LazYRaCeR

I have a 2001 SE with Tan/Coffee two tone leather, and honestly being quite frank I almost never cleaned it. Almost never conditioned it, its been exposed to heat for long periods of time, people would smoke and ash on the carpet and on the seats sometimes so needless to say the seats are dirty, and not in the best condition. Its an 01, and I had it since late 03 early 04 so about 9years, and I probably cleaned and conditioned the seats altogether about 13 times (mostly in the past few years and way to little for Texas heat and how much abuse they took. Plus all damage from when I just got it is engraved in them).

Anyway I go outside today with a brush and my leather cleaner and I start scrubbing away at the Driver seat with a brush and although it was cleaning the dirt off I start noticing that the little surface scratches on the leather starting opening up and started becoming gashes.



A gash forming on the left of the driver seat where my left leg would be



Gash forming near the right shoulder on the seat



Heres kinda where I started scrubbing and stopped because I was to afraid it was going to keep gashing up.

I'm going to run to the store and get a leather conditioner so it will moisturize the leather a bit and ill let it soak in. Im also going to get a brush with much softer brissels to do my seats, but before I go on and do the backseat and the passenger seat do you guys have any clue how to get rid of gashes like that? (it only effected the driver seat I started earlier today and stopped)

LazYRaCeR

Bump, so I got some of the seats done with no more opening gashes in my leather with some armor all conditioner/cleaner. The Blue Magic Cleaner I was using might have been to abrasive or something, and I used a softer brush. Anyway I got done cleaning the majority of the seats but I didn't get the coffee/tan part because its got really bad sun burn im going to hit that with some baby fresh or just wipe it down because if I scrub hard the fibers will start coming off and then i'll be in a real bad mood.

anyway can someone answer my question about if there is a way to get those gashes out? Or do I have to buy a whole new seat?

either way a pic of a almost done seat:

Heres the passenger seat, I didn't scub the brown part yet, but it has way less damage then the driver seat, and if you compare the dirty one above to this one you'll see it cleaned up pretty good.

T_Behr904

I never use brushes on leather. The most gentle and effective thing I've found to clean leather (and i've been using this method for many years) is glass cleaner with ammonia. I've detailed Rolls Royce's and Ferrari's and other high end cars in the past and always used ammoniated glass cleaner on the leather before treating it with Hide Food. Not once in all of my years detailing high end cars have I ever had a customer not pleased with my interior detailing work.

LazYRaCeR

bump, anyone know how to fix the gashes?

T_Behr904

You can't really... That's worn down leather. Only way to "fix" that is to replace the worn panels. Any good reputable upholstry shop can do that.

LazYRaCeR

Darn, I was afraid of that, so I gotta get all new fabric? that could put some clouds on someones sunny day. O well thanks.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

Once it is fixed use Lexol leather cleaner on it religiously. You can get it at wal-mart or anywhere really and it is mild and protects it. Once leather starts to go down hill it is too late.

LazYRaCeR

Yep, well I wanna steam the carpet, and get some of that industrial grade glass and plastic cleaners, maybe a buffer and try to restore it as much as possible before I get new upholstery or seats simply because I know people will still smoke in it, come in with dirty feet and what not, and the heat and cold will still get to the seats so I don't know about replacing it. If I ever get a vq35de in it, ill probably get some new seats (maybe from a new maxima). Only if the gashes open and the foam is exposed and the same with the passanger and back seat, but for right now the gashes are small, and the ones pictured are the only ones I have but still are ugly as hell and every time I look at them I wanna break glass.

T_Behr904

Sorry, just trying to be straight up honest without b.s.ing you.

Leather is just like anything else. Eventually sooner or later it will get worn and need to be replaced.

LazYRaCeR

So I walk outside and the dudes primering the van, hes laying out primer, sanding it down, and was just about to apply paint to a couple of spots where the paint faded completley off. I walk outside, and what is he using in some paint cleaner, or some thinner?? none other then my ****ING brush i'm using to clean the leather! so I find out what caused the gashes! Of all the other brushes, and rags, and every other thing he could have used to "clean" the paint off his van he used my leather brush. You know he did that on purpose to be a little peice of **** on purpose!! anyway i'm mad as hell like I wanna kill someone.

