Sealing Leather

phoenixv6quattro

phoenixv6quattro

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Hello Gents. Need some advice regarding leather. I jave just pain-stakingly spent the best part of 7 hours taking my front seats out and refurbing them with a kit I got from liquid leather. The seats are cream/beige leather and were dire when I first got the car (scuffs/cracks/tears etc etc....all repaired,well 95% anyway!).
I am now looking for a product that I can use to seal the leather and make it more resistant to spills/dirt/makeup(other half)/ash etc etc.......Like the specialist sealants you can buy for paintwork, is there one you can buy for leather, and if so whats the best one/type? I really want to try and preserve this leather the best I can. I am not looking for a cream/nourisher, but a sealant. Something to form an invisible barrier to protect it from the day to day grime!!

Any help and/or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Ollie
 
You're on the right track here, Ollie.

Modern auto leather has a clearcoat as such from new anyway.. The use of balms, oils, feeds, conidtions and waxes is pointless. Only water-based products (protectors in this case) will penetrate this surface, thus, allowing for transpiration which keeps the leather correctly hydrated.

Look into LTT Auto Ultra Protect. Their cleaner (Auto Ultra Foam) is pretty good too!

Regular wipedowns with a damp cloth or their maintainence product (Auto Ultra Maintain, believe it or not..) will keep it in top condition and correctly hydrated.
 
Thanks Jimmeh. Your always first off the blocks mate!!lol!! Do you know if gliptone make anything that I'm after? Also, bit of a long shot this one, but whats to stop me using paint sealant?? I have never used a sealant before, as I swear by Collinite, but if I did use a paint sealant, would it just all crack up as soon as someone sat down?? By the way mate, top work (again) on that G60. Your getting better and better Mr White.
 
Collinites is a wax for painted surfaces. I wouldn't go anywhere near my interior with such a product!

Gliptone is not bad, used it last night for the first time. Personally still stick with LTT as that man has said.
 
I wasn't suggesting using colly on my leather!!!!lol!!! Anyway problem solved. Bit unorthodox, but I went to B&Q to look at their clear varnishes. I ended up buying a tin of Ronseal exterior decking varnish. Went home and tested it on a very small area. Went back an hour later when it had dried to a shiny clear coating. Massaged, prodded and squeezed the area and not one crack in the varnish!! So I decided to do the whole drivers seat. ******** off for a few hors and came back, went for a drive and the varnish is still intact!!! The leather still feels normal and is now nice and shiny, waterproof , spillproof and foodproof!!! Got to say, even though its not the normal thing to do, I am very pleased and the tin of varnish was only £3!! RESULT!
 
Oh my!!!! You DID WHAT!!!!?

Shiny leather, is bad leather.

I dread to think what decking varnish (or, any varnish for that matter!) is going to do to the leather long term..

I'd certainly seek further advise chap from JudyB at LTT Leather.
 
^^^ erm...yeah, my thoughts entirely! :(

You shouldn't use any product that forms a impenetrable seal over leather as it needs to breathe and needs to be fed to keep it nourished and supple with a conditioner such as Liquid Leather.

I would seek advice as to how to remove the varnish asap, maybe the leather degreasant that came with the Liquid Leather kit will shift it
 
Guys, I'm really happy with the finish/result. The varnish was diluted before being applied. 1210, its not impenetrable, it does allow the leather to breathe. All the advice I needed was on the back of the tin. Its not super shiny, but a kind of gloss you would expect from freshly balmed/creamed leather. Its easy to remove detergent/sugarsoap....But thats not going to happen as there is ****** all need to do so. I did say its unorthodox, and people usually are scared of/hypercritical of things such as what I have done. Remember, I have just refurbed them with a leather paint/spray. In effect, a varnish over a paint (the paint wouldnt allow much breathing anyway!) makes perfect sense, and if you saw the result I have you wouldnt be (Jimmeh and 1210) so wary/negative......Remember gents, if it works, and works well......Then stick to it! And who would have believed that Lynx Africa shower gel would demist your windows (see the JO JO's thread a few months ago)..............Proves my point.

But thanks for the concern anyway fellas.......

Ollie
 
Ollie fella, that will lead to serious issues, I promise you. You have, for all intents and purposes "glued" your leather seats.

