You might read that you can use window cleaner, nail polish remover, magic sponges, cleaning wipes, hair spray, shoe polish and markers to fix your leather auto interior. But, these products will damage your leather, and you should not use them.
If you leave more questions in the comments, we’d be happy to answer them for you. You can also find more information in our more in-depth posts about wives’ tales.
Leather auto seats tend to get worn out and old looking quickly if you don’t clean them the right way. This video will show you how to clean the leather seats in your car and make them last three times as long.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. We’d be happy to help! You can also check out our more in-depth post on cleaning leather car seats.
Eating fast food in your car is unavoidable on some busy days, and we’ve all had those, “Oh crap!” moments when fries went flying all over the car seat. Although this isn’t unusual or uncommon, it’s probably not something you should brush off too lightly if you have leather seats. Grease and oil, even just the natural oils in your skin, can really add up and cause damage to your leather seats. In fact, oil (from food or just the oil in your skin) is one of the main reasons leather car seats end up looking old and worn.
There are two main ways that oil causes damage to leather auto seats:
1. Oil combines with little bits of dust and dirt, acting like a fine sand paper that wears down the protective coating on your seats as passengers get in and out of your car. That protective layer makes your leather seats more resilient to scratches, water and heat damage as well as other types of wear and tear, so, once that layer is worn thin, your seats are more susceptible to all types of damage.
Seat worn, over time, from dirt and oil
2. When oil gets on your leather seats, especially once it starts to break down that protective coating, it is soaked into the back side of the leather—the part you can’t see. Over time, the leather will “fill up,” and the oil will rise to the surface. Once the oil saturates the leather, the result is typically ugly oil stains.
To prevent oil damage, you should clean and protect your car seats 6-8 times a year, cleaning the most used areas more frequently than those that aren’t used very often. Check out our leather cleaning post for tips on leather cleaning and protection.
Additionally, never treat your leather with olive oil, petroleum or any other type of oil. A lot of people do to try to prevent drying, but the oil you use will get soaked up just like any other oil, resulting in spots and discoloration.
If you find oil spots on your car seats, you can try to remove them by rubbing the area with a soft leather cleaner. You may be able to temporarily remove the spot, but since more oil remains deep within the leather, you will probably see it resurface over time.
Depending on the extent of the damage, a professional may be able to do a more thorough cleaning of the leather seat than you will be able to do yourself, as they have special cleaning tools and processes that can cleanse deep into the leather.
Post any additional questions in the comments, and we’d be happy to answer them for you!
We recommend that you clean and protect your car and motorcycle seats 6-8 times a year, cleaning seats that get used frequently the most and those that often go untouched less frequently.
Dirt and oil collect on seats easily. You usually can’t see this fine layer of mess, but it acts as an abrasive surface, making tiny scratches on and wearing down the top layer found on the vast majority of leather vehicle seats. Once that layer is worn down, the leather is more susceptible to all kinds of damage.
Also, leather is naturally very porous, so, once the protective layer has been worn down, it soaks up the dirt and oils left standing on its surface. Even before you can see the effects of this damage, the leather is collecting the dirt and oil it soaks up on the back side of the leather. Once there is enough on the back side, it will eventually seep to the front and discolor the leather.
Use a soft cleaner made specifically for leather. You can get leather cleaners at most auto enthusiast shops, and Fibrenew franchisees all sell them. Before you pick a cleaner, you should read our guide on leather cleaning products.
You should check out the directions on the bottles of the cleaner and protection cream you buy, but, generally speaking, you should:
Check out this video for a visual!
Post any additional questions in the comments, and we’d be happy to answer them for you!
I’ve seen people try every household product in the book to clean and repair their leather auto interior, and there are 8 products I see that cause major problems for people on a regular basis. I don’t recommend using any of the following on your auto leather:
It is best to avoid any products that contain alcohol or acetone.
For further information on what these products do to leather, check out my post on wives’ tales for leather furniture repair.
Post any additional questions in the comments, and we’d be happy to answer them for you!
Hair spray has always been a favorite fix-all by old wives’ tale believers. Hair spray has been hailed as a solution for stain removal, stopping runs in tights and is now being used to remove stains from leather furniture.
While many of the ladies here at Fibrenew do insist that it works wonders on stocking runs, we are all 100 percent in agreement that you should NEVER try using it on leather.
There are a number of other home remedies and wives’ tales about using home products on leather. We do not advise using:
Questions or experiences with hair spray on leather? Post them in the comments!
When it comes to repairing and caring for leather furniture, there are hundreds of options. Furniture stores and online retailers offer up products that do everything from cleaning to dying leather. However, you should proceed with extreme caution when you use these DIY products on your furniture. I’ve heard and seen the effects of horror stories where these products ruined people’s leather furniture, so here are a few pointers on what to look out for.
1. Don’t use any products that contain alcohol or acetone. Alcohol seeps into and damages the protective surface of furniture leather. Acetone will remove the dye and color from leather.
2. Be sure to use products designed for upholstery. Leather used for shoes, jackets and clothing is very different than that used in furniture.
3. Only use products designed for the type of leather you have. Most furniture is made of aniline, semi-aniline or fully-finished leather. Because of the differences in finish, it is very important to use only products designed for the leather you have.
4. Dying leather is a highly specialized art. Professionals receive extensive training on color matching and dying, and it’s not at all likely that any DIY dye kit will produce very good dying results. So, be very careful with these products – test them on a part of the furniture that no one will ever see before you use it on the visible part of the piece.
5. Stay away from products that say they are for multiple surfaces, even if one of those surfaces is leather. Most of the time these products contain elements that will damage leather. It is best to stick with products made specifically for leather.
Also, there are lots of people out there who have heard old wives’ tales about household products to use on leather. Some of these can be helpful, but there are many that do not work and will ruin your leather furniture. One example is using olive oil to fix minor dings and scratches on leather. People also try using finger nail polish remover, shoe polish and window cleaner, among other things, to work on damaged leather. All of these options can cause major damage to your leather down the road.
Any questions? Have any experiences with leather products to share? Post them in the comments!
Leather furniture and upholstery will inevitably face some wear and tear throughout its life, and there are many types of damage you can’t avoid. However, sun damage is one problem that can definitely be prevented. Too much sunlight and heat will fade and/or dry out your leather.
Couch faded by the sun
Fading is commonly seen in semi-aniline and aniline leathers, and it is less common in fully-finished leathers that have a protective topcoat. It’s a problem people frequently face, and, if you put your leather furniture next to a window that gets a lot of sunlight, you can see fading in as little as 4 to 6 months.
Drying will occur with any type of leather. The sun’s heat slowly causes the moisture and natural oil in leather to evaporate. Over time, if you don’t care for your leather properly, it will dry out and crack.
Badly cracked chair
One crucial step to preventing fading and cracking is to, if possible, keep your leather furniture out of direct sunlight. You can do all the right things to protect your sofa, but, if it’s directly in front of a sunny window, it is only a matter of time before the heat takes its toll. If you do need to place furniture in front of a window (we know, most people do), invest in some blinds to shade your furniture from the sun during the hottest, sunniest parts of the day. Those blinds will be a lot cheaper than taking your leather upholstery to a professional for patching and re-dying later on down the road.
Another important precaution to take is to clean and protect your furniture 3-4 times a year with a leather conditioning kit. For tips, check out our post on how to clean and protect your leather.
On a final note, do not try to treat your leather with olive oil or any other type of oil—it will end up causing major damage in the long run.
Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear from you!
