Leather care

[Steveo]

Hi all, what leather care products are proving to work for us? I tried some autoglym leather cleaner and balm but its dried/ discoloured the leather in places. Id really appriciate any tips as to what actually works. Cheers :-)

[samiul11]

Dr leather works brilliant! Gives it that matte finish

[Golf_GT_TDI]

+1 for Dr Leather it's the best there is, for UV and seam protection you can finish with Gtechniq L1 Leather Guard 

[Steve in crete]

Hi,
In the same vein, I have colour missing off my red leather interior on the bolsters caused by both seat belt rubbing and general getting in and out wear, has anyone used the coloured balms etc that are on the market to restore these areas and generally to rejuvenate the
leather ?
They seem to be fairly plentiful but would rather get some advise from someone's first hand experience of a specific make or supplier, I have had a look at Dr leather and gtechniq and neither of these sites seem to offer damage repair only cleaning.
Regards   Steve

[ReflexRob]

I've used Scuffmaster kits for dye repair and Gliptone gentle cleaner and Gliptone Conditioner on my 2 previous BMW's with great results.

I've just got hold of TK Anthracite grey for my new MK5 GTI which has leather seats. You get white and black toner to increase or decrease the darkness of the main dye for a perfect match. The black can toner enables you to touch up your gear knob (mine was a little grey where the black dye had been rubbed off.

[Ruggy]

I thought the leather in the GTIs was coated so the usual cleaners & conditioners didn't work on it?

[Steveo]

Dr leather works brilliant! Gives it that matte finish

Thanks for the help. Samiul, would you expect this to bring back the colour?

[ReflexRob]

It IS real leather. Read the brochure - all contact surfaces are leather, all non contact surfaces (ie bolster sides and rear of seats) are vinyl.

I can confirm that the scuffmaster kit I used on saturday has renewed the worn areas of my leather upper surfaces and the conditioner I have put on it has absorbed in nicely.

Taken from March 2005 VW UK Golf GTI brochure P10:

* Generally all parts of leather upholstery in direct contact with the driver or passengers are leather,
all other areas may contain leatherette

[garrardrj]

It IS real leather. Read the brochure - all contact surfaces are leather, all non contact surfaces (ie bolster sides and rear of seats) are vinyl.

I can confirm that the scuffmaster kit I used on saturday has renewed the worn areas of my leather upper surfaces and the conditioner I have put on it has absorbed in nicely.

Taken from March 2005 VW UK Golf GTI brochure P10:

* Generally all parts of leather upholstery in direct contact with the driver or passengers are leather,
all other areas may contain leatherette

You cannot treat the leather (it has a clear coat of something over it? ) , it will not absorb anything , it is your imagination . All you can do is keep it clean .

[ReflexRob]

Have you guys downloaded the brochure from the vw website and looked at the specific details given by the manufacturer about the leather seats? The upper sections are leather. Vw state this! Shall I post a link to the brochure?

You can treat them,  mine had greying in the natural creases where the dye was getting rubbed on the bolster and it is now perfect again after dye application. The wear on the side faces of my bolster is different,  has a backing mat visible underneath the chunk out of it and cannot be treated.

If it were vinyl then you wouldn't get random creasing 

[ReflexRob]

VW aren't cheap enough to sell you fake leather as real or they would get done under false goods and descriptions,  they are supposedly a premium brand. What I would say is that presuming it is actually leather,  it isn't the highest quality for sure.

My father in law has a saab 93 convertible which has vinyl seats,  they feel totally different to the upper surfaces of the golf.

What's more is that the leather restoration company I use have a database of all leather colours from manufacturers and anthracite TK was in that database. They don't deal with vinyl care products

Now I wouldn't bet my life on what I've been saying but there is as much argument that it is leather versus vinyl online. Perhaps someone will have a dead seat they could cut open to prove one way or not!

[RedGolfDom]

Taken from March 2005 VW UK Golf GTI brochure P10:

* Generally all parts of leather upholstery in direct contact with the driver or passengers are leather,
all other areas may contain leatherette

I have just checked the brochure and it does say this. It also says that it is leather on several other occasions

[john87]

I've used gliptone leather cleaner and conditioners on my seats, and they absorb the conditioner readily..

Having spoken to an upholsterer, I asked whether the leather in my car was 'plastic coated' and they said it is most likely pigmented leather (which is what 99% of car upholstery is) which colours the leather and provides a polymer coating.

From interweb...

"The thickness of the surface coating can vary but if the mean thickness is more than 0.15mm then the product can't be sold as leather in the United Kingdom due to consumer protection legislation"

Sounds like it is real leather, albeit beneath something synthetic protecting it 

[ReflexRob]

I win :)

[flashp]

Front of seat = leather
Back of seat (where map pocket is) = leatherette

A misunderstanding here...but I think this has been determined by now!