Pierce144

You need to follow general care advice for cleaning leather after checking the type of leather you have. Do not use car care products or saddle soap as they will be too harsh on clothing leather such as this. Lexol was designed for saddles and horse tack and can cause great problems for some of todays modern finishes on leather.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Seems like a justifiable reason to murder someone

Just calm down dude, it's some old *** leather that you admit you never cared about. Now you have an excuse to recover the seats. Or just let it continue to wear away like it's going to anyway.

eck1003

I dont know if anyone else has heard or done this, but use scrubbing bubbles the house hold cleaner. The stuff you use to clean your bathrooms and kitchens.

Spray the scrubbing bubbles on where you want to clean and with a scrub brush lighty scrub in a circular motion , wipe in clean with a sponge/ dry cloth. follow that with a conditioner.

I learned this trick from a Expedition forum when I had my expedition.

doctorb

I have ArmorAll Leather Care which is meant to be a cleaner and conditioner for your car seats. I used it on a small section of the passenger seat and let it be for a few days and am very unhappy with the results.The section is now harder and rougher than the original feel of the seats (I've had a brand new car for about a month now).

I'm thinking maybe I use the ArmorAll as a cleaner and apply another conditioner on top. Would that be advisable or should I just get a separate cleaner and a nicer conditioner for my seats?

LazYRaCeR

same here, I did it with armor all leather cleaner and conditioner, and realized what you should do is have a separate cleaner, and conditioner but either way, I am going to re-do the seats, but thats not my worst problem anymore, there are some stains in the carpet (some red ones and some green ones) that don't come off even after like a month of going at it with a bissell steamer and oxygen boost formula. Looks like a have to replace my carpet and mats for sure. Things better start looking up soon. (atleast if I could get the polish I got to polish away some of the light scratches).

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (7)

Lexol's cleaner/conditioner is top-notch. I never used it because I hated the smell, but I was given a bottle, so I tried it out. Needless to say, it worked fantastic. When I used it on my car's seats, the microfiber pad I used it with was light blue when I started out. It was black by the time I was done.

As an alternative for severely damaged seats, you can use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (gently!) to remove dirt. The micro-abrasives can damage your leather if you're not careful. But if you use them the right way, the leather will look brand new.

f.weezy.babii

I've had my Maxima since 2000 and my seats and floor are terrible. It is now 2013 and I am finally getting my entire interior done. So to protect it this time I am trying a product from Chemicalguys.com check out their youtube and website. Their leather conditioner and cleaner is $20 bucks right now so once I get everything fixed I will let you know how it works. But check it out for yourself!

I35guy

I will be the first to admit I tried this when I first got the car. I searched on google for videos on cleaning leather. Some detailing place I believe in PA recommended the scrubbing bubbles procedure. It goes on blue and turns to white. Like you said take a brush and complete a circular motion. I did this on the backseat and it looked pretty good. I still strived for better results and someone else recommend diluted Simple Green.

MaxMike93

Personally, I wouldn't use any brushes because of the stiffness possibly casing damage. What I usually use is Meguiars gold class leather cleaner/conditioner, but it's like a lotion (sorry, no better way for me to describe it), not the spray like I used to use. I put the stuff on a small terry cloth towel and scrub with that. I feel much more comfortable using the towel and it gets a ton of dirt out of my seats. The smell isn't the greatest, but I do use Yankee Candle leather-scent vent sticks to keep my interior smelling nice

I35guy

So does it clean and condition or is it two separate products?

MaxMike93

It's one product (link below). Works good on my beige leather. I used to use the spray but I feel like this gets worked into the seats better instead of the spray more sitting just on the surface.

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...erconditioner/

jamesclarke160

hello friends I am searching for effective upholstery and carpet cleaning methods. My car is pretty old model 1998 and its interiors needs serious cleaning sessions. I dont want to spend money on professional cleaning services so please help me with your experiences and products used. Thanks in advance

woot

Throughout the years of detailing I've used and tried several things to clean the dirtiest leather ever. Best solution I've found, and you don't have to scrub your guts out. Take a GOOD QUALITY leather and spray the section then use fine...very fine steel wool and work it on the dirty section, but be sure to check the spot after every few rubs to make sure the leather is getting clean

maximadudes01

Leather Honey Cleaner has always worked for me. I remember it is pretty cheap..just a few bucks. I've never tried saddle soap but I heard that's ok too. You might wanna check out some more reviews here - leather cleaner reviews