Best leather cleaner / conditioner?

[Obioban]

From simple green's web site: Simple green is not recommended for use on leather. They have a vested interest in people using it anywhere/everywhere it won't damage the item being cleaned.

[yhp2009]

Haha, if you get your seats so dirty you need to do this kind of cleaning every two months, you not worthy of having nice things.
And to answer your question - NOT a one time result. I have been doing this multiple times to many, many of my cars (some of which I own for over 15 years) and the seats still look new.

I suppose people clean/condition their car seats more frequently for various reasons.
I do it cuz I have to park it outdoors in the sun, and I want to clean the sweat off the leather before the salt does any damage. I imagine I need something that is more on the mild side

[TexaZ3]

I bought it from a bmw dealership, factory bmw imola hide.

I don't know what to tell you other than it does not look like any other BMW leather I have seen in the past 20+ years. This looks full grain. Or at the very least top grain. BMW never used full or top grain in any of their cars. No automotive manufacturers do, except for maybe, Ferraris and Bentleys and Rolls, etc. Maybe if you buy a hide they actually sell you nice stuff

[Icecream]

Looking at the back of the hide - this is NOT what BMW uses on the seats. This is not top-coated leather (which BMW is), looks more like full grain aniline dyed product. This hide will permeate 100%.
I bet after you took it out and wiped clean and let it dry - it stained, or changed the color, too.

Nappa for BMW M cars is significantly softer and has a much nicer hand than the rough, thick leather found in other models which may not be permeable.
Thanks for posting that Ian, pretty definitive though I may try this on my old hides some day when I replace them. I am both surprised yet pleased with the result. You might say I am pleasantly surprised. Wonder if it still permeates after a coat of new dye.

ileatherique must really have something good, I swear other conditioners I have used seems to just sit on top.

[m3nt0s]

The article on cleaning cloth car seats on the Simple Green site specifies not to use their product on leather.

https://simplegreen.com/cleaning-tips/automotive/car-seats/

[TexaZ3]

I suppose people clean/condition their car seats more frequently for various reasons.
I do it cuz I have to park it outdoors in the sun, and I want to clean the sweat off the leather before the salt does any damage. I imagine I need something that is more on the mild side

Water. Just plain water with maybe a dash of 71% isopropyl (like a capful to a bucket) and damp microfiber. That's all you need for weekly wipe.

[TexaZ3]

From simple green's web site: Simple green is not recommended for use on leather. They have a vested interest in people using it anywhere/everywhere it won't damage the item being cleaned.

The article on cleaning cloth car seats on the Simple Green site specifies not to use their product on leather.
https://simplegreen.com/cleaning-tip...ive/car-seats/

Sure, but if you actually look at the ingredients of Simple Green, its no different than most soaps. Water, alcohol, sodiums, baking soda, chelating agents, and preservative boosters.
Diluted 50% it won't harm leather, or anything for that matter. I can almost guarantee these same ingredients in most leather cleaners.

[Obioban]

Sure, but if you actually look at the ingredients of Simple Green, its no different than most soaps. Water, alcohol, sodiums, baking soda, chelating agents, and preservative boosters.
Diluted 50% it won't harm leather, or anything for that matter. I can almost guarantee these same ingredients in most leather cleaners.

They have dilution guides for various use cases, so they know about that. Instead, for leather, as noted by mentos in the instructions above, simple green says, "Do not use Simple Green on leather seats."

I can't believe we're actually have a debate as to what's better for leather care.... one of the best leather care products on the market (which is solely and only for leather care) or a product that specifically mentions to not use it on leather.

[Obioban]

I bet after you took it out and wiped clean and let it dry - it stained, or changed the color, too.

Zero staining.

I took it out, wiped off the big goops with a paper towel, and then used leatherique pristine clean wipe it down (which is what you use after using Leatherique rejuvenator in the car to remove it, as well):

[Obioban]

I think there's almost two conversations going on here. Some people want to just clean the leather, others want to clean and condition the leather. There's lots of ways to reasonably clean the leather-- including straight water. Simple green looks to do a good job cleaning it as well, but I wouldn't use it due to long term concerns. The resulting seat will look clean (unless you use Lexol, in which case it'll be a shiny mess).

Some people (leatherique people) also want to condition the leather. The leather is dramatically, significantly, not at all subtly softer after leatheriquing. You do not get this from cleaning. For that matter, you don't get it from gliptone (that'w why I went back to leatherique after a single year of gliptone). If you want the leather to remain as soft as new, and not just look as clean as new, cleaning alone isn't going to cut it.