It will a/ go cloudy b/ crack and c/ react in God knows what fashion when the seats get warm in summer.

Surely it is also flipping slippery while driving now???

:(:(:(
 
+ the shower gel thing is removable if necessary. I highly doubt this is fully removable.
 
We will see in the summer, but I don't think its likely.....I'm even willing to place a wager on it! I'm that happy with it/confident in it. I know all your trying to do is help, but you shouldn't knock something/advise on it/be critical on it untill you have tried it. Take great interest when I report on my findings in the summer!

The Pioneer.....

Ollie
 
Hi Ollie,

I put this through to LTT, and they've come back with the following:

Hi Jim

Wood varnish is not flexible and will have seriously compromised the leather now. It will also be very difficult to remove.

Finishes on leather need to be specifically formulated for leather and must remain flexible and breathable.

Any restoration product that does not contain a finish as a separate item are cheap DIY products that will not give a professional hard wearing finish. They are ideal for minor touch ups but not for any kind of restoration or recolouring work.

Once the restoration work is complete

Prep
Recolour
Refinish

You can then apply a leather protector like Auto Ultra Protect which will keep the leather hydrated correctly and make it easier to keep clean and in good condition – but this will only work if the restoration work has been done correctly in the first place!!!!!
Click to expand...

Now personally, I'd have stuck with Auto Ultra Protect as I originally suggested ;) lol
 
phoenixv6quattro said:
We will see in the summer, but I don't think its likely.....I'm even willing to place a wager on it! I'm that happy with it/confident in it. I know all your trying to do is help, but you shouldn't knock something/advise on it/be critical on it untill you have tried it. Take great interest when I report on my findings in the summer!

The Pioneer.....

Ollie
Click to expand...

Ollie, no offense as I am only trying to help, but I am not knocking your theory. I am knocking that fact that you are being blinded by your sense that you are right.

The fact is, coming from two detailers (and a leather specialist!!) you are likely to have ruined your leather.

Time will tell. If you are happy with it, great. But I can tell you now, I would be most unhappy to find my new purchase had had it's leather varnished!! You even laughed at my mis-understanding about you using Collinites on your leather. That would have been better in all honesty!!
 
Its not in my nature to stubborn, so the sense of "believing I'm right" is actually wildly misjudged. Please do not attempt to pass comment on proposed aspects of my personality. I wouldn't do it to any member on here, so I expect it to be reciprocated. What is in my nature is the ability to recognise something that WORKS. That aside I think you two are so enthralled by the word "varnish", you are missing the facts of the actual application. They were refurbed by myself to a high standard using designated leather re-colouring spray/paint. In essence the varnish in sitting on a few layers of paint, so the contact of the varnish on the leather is actually minimal if any. Ref it cracking, I quote on the tin "flexible finish". This is why I am able to squeeze it and massage it and the varnish does not crack......I do look into things before I do them. Not a big fan of going in blind fellas. Jimmeh, do not expect an unbiased opinion from LTT. They only approve and say to only use their products. I know this because I spoke to them a few days ago. They wouldn't be selling many products/doing themselves any favours if they started to approve of using other means to obtain a good result. This rings true with just about every automotive company I have spoken to bar Polished Bliss. Even if they do not sell a particular product, they still have made the reccomendation for it. I admire their honesty in that sense, and thats why I use a company 400 miles away instead of one of many hundreds of local ones in the London area! Ref your suggestion Jimmeh, I have actually followed many of them in the past, but can not follow one from a person that is working on comission from LTT........; - ) ! Look forward to the results in the summer time....

Ollie
 
Ollie, apologies if you took my comments as anything other than my own opinions on your use of wood/paint varnishes on leather, not accusations about your personality!!!

To be honest, your lack of understanding of our points is where you, too, fall into the same trap you have accused Jimmeh and I of! This has nothing to do with your personality what so ever; the fact that you have even brought that up would suggest you were already of the opinion that people would automatically ridicule you!

The end to this thread is purely that it is your own car and therefore you are well within your rights to do anything you jolly well please to your leather and/or any other part of your car!

My simple point is there is a reason there are leather sealents out there, from leather specialists and wood/other material sealents out there from wood/other material specialists.

I really do hope it works out for you matey, and that's the truth!
 
