Leather Car Seat Cleaning:
Breaking all the rules

Leather car seat cleaning is a topic filled with more bad information than I can swing a stick at!

The industry itself wants to keep you in the dark so they can continue to sell you more and more products, and people with well-intentions love to repeat bad information because they themselves don't  know better.

It is one thing to keep your car's leather clean from the beginning, but an entirely different thing to clean car leather that has been neglected for years and now you have decided you can't tolerate the dirt any longer and go in search of the best car leather cleaner.

Not only will you be presented with endless choices, but most of you will be sorely disappointed when you learn first hand that most traditional car leather cleaners are not formulated to be strong enough to clean leather in your car that is truly dirty.

Most Car Leather Cleaners Simply Suck!
Yes, I said it.

Is your car leather beginning to look something like the picture to the right?

Not horrid, but certainly in need of some attention in the form of leather car seat cleaning.

But nonetheless, the leather in this picture is well over-due for some attention and the regular maintenance of cleaning has been "deferred".

And while most over the counter retail leather cleaning products will remove some dirt, these same retail products have been dumbed down to the point where they deliver unacceptable results for most people who have let the leather in their car go too long without cleaning.

Car Leather Cleaner and Your Car Leather

• Most people think car leather is a very delicate material that requires sensitive leather cleaners and conditioners.
• Most people do not realize that just like every other area in our lives today, technology has made things not only more durable, but easier to clean and maintain; car leathers included.
• Virtually all car leathers today, from high end to entry level cars have leather that has been coated with a protective clear coating. This not only makes the leather material far more durable, but also easier to clean and maintain.
• Unlike car leather of the past, what you are really cleaning is not actually the natural leather you think you are cleaning, but a synthetic clear coating.

For a greater understanding of the different types of car leathers, you can see my Car Leather discussion page for a comprehensive overview. It will open in a new window so you may return here easily.

Leather Car Seat Cleaning:
Getting professional results!

While I could have used much more dramatic before and after pictures as I have on other pages of this site, these pictures represent what I consider the situation in which most of you will find yourselves; dirty, but not excessively dirty.

At one of my other car leather upholstery cleaning pages, you can see a more dramatic before an after picture I took while cleaning the leather in a Lexus RX.

"I get it Darren, most leather cleaners suck and I am tired of the disappointment, can you tell me what you use so I can get these same level of results!" 

Glad you finally asked!

The Alternative to Leather Car Seat Cleaning:
From Mild to Wildly Dirty!

Interestingly, and probably not completely surprising at this point is that the product I use for these results isn't an actual car leather cleaner, but a an all-purpose cleaner that is a concentrate and can be custom blended to the desired strength of cleaning power you need.

I have had countless customers stand in amazement as they behold their leather upholstery they had no idea could be cleaned to this level of clean once again!

Leather Car Seat Cleaning:
The unexpected leather cleaner

Simple Green Concentrate on Amazon

The detailing industry would have you believe you need a dedicated cleaner for every job possible when it comes to your car:

• Upholstery cleaner
• Leather cleaner
• Vinyl/plastic cleaner
• Tire cleaner
• Wheel cleaner
• Etc., etc.

The reality is that I have found many cleaners outside the world of auto detailing that are either just as effective as dedicated detail products, or more effective than the dedicated detail products you have been taught you need to have.

Leather car seat cleaning is no exception and the industry has endless choices for you. The problem with these are two main problems:

• They are generally ineffective on any car leather that has more than a trivial amount of dirt (great products if your car leather that is basically clean)
• Far more expensive when compared to an all-purpose cleaner like the Simple Green concentrate
  

Darren's Professional Tips: If I had to live with a single all-purpose cleaner, this one from Simple Green would be one of them! For it represents the winning combination of features and I use it for so many off-label uses in my professional detailing business, and not just for leather car seat cleaning:

• This is a concentrate; custom blend to suit your needs.
• For basic leather cleaning I use a dilution of 10:1
• For heavy duty leather cleaning I increase the strength based on how much dirt I am having to deal with (Simply experiment with different dilution ratios to determine the winning balance based on you and your needs of the moment)
  
• I also use brushes and scrub pads not typically recommended within the auto detailing world.
  
• Remember, car leather is much more durable than most people would expect, so scrub away! (see video below)
  
• I use distilled water when mixing any of my chemicals; distilled water is about as pure of water you can get and allows for a better product after you mix the desired ratio.
• Always, always, test each and every product in an inconspicuous place first for results. Then proceed from there. There are always going to be exceptions to any rule. You want to rule out your moment happens to be one of the unwanted exceptions.
  
• Most cleaning duties will require light applications, done repeated times until desired results are achieved.
• If a gallon sized product of concentrate seems way over-kill for you and your needs, be reminded that I use this product in a hundred different ways from the car, to the house, to the garage. It is incredibly versatile.
  

Leather Car Seat Cleaning Tools

Almost as important as the product or chemical itself, is the combination of the right tool with the right chemical, following proper techniques of leather car seat cleaning. Since most people want to treat their cars' leather with "kid gloves" as the saying goes, you must remember that in order to obtain the kinds of results shown in the pictures, you must use much more aggressive products and techniques, which include a scrub brush.

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Non-traditional Leather Cleaning Scrub Brush Set

Chemical Guy's Horse Hair Brush on Amazon

• One of my favorite scrub brush sets due to the versatility between these two brushes.
  
• One brush for heavy duty cleaning.
• One brush for light duty cleaning.
  

Leather Car Seat Cleaning...
now what?

Just as soon as you are finished cleaning your car leather upholstery, likely the very next question will become:

"Darren, what should I use on my leather car seats to condition and protect them?"

Leather Honey on Amazon

Leather Car Seat Cleaning:
Darren's Summary

I am willing to bet that you have not only learned a few new things about cleaning car leather, but sit in amazement at the thought of using so many non-traditional products.

Trust me; you are not alone!

I hope I have not only helped, but offered some alternatives to the traditional leather car seat cleaning methods most of the world would have you follow that I consider less than efficient and based on a lot of misinformation!

Sincerely,

Darren Priest

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