Centre armrest - smooth or grainy?

[Agent_Trig]

I have an armrest and the finish to the top padded part is smooth and shiny, but I'm sure when I look at others on here, they look grainy and matte, which in my opinion looks much better than mine.

Is mine incredibly worn, or was they like this 5 years ago?

Think I might get it re-trimmed in leather.

 

[Agent_Trig]

Anyone know?

 

[A4SLineJC]

Is yours leather now? If it is then it may be very dirty, a strong soap solution and a bit of elbow grease should clean it up, failing that you can get leather degalzer made fiebings which you normally use before you dye leather for repair etc... this works really well and can easily be found on eBay, and, if you feel so inclined your newly cleaned leather can be protected with their conditioning cream

 

[Smoothie]

Stick a picture up mate, but if it is just a shiny texture from it then you will want to use a gliptone leather cleaner on it, it will remove any dirt, old dressings causing the shine and allow the leather to breath!

 

[Agent_Trig]

I'll get some pics up soon then.

I've cleaned this myself and I can see that its not dirt, it's like it's just a cheap leatherette rather than a genuine leather with a proper grain. Same goes for my steering wheel and gear stick - very smooth.

 

[Smoothie]

Its either a dressing thats been put on at some stage in which case the gliptone will remove it and return it to a matte finish (trust me) or its worn! Is there many mile on the car?

 

[Agent_Trig]

Its either a dressing thats been put on at some stage in which case the gliptone will remove it and return it to a matte finish (trust me) or its worn! Is there many mile on the car?

Nope only just hit 40k. This did get me a little concerned so I got the mileage checked with HPI and they said everything looks ok - service book adds up too.

I'll try some of that gliptone then - dont like the shiny look.

 

[Smoothie]

post up the best price you can get on the gliptone mate, i can buy it local to me pretty good price so if i can get it cheaper for you i will! Its always on ebay and cleanyourcar.co.uk

 

[Agent_Trig]

post up the best price you can get on the gliptone mate, i can buy it local to me pretty good price so if i can get it cheaper for you i will! Its always on ebay and cleanyourcar.co.uk

I can get both cleaner and conditioner for £11.70 delivered with two free detailing cloths. Not bad me thinks

Can you get much cheaper than this? If not I'll order now. Thanks for the offer though mate.

 

[Smoothie]

yep that guy on ebay, good price with the cloths! i can buy them for a £10 but no cloths and would have to post them to you! So thats a better deal, just use instructions on the back of the cleaner and it will work perfect, conditioner will even bring back the natural smell from the leather

 

[Agent_Trig]

yep that guy on ebay, good price with the cloths! i can buy them for a £10 but no cloths and would have to post them to you! So thats a better deal, just use instructions on the back of the cleaner and it will work perfect, conditioner will even bring back the natural smell from the leather

Superb, I hope this works.

It's weird because it just looks smooth to me as there was never a grain there. And this is even all over.

I was worried about it being extremely worn (which was why I had the mileage verified with HPI), but then I thought how can it be worn everywhere including the areas on the back edge where you would never touch it during normal use. It's the same on the steering wheel, very smooth and shiny, but all over including the three spokes which again, you would never handle all that much during normal use no matter how long you'd had the car.

Thanks for the offer though on the cleaners.

 

[Smoothie]

post up pictures lad but sounds like something its been dressed with, doubt its been re trimmed

 

[A3 Sport]

My mums got an A4 Convertible S Line (56), and thats got kind of shiny leather that makes it look more worn than it is. Im not saying its ugly, but its just different to the leather used in my car on the steering wheel, mines a lighter shade, and is a matt finish. Its certainly not wear in my mums car though, and its been like that since new - 4 1/2 years old and 9k miles!

Might just be the type of leather? At least give it a bash with that Gliptone though, see how it goes! :icon_thumright:

 

[Agent_Trig]

I've taken a few close up pics of the armrest and steering wheel. Up this close the photo does show some grain, but not the kind of grain I see on other A3s. I will be trying out the Gliptone as soon as it arrives this week.

 

[RedDejavu]

use maybe this ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting or TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting?

 

[Agent_Trig]

Ok pics now sorted above ^^

 

[Agent_Trig]

Pics now definitely working...

 

[PaulAr]

My armrest looks like that.

 

[Smoothie]

has to be some sort of previous dressing used on it, give the gliptone a proper go! Maybe two goes with the cleaner following the warm cloth technique on the back of the bottle! Hopefully get the desired results, and then obviously the conditioner to make the leather more supple

 

[alpesh26]

I will be trying out the Gliptone as soon as it arrives this week.

Were you able to remove the shine off your armrest? i've just picked up a leather armrest for my A4 and it looks shiny like in the pic you posted. it's definitely a genuine part and it came out of a car with a full leather interior so it would seem odd for Audi to use leatherette on the armrest

 

[James.Asbri]

Were you able to remove the shine off your armrest? i've just picked up a leather armrest for my A4 and it looks shiny like in the pic you posted. it's definitely a genuine part and it came out of a car with a full leather interior so it would seem odd for Audi to use leatherette on the armrest

It's leather, it will go shiny after much use. The best you can do is buy a leather cleaner and give it a good scrub. It always a good idea to then protect afterwards.

 

[Agent_Trig]

Were you able to remove the shine off your armrest? i've just picked up a leather armrest for my A4 and it looks shiny like in the pic you posted. it's definitely a genuine part and it came out of a car with a full leather interior so it would seem odd for Audi to use leatherette on the armrest

Gliptone Leather Cleaner definitely helped reduce the shine to a more natural look but this does not last forever. I just reapply every couple of months if I can be bothered

 

[alpesh26]

Gliptone Leather Cleaner definitely helped reduce the shine to a more natural look but this does not last forever. I just reapply every couple of months if I can be bothered

How did the gliptone work on the steering wheel? Mines just started to go shiny, the car is 6 years old so it's due a good clean!

 

[Agent_Trig]

How did the gliptone work on the steering wheel? Mines just started to go shiny, the car is 6 years old so it's due a good clean!

Takes some of the shine off but again, after using the wheel for a few weeks after, brings back the shine.

 

[alpesh26]

ah fair enough, i've bought some Gliptone cleaner and conditioner should get it next week, so i'll give it a go. Cheers

 

[DaveyB]

Kind of progressed into a detailing thread but...

Use a synthetic magic sponge to eradicate shine on arm rest/ gear knob/ steering wheel and then protect with product. Trust me on this one it works a treat.

 

[alpesh26]

I'll give the gliptone a go, failing that I'll look into the magic sponge

 

[Farhan]

I'll give the gliptone a go, failing that I'll look into the magic sponge

Guys iv used gliptone and for that kind of shinyness it may not work aswell as you want it to.

I use gliptone as my leathers are nice and matt but when i used them on a friends car with leathers gliptone didnt work as well as i wanted it to, I would rather use it as a maintenance cleaner than to go all out to clean up heavily soiled leathers.

My personal advise is try Zymol leather cleaner and a nail brush. Scrub into the leather with the cleaner and then wipe with a MF you will see some REAL dirt come off! it will restore a nice matt finish!