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Hello JD09. Just to clear this up with no hard feelings, I didn't bring my personality up, you did with trying to guess an aspect of it......And what trap Have I fallen into exactly? It wasn't clear???!!!???......Anyway, of course I would expect ridicule, that goes without saying! Because people don't understand something/can't see the reason through their own fault, the shorcut to case closed for them is to ridicule. Everyone is guilty of it....
Selling a product that is virtually the same but with different recommended applications, name, manufacturer, packaging and advertising campaigns is widespread. A classic example is engine flushing products. Its just kerosene in a can, purified diesel. Why not just use diesel from the pump to flush your engine? I do, and it works very well! Just because a products labelling states what it shall be used for, dosn't mean thats the ONLY thing its good for. Can you see my point? People want to see products with designated applications. It gives them a warm cosy feeling inside. So when a bod applies wood laquer to leather, everyone gets upset. As you said, it's my car, and I am very specific about anything that goes on it, or in it. I hope it works out too matey. We will all find out in the summertime.
 
Ollie,

i'm with you on this and I'm going to watch the resilts with great interest actually, I have a certain amount of belief in what you are doing, I also know that leather can be varnished, and in fact it used to be the only way to protect leather years ago. Success will of course depend on the varnish you've used and how it utlimately wears in the long term, but i'm hopeful. Can you put any pictures up of the job you've done by any chance? Might also demonstrate you haven't covered the seats in an inch thick layer of shiny solid varnish like some might think.

People are blinded by products some times, as much as I rate some of the car detailing products out there, I do feel the price of some of them is for suckers.
 
Hello Beanoir. Thanks for your kind words, appreciated.....I'm off work for a week as of Monday, so I will take some pics and whack them up. Be warned, I only have my iPhone as a means of taking pics, the quality is ok. I will make sure to take them in good light to compensate for the lack of pixels on my phone.....Then I will follow them up in the summer with pics of the tin of varnish, seats before, seats after the refurb, seats with the varnish applied an finally ones mid-summertime when they have been heat soaked.

Ollie
 
Hi Ollie,

Like you say chap, with no hard feelings what so ever :);

You did ask for opinions and help in your first post. What you have put so far basically shuns companies' ££££ spent when researching products and their applications. You wouldn't use a plastic filler on metal? And yet they are an incredibly similar product. You wouldn't drink white spirits instead of vodka? And yet, again, they are very similar products.

What I am trying to get across to you (in a non-agressive/righteous manner, I might add :)) is simply that using a product for something other than its intended application is likely to end in damage, whether it be minor with no lasting effects, out of sight, catastrophic, irreversible etc etc.

Just to show you I am not a "be all, end all" person when it comes to detailing products; I use Tesco's Daisy washing up liquid on my arches and door shuts as it is a great degreaser!! Is it it's intended purpose? No! Does it work? Hell yes, and for a fraction on the price, too!

Similarly, Auto Glym's tyre dressing and their rubber/vinyl treatment is exactly the same product, with a different esther, creating a different, more pleasant smell for the rubber/vinyl treatment (who smell's their tyres or window rubbers anyway??).

The difference with the above is that the products will not adversely affect the material being treated.

And just to clear up, the trap I mentioned you had fallen into is the presumption that LTT are lying and just trying to sell their own products chap. You mentioned that I made a presumption about your personality (again, still unsure on how my post could have come across in that manner!). You have quite clearly made the same presumption about LTT's staff . . .

Again, all said in a perfectly calmy calm manner as a discussion rather than "you're wrong, I'm right" ;)

JD
 
UPDATE!!! LEATHER DIED A HORRIBLE DEATH AND IS NOW RESTING IN THE CEMETERY IN WOOBURN MEMORIAL CHURCH......RIP.
 
LOL, actually I don't know. The coat of varnish was good as gold for a solid 8 weeks up untill I gave them (along with the rear seats) away. Bought myself a half leather/half alcantara set of recaros so I no longer needed them. To be perfectly honest it was a bit like sitting on a bar of wet bar of soap. The guys above were actually right in respect of practicality issues. However, you could have poured redy brek on those things and it would have wiped straight off! They were like the mat you use when changing a babies nappy! So 50/50 I guess! Don't thinkI will be doing it again though.......Still no regrets happy I tried it.....Coz you never know! (Believe me I've done crazier things that have worked!).
 
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