Leather conditioner...

[ADias]

I've tried Lexol, Meguiar's, Griot's Garage leather conditioners and was never happy, as they all leave a lot to be desired. They tend to leave a sticky/shiny feel and the leather surface does not feel natural.

To resolve an issue with some fine leather furniture, I came across Advanced Leather Solutions (www.advleather.com ), located in Hayward, CA. They are leather specialists recommended by high-line stores like Roche Bobois. They understand leather and they developed their own leather treatment chemistry.

I started using their leather conditioner-protector SG25 and love it. Very easy to apply (just a little dab applied with a slightly moist cotton rag) and the surfaces come to life, soft, smooth and sticky free. Highly recommended.

Edited April 6, 2007 by ADias

[White987S]

Best stuff for leather is Soffner from www.colorplus.com!

[whall]

I recently started using a cleaner wipe and a conditioner lotion from a company named The Leather Institute. The company provides products and service to maintain the leather seats in several Fortune 100 company aircraft, several airlines and a couple of aircraft manufacturers.

For more information: www.leatherinstitute.com

Here is a link to a site for an associate company that has a leather care pfd at the bottom of the page:

http://www.townsendleather.com/sTip1.cfm

Cheers,

Bill

[dodo]

why not Porsche's own cleaner and conditioner?

[djantlive]

I heard great reviews for Adv Leather's restoration work. I may need to take my MB there to fix a few things.

For condition, I use Zaino, which gives a great leather smell.

[Chuck Jones]

I heard great reviews for Adv Leather's restoration work. I may need to take my MB there to fix a few things.

For condition, I use Zaino, which gives a great leather smell.

I find it fascinating how a question about a good leather product can yield so many different answers from folks who are absolutely sold on the particular product. When I bought my 930, it had been stored under wraps for a few years and the leather seats had gotten a bit stiff and unpliable (word?). I did a lot of research and came up with Dr. Jackson's leather rejuvinator. It brought back the seats to their original texture and condition...and like all the other folks who responded to this question....I swear by this stuff. So I guess I can throw my hat in the ring with all the other great product lines.

[wetstuff]

.....and I've used Leatherique and Coach Leather's conditioner with similar results as mentioned above. I guess there's more than one road to Heaven.

[Deanski]

Porsche leather has a very uniaue odor/smell to it. As much as I love Zaino Z-10, it's just too strong of a leather fragrance however, I understand Sal Zaino has a newer formula, slightly blue in color?

Anyway, what I found that really works well is the Sonus Leather Conditioner. It was developed by a fellow Porsche owner. He used brand new leather skins from the factory still in the bags to match the natural odor of Porsche leather.

What it does is after treatment, it renews the tanning oils used by the vendor Porsche uses, and in turn makes the leather smell the way it should, no leather frarance from the bottle, but from the leather itself.

It also makes the leather non slippery. Leather seats feel better, like you'll never slide in them, almost having a grip to it.

Sonus smells terrible from the bottle, but better than Lexol IMO, but after you treat the leather and close the doors, open the door after say an hour and be greeted by the original odor/smell once again.

I'll have to test the new Zaino Z-10 soon.

As for cleaning leather, nothing works better (and cheaper) than Woolite and water 6 to 1. 6 parts distilled water and 1 part Woolite. Use a spray bottle to apply and a soft brush to loosen the dirt. Wipe with white cotton towels to gauge how much dirt is left. After that, you could use a damp white cotton towel with the distilled water to remove/rinse the leather, but I see no need. Form there, wait for the leather to fully dry before treatment.

Most leather cleaners are nothing more than a Woolite mix, some coloring and frangrance.

For severe leather being dry, then I go with Leatherique. Hands down the best way to restore really bad leathers! It takes time, heat and a lot more work, but done correctly, it's outstanding for dry, cracked leather restoration. After application, I use plastic wrap around the leather, then let it sit in the sun to "bake" as all the dirt, impurities migrate out of the leather skin. Then, I use the Pristeen Clean to finish, followed by Zaino Z-10 on other leathers to get that leather smell back.

I find Z-10 is about dead-on for Lexus leather.

Regards,

Deanski