Leather restoration

[carnal_c30]

I've done my homework and all it seems to do is make me more confused.

Let me start with the problem... ALOT of Nissans especially pre-2000 Nissans have this wonderful leather that dries up into stiff and rough cardboard. My Maxima is fine (leatherseats.com baby) but my I30 and Q45 both have this problem.

both cars didnt have tint so the leather did take a beating from the sun. My efforts so far include copius amounts of meguiars leather conditioner (the thick goop) to try to soften the leather up initially, and then to use Lexol Cleaner and Conditioner to maintain protection. Sun damage has been reduced because both cars sport a very nice tint now, but I'm really looking for the best way to soften up this leather!

I've done research and here are the potential solutions and their cons.

Leatherique-
*Pros- amazing results for the most part, especially on Euros, older cars, and those with uncoated leather

*Cons- time it takes to apply (not an issue for me), not meant for coated leather, supposedly removes the protective coating and possibly will result in future damage... and check out what happened to this guys m3
http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums...3896024-1.html

LeatherMaster- safer than leatherique but not much experience with it and doesnt seem to have the same life changing results

Zaino Z-10- smells great, safe for coated leather, but again results don't seem to be enough for me with my cardboard leather

Lexol neatsfoot oil- never seen it before, but its a lexol product meant for more damaged leather etc etc

so what do you guys think? another technique I tried a long time before was soft scrub on my Lexus and that made a nice difference in how clean the seats were and made them softer, but I havent had good results on my infinitis

Please help me out, I'm sure theres 1000s of other nissan owners with the same issues!! Is it safe to use leatherique, is there something else?

[matty]

I have always wanted to try Leatherique. For the most part I would trust it. There are always going to horror stories from different products out there but there are enough good things I have heard about the product that outweight that bad stuff.

-matt

I have heard guys apply it and leave it in the sun all day with a bag over it to hold in the heat. I might go ahead and try this stuff too.

[eng92]

As I said in my post in the other thread

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...39&postcount=5

Leatherique is fantastic stuff.

I still have 3 bottles each of the Rejuvinator Oil and Pristine Clean sitting in my detailing cabinet.
I have used it for about five years now with excellent results on couches, wallets, clothing and aftermarket leather components for the max.

Do not waste your time with it on the factory "leather" in a maxima. (4th and 5th gens anyway) Call it "coated leather" if you like but is not a material that conditioners like Leatherique will work on.

Most people think the conditioners that they are applying actually go into the seat material when in fact it is absorbed into the cloth they are applying it with. Try this: Don a set a set of latex or nitrile gloves and squeeze a glob of the conditioner of your choice onto the seat material and try rubbing it in with just the gloves. See how far you get with that.

About five years ago when I first tried Leatherique, I spent many hours trying to get the seat to absorb it. Even leaving it wrapped in plastic in the sun does not help. Once the carrier evaporates, all you are left with is a residue sitting on top of the seat.

The material has to be porous (like real leather) in order for the conditioner to be absorbed.

[Kryogen]

6th gen seats FTW. I personally tried lexol and it is reallllyy good. Tried macguiart and all it did is oil, wax and make the seats really slippery. The leather wasnt softer.

Cleaned that crap with lexol cleaner, and then applied the conditionner. The leather looks healthy, soft, not greasy, not slippery. That's leather.

So I immediately treated my couch and wallet. Only the real leather parts of the couch of course... just like car seats, only real leather where you sit. All other parts are fake. Even the whole footrest is fake leather, eh. Tried lexol on the top because I though it was leather, and all it did is grease it, so it's not leather.

[95maxrider]

Originally Posted by eng92

As I said in my post in the other thread

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...39&postcount=5

Leatherique is fantastic stuff.

I still have 3 bottles each of the Rejuvinator Oil and Pristine Clean sitting in my detailing cabinet.
I have used it for about five years now with excellent results on couches, wallets, clothing and aftermarket leather components for the max.

Do not waste your time with it on the factory "leather" in a maxima. (4th and 5th gens anyway) Call it "coated leather" if you like but is not a material that conditioners like Leatherique will work on.

Most people think the conditioners that they are applying actually go into the seat material when in fact it is absorbed into the cloth they are applying it with. Try this: Don a set a set of latex or nitrile gloves and squeeze a glob of the conditioner of your choice onto the seat material and try rubbing it in with just the gloves. See how far you get with that.

About five years ago when I first tried Leatherique, I spent many hours trying to get the seat to absorb it. Even leaving it wrapped in plastic in the sun does not help. Once the carrier evaporates, all you are left with is a residue sitting on top of the seat.

The material has to be porous (like real leather) in order for the conditioner to be absorbed.

So is there no hope for 4th gens? I just applied two layers of Leatherique conditioner and cleaner to my 4th gen and let it sit in the sun each time. The seats sure look and feel clean, although there is some remaining residue. I can't quite tell yet how much softer they are, if any.