[bmw]

I can't believe we're actually have a debate as to what's better for leather care.... one of the best leather care products on the market (which is solely and only for leather care) or a product that specifically mentions to not use it on leather.

It's debatable if automotive leather qualifies as "leather" for this definition. While all leather is heavily processed, automotive leather is so heavily treated and coated it performs as a synthetic. You are cleaning and treating the clear coat.

To be safe, a PH neutral cleaner removes all doubt. Most car wash soaps are PH neutral.

If you want the leather to remain as soft as new, and not just look as clean as new, cleaning alone isn't going to cut it.

The leather in these cars isn't necessarily soft from brand new.

[Obioban]

It's debatable if automotive leather qualifies as "leather" for this definition. While all leather is heavily processed, automotive leather is so heavily treated and coated it performs as a synthetic. You are cleaning and treating the clear coat.

To be safe, a PH neutral cleaner removes all doubt. Most car wash soaps are PH neutral.

I don't know how you're still on that-- we've seen that it permeates to top coat and gets into the leather.

But, let's operate like that didn't happen-- even if what leatherique is doing is softening the top coat (and not the leather itself), it still results in softer leather (plus topcoat) than just cleaning it. So, perhaps it doesn't matter what's getting treated-- the result from leatherique is a softer, more pliable leather. This is not the result from cleaning alone, or from leather products I've tried (Lexol, Gliptone).

[Obioban]

Further thoughts on the rejuvenator permeating:

If it didn't, the application condition wouldn't matter nearly so much. As in, if you apply it and immediately remove it, it doesn't really do anything. If you apply it on a cold day, it really doesn't do anything. It actually needs full 24 hours on the surface, in the heat (car parked in the sun with the windows up) to properly function/get a good result.

If the only thing it was doing was cleaning the leather, why would that be the case?

[bmw]

I don't know how you're still on that-- we've seen that it permeates to top coat and gets into the leather.

But, let's operate like that didn't happen-- even if what leatherique is doing is softening the top coat (and not the leather itself), it still results in softer leather (plus topcoat) than just cleaning it. So, perhaps it doesn't matter what's getting treated-- the result from leatherique is a softer, more pliable leather. This is not the result from cleaning alone, or from leather products I've tried (Lexol, Gliptone).

You've proven that after 24 or 72hrs, some proportion of the product gets into the leather but this speaks nothing to actually doing anything of benefit. We know from the MSDS the product is 80-90% water, and the remainder "animal fat". You'd likely have the same results pouring water on your seats with a stick of butter.

So we're switching the conversation (or as you pointed out, maybe two different conversations) from keeping the leather in brand new condition (which would be cleaning it) to making it softer and more "pliable". But I remember from picking these cars up in Europe with zero miles on the odometer, the E46 leather is relatively stiff, not anything I'd describe as soft or supple.

You can always tell a car that has been over-zealously conditioned, the seats appear slick, shiny and glossy, and probably that owner is proud of how "supple" the leather is, but that does not reflect how the car came from the factory.

Anyway, I think most viewpoints here have already been expressed, and like the audio cable debates, people want and will believe in different outcomes. I want my cars to be like day one from the manufacturer, nothing added or subtracted.

[Obioban]

You've proven that after 24 or 72hrs, some proportion of the product gets into the leather but this speaks nothing to actually doing anything of benefit. We know from the MSDS the product is 80-90% water, and the remainder "animal fat". You'd likely have the same results pouring water on your seats with a stick of butter.

So we're switching the conversation (or as you pointed out, maybe two different conversations) from keeping the leather in brand new condition (which would be cleaning it) to making it softer and more "pliable". But I remember from picking these cars up in Europe with zero miles on the odometer, the E46 leather is relatively stiff, not anything I'd describe as soft or supple.

You can always tell a car that has been over-zealously conditioned, the seats appear slick, shiny and glossy, and probably that owner is proud of how "supple" the leather is, but that does not reflect how the car came from the factory.

Anyway, I think most viewpoints here have already been expressed, and like the audio cable debates, people want and will believe in different outcomes. I want my cars to be like day one from the manufacturer, nothing added or subtracted.

You picked up an e46 m3 with zero miles? Because it has different leather than the non M, and considerably softer. I bought two e46 M3s brand new (3 miles on teh clock each), and they come soft-- similarly to the softness after leatheriquing. Softer than the stiffness after cleaning. Soft and supple is eactly how the M3 was stock (not the non M e46s).

Shiny and glossy is the worst, agreed. That is not the result of leatherqiue if the directions are followed.