strokes ended up stripping some of the dye off to bare leather. So you have to be careful. The brush is not for scrubbing or powering up deeply embedded grime; it is just to work the Z9 into suds and make sure the suds touch the entire surface.
Here are some pics. Instead of inlining I am linking to the full size pics which are large, because you can see the difference in them.
Pic#1 shows what happened after doing just the thigh bolster and the first segment of the seat cushion. The color is totally different, much lighter, you can see how the grime is lifted away.
After doing the entire seat I covered it with Z-10 "leather in a bottle." The worn parts of the leather did not become glossy until after several applications, drinking up the oils.
Pic#2 shows the entire bottom of the seat completed.
It took about 2 hours to do the entire seat because so many applications, brushings, waiting, and removals were required. The white terry rags I was using became coated with a foul brownish-grey grime. The teal, purple and red stripe lost some of their color onto the rag with the Z9 so I did not clean them very aggressively; they brightened up nicely after about 2 swipes with the rag.
I tried the same method on the steering wheel, very gingerly as my steering wheel is a damaged, grimy mess; but I was afraid to do it very vigorously and it made little difference. I ended up covering it in Z10 and may try to go back later after the leather has had a chance to absorb some renewing oils, but I am skeptical about the possibility of getting good results there.
Overall quite pleased with the Z-9, it made more of a difference than I thought possible. Definitely going to take better care of my new car's leather.
First I tried spraying the Zaino Z9 leather cleaner on and just wiping it off. This lifted a layer of grime but the terry towel just pushed the grime around. I then went at the driver's seat with a soft horsehair leather brush and the Z9, wiping it off after about a 1 minute dwell. It took 4 passes to really lift all the grime and get to the point where the Z9 would produce thick white suds; at this point the leather was no longer hard, stiff, sticky and shiny, but instead it was supple and pleasant to the touch. In some areas it looked new again. However, on the left head bolster, the grey dyed surface was so damaged and filthy that the very light brush strokes ended up stripping some of the dye off to bare leather. So you have to be careful. The brush is not for scrubbing or powering up deeply embedded grime; it is just to work the Z9 into suds and make sure the suds touch the entire surface.
Here are some pics. Instead of inlining I am linking to the full size pics which are large, because you can see the difference in them.
Pic#1 shows what happened after doing just the thigh bolster and the first segment of the seat cushion. The color is totally different, much lighter, you can see how the grime is lifted away.
After doing the entire seat I covered it with Z-10 "leather in a bottle." The worn parts of the leather did not become glossy until after several applications, drinking up the oils.
Pic#2 shows the entire bottom of the seat completed.
It took about 2 hours to do the entire seat because so many applications, brushings, waiting, and removals were required. The white terry rags I was using became coated with a foul brownish-grey grime. The teal, purple and red stripe lost some of their color onto the rag with the Z9 so I did not clean them very aggressively; they brightened up nicely after about 2 swipes with the rag.
I tried the same method on the steering wheel, very gingerly as my steering wheel is a damaged, grimy mess; but I was afraid to do it very vigorously and it made little difference. I ended up covering it in Z10 and may try to go back later after the leather has had a chance to absorb some renewing oils, but I am skeptical about the possibility of getting good results there.
Overall quite pleased with the Z-9, it made more of a difference than I thought possible. Definitely going to take better care of my new car's leather.