Leather restoration products that actually work?

[GeoffSmith]

According to Nick Fulcher over on LEF who is Lotus' trim consultant:

"Hide food is a lanolin based cream supplied Connolly Bros and is made for cellulose based leather but Cellulose based leather was phased out about 1988 - 1990, there is not a defined cut off date and it depends upon what stocks and colours of leather Lotus had in stock as to what year the change over happened.

If you try and feed water based leather it will not soak in and will remain sticky until you decide to buff it all off, even some of the so called renovation and colour kits will remain sticky as the colour has to be sealed after the colour has been applied, we have tried a few of them and put them all in the bin.

We are now testing some leather pigment and special transparent sealer from the Leather Federation Tech Dept and will let you know of our findings later."

This might explain some of the issues people have had. I will get in touch with Nick and see if he will keep us updated, but keep an eye on the LEF thread.

[Doug]

Leave it on the animal so the natural sebaceous glands oil the dermis.

Failing that myself, and having tried MANY different leather products, my opinion is that loyal application of any DEDICATED leather cleaner/conditioner keeps the leather both clean & oiled. I try to do the seats every time I clean the fascia. You'd be surprised how much gunk will build up on top of your leather if you don't constantly wipe it off.

Here is my product of choice: http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_d ... MEG+G11210
I'm not gaga over any other Meguiar product. Consider this their finest acheivement, and something you can only get from online specialty shops, or directly from the source.

knowing that Matt's recommendations are always poignently good, I just did a little point, click, and ship on his link above. Viola! Got me 2 cans of the stuff yesterday; haven't been able to stop applying it to both my cars until I covered every spot on them! This stuff is nice! No stickiness; no residue; just smooth clean leather = yum. Haven't felt the leather this good for who knows how long.

Thanks for the rec, Matt

[Enright]

Moved in order to delete a duplicate thread:

Hi,

Id be interested to hear from anyone who has had there seats re-dyed by using one of the kits that are available, such as those produced by woolies?

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-117-lea ... ation.aspx

or have used the colour specific re-conditioning balms such as:

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leathe ... ration.htm

Ive seen them mentioned several time on this forum but haven heard any reviews or found pictures of the results. How good are the results and how long does it take? My seats arnt bad, ive got blue s2 seats with only 62K on the clock but the color has rubbed off in places along the centerline piping and it looks like something has been spilled on a small area which has removed the color from the seat.. If these kits give good results i may give them a go.

Cheers,

Marcus

[GeoffSmith]

Hi,

Id be interested to hear from anyone who has had there seats re-dyed by using one of the kits that are available, such as those produced by woolies?

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-117-lea ... ation.aspx

or have used the colour specific re-conditioning balms such as:

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leathe ... ration.htm

Ive seen them mentioned several time on this forum but haven heard any reviews or found pictures of the results. How good are the results and how long does it take? My seats arnt bad, ive got blue s2 seats with only 62K on the clock but the color has rubbed off in places along the centerline piping and it looks like something has been spilled on a small area which has removed the color from the seat.. If these kits give good results i may give them a go.

Cheers,

Marcus

DON'T!

Nick Fulcher (see above) has confirmed that the S2 seats will be water based and sealed for life. Wait for news of his investigations with the Leather Federation Tech Dept.

[Marcus_uk]

DON'T!

Nick Fulcher (see above) has confirmed that the S2 seats will be water based and sealed for life. Wait for news of his investigations with the Leather Federation Tech Dept.

Has anyone actualy tried the woolies scuffmaster stuff... its the only one that I have come accross that is water based.

[whippit]

iv'e got a 91 se with half leather and nothing touches them, iv'e tried most products and they just sit on the surface of the leather,
it looks like a cellulose paint or pigment to me , iv'e give up on them , there not in bad condition but the leather feels like cardboard,

[clarky5150]

Just bringing this to the top to see if anyone has found something to work on the sealed seats. I had a TVR Cerbera that had had the bolsters badly retouched in cream colour. I ended up stripping the seats protective coating with thinners. I know it sounds harsh but once stripped (clear coat only) the leather underneath was fantastically soft and supple and i Kept it clean with autoglym cleaner and cream.

[Marcus_uk]

Ive got the woolies waterbased die for my S2, but have only had a chance to test it out on a small area as yet (I have lots of other things on the to do list)

Looks like it works fine to me, hasnt rubbed off or gone sticky as other people have reported when restoring s2 seats. Looks like they have done quite a few elans as they appear a few times on there color matching list. I didnt even have to send in a sample (even through thte place is just down the road), and the color they sent was a great match.

I will let you know how I get on when I do the full seats.... whenever that may be 2010 (maybe)

[HJ2]

Any update on this gents?

I want to toch up some small damages sections & piping and i am unsure what to use on my (apparantly water based sealant) S2 seats

[dolmerob]

My buddy used Leatherique and the result was quite impressive.