Tucked away in one of the back corners was a stall/display by a company called H Bruce Gibbs Prestige Trimmer P/L. I spent some time chatting to the owner of the business, Bruce Gibbs about leather care and products available. He was a really interesting and informative guys.. He looked about 120 years old, and has owned and operated his trimming business for over 40 years. Both his sons, and his grandson now work in the company. It is a small custom operation that services high end vehicles with most of his work now done for showcar type clients. He is the only Australian trimmer to win numerous awards (he told me but I forget which ones) for interior trim at major USA hot rod shows. A number of his clients ship their vehicle to him from the USA, he retrims them and send them back. He came across as "really knowing his stuff".
I asked him about what products he would recommend. He replied that "most of the products available today whilst they may produce a good result initialy, cause damage and shorten the life of the leather". I asked him about Liquid Leather (mentioned around the forum somewhere), he replied that he had heard of it, but could not recommend that product. He particularly warned me to be careful of the "one-step" leather cleaning products available (Mequiars, Armourall etc) as he see's the long term results of their useage.
He refered me to the Pelle Leather Care System, a New Zealand based company that specialises in producing very high quality leather products. He said this is the product he uses on his own vehicles. I purchased a kit (about $AUD50), and have now used it on my seats and trim.
The product comes in two parts, a cleaner and a revitaliser. The cleaner is very gentle, and it took a couple of applications (as per the instructions) to clean some of the heavily sioled areas. The revitaliser is simple to apply. All up the process took me about 4 days, including drying time after each application. The theory behind the product is very sound, it simply removes the dirt, sweat and grime from your leather, and replaces and seals it with the essential oils that were there in the natural product. They recommend repeating the clean/revitalise every 6 months.
Results My leather has definitely been cleaned, it is brighter and most of the marks have been removed. It "feels" firmer, yet more supple. It has a slight sheen to it now, and looks alot "newer". I did take some photos, but none really showed the difference well enough. This product is NOT a cure for damaged leather. It does not cover scuffs, splits or worn areas. I would strongly recommend it for people with a new or good quality interior, who wish to keep it that way for a long time.
Not sure if there are suppliers for this in the US or UK, you could probably order/inquire on the website I linked .. or PM me for the email addy of Bruce Gibbs.
