I'd always heard just wipe it down with distilled water not to damp. My 04 XK8 tan leather was a little grungy. So I read up on everything I could. To keep the leather in the best condition possible is a fair amount of work. I purchased what all the detail shops used. A glycerin based cleaner and matching conditioner. I couldn't believe all the grime I got off. It took 2/3 cleanings. You should only swipe it. Scrubbing will remove the protective layer from the leather. A mistake I made on another car before. The leather had begun to develope some small lines highlighted by the dirt. Once I got it clean I went over it 2 times with a conditioner. Buffing just after application. I was amazed at the difference. The small lines absorbed the conditioner and almost dissappeared. It feels and smells like a new car. The next cleaning/treatment won't be as hard or take as long.

 

Which leather care product did you use?

 

Slid your thread to the detailing section, hope that is ok so other could benefit from your post. I'd like to see before/after of the 'small lines' for myself. Nothing like leather smell of a car....mmmmmm

 

would like to know too which products were used on cleaning and conditioning the leather..

 

I used the Leatherique cleaner and conditioner, wow what a difference it made to my leather seats and arm rests. Make sure to clean the seat belt too as it gets dirty from touching the driver. I plan on touching up the leather each time I clean the car.

 

I bought Zymol based on the NAPA reccomendation. He said all the detail shops used it and it had been around forever. It worked great for me. I used a non lint cloth to apply it. For the fine lines I massaged the conditioner in with my fingers 2/3 times.

 

I used Leatherique, and it's great. Honestly, it hasn't made a huge difference in the look/feel of the leather, but it did clean out the whole hide, and removed all of the other caked in leather cleaners giving it a bit more of a slightly softer feel, and did clean out the crevices. I know I said (typed) that there wasn't a large difference in the look/feel, but my leather didn't look bad to begin with.

That being said, I plan on keeping up the pristine look of my car's 13 year old leather by using Leatherique. I've already got some dye to fix some very minor cracking, but I'm waiting until it gets noticeably worse.

 

Leatherique is top grade. I use their Pristine Clean for cleaning and then Lexol for conditioning.

If you have a leather steering wheel give it a good cleaning. It's pretty gross when you see how much dirt comes off :-)

Cheers
DD

 

I've heard not to use Lexol on the wheel because it'd removed the finish.

 

Not to worry.... Leatherique has a kit for steering wheel repairs!

http://www.leatherique.com/steering-wheels.html

Has anyone ever tried this?

 

Haven't had that happen after years of use on steering wheels. <shrug>

Cheers
DD

 

I've used Lexol for years on my Ford King Ranch. Fell in love with the natural leather. Tried several others, nothing comes close to the Lexol results for this type of leather. Never had a problem with steering wheel leather either. I'm going to try the Zymol line for the Jag leather though, as it is colored/tanned.......? Is the Leatherique line available at stores, or just on line? Appreciate earlier threads.

Afterthought, I did purchase some Connolly Hide Care from Welsh. Some (small amount) of the glycerin/water had leaked out during shipment. Tried it anyway. Wouldn't give you a plug nickle for it. Tossed it......
Ralph

 

Oh, I'm so glad I joined this forum. Leatherique it is! Those little lines in the driver's seat are bothering me; all the other seats are perfect.

 

How do you find the dye working though? is it good for those cracks as well?

 

I'll chime in on leatherique as well as I used it last month on my 96 XJS and it worked great. It's a California car with low miles and appears to have been garaged so
the seats are not cracked,wrinkled or particularly dirty due to use, but they were dry and hard in a few spots as the second owner lived inland (I'm near the coast in the Bay area so it's fairly humid year 'round). I applied the rejuvenator / cleaner treatment twice and there was quite a difference in softness and of course whatever dirt there was is gone.
The cleaner seems to work well on the rubber seals as well (which is obviously really important on a convertible to keep noise down). It's not going to be driven much now that winter is here but I plan on using the rejuvenator again in the spring when it comes out of its semi-storage state.

 

Sorry, I have to be the dissenter here. Very bad experiences with Leatherique. I've used most of their products including the dye, and had bad experiences with all.

In my case, I've used their leather "oil" products for years and it is not the initial useage that was negative, but after much (over about 3 1/2 years) use. The "leather" in most late model Jaguars is, in fact, not leather, it is a high grade vinyl. The only leather is literally on the seat surfaces (seat and back) Steering wheel, a couple of other small places, everything else is vinyl.

The other important fact is that Jaguar uses a dye on the interior surfaces that is