Cleaning and Conditioning Leather

Want to clean and condition your car’s leather interior? And while you're at it, maybe your leather jacket and leather shoes too? Before you head to the store and grab the first leather conditioner you see, let me ask you, have you heard the term finished leather before? No? That’s okay because most people haven’t. Most of us think that cleaning and conditioning leather is a long arduous process of washing the leather and using leather conditioner to moisturize it. What seems like a long drawn out process is the reason why many people tend to not care for their leather as often as they should - if at all. 

Here's the good news... caring for leather is a lot easier than you think. There were days when you had to wash your leather with special leather soap than condition it with a special leather conditioner called hide food. For the vast majority of leather goods on the market including your car's leather interior and other items like leather jacket, shoes, belt, and furniture it's no longer required that you care for the leather in this way. As a matter of fact, it hasn’t been this way for almost 20 years. So what's changed?

Most of today's leather goods have a clear coat finish applied on the surface of the hide. It’s coated to protect it from the elements, help it stay looking new longer and with less maintenance. Now if you apply these traditional leather soaps and conditioners (including leather hide food) on the leather, you end up with a really oily finish since the oils never get past the coating and into the leather hide. Apply this on your car's leather seat and you’ll find yourself slipping and sliding as you drive. It's similar to applying these oils on your car's paint.

What’s the solution? You have to use a leather cleaner and conditioner that is formulated to treat the finish on the leather rather than trying to treat the leather itself. 

 

When you use einszett Leather Care on today’s finished leather including car leather interiors, leather furniture, jackets, and shoes it will clean the finish coating and keep it conditioned so it maintains its original finish. There’s no greasy finish, no harmful cleaners and it won’t leave a powdery residue around the stitching like other brands. It also has a light lavender and sandalwood scent. We recommend you apply Leather Care at least twice a year. While finished leather doesn't require nearly the same amount of care as unfinished leather, it's not maintenance-free. Left uncared for, it will dry out, lose its luster and eventually crack. So spend no more than 30 minutes twice a year and taking care of your leather and it will continue to look and feel great.

For a more details on how to care for leather including how to tell whether you have finished or unfinished leather with a simple water drop test, read my article titled Proper Leather Care. It was originally written as part of the Keep It Clean series on detailing for the Porsche Club and now you can read the entire series at http://www.1z-usa.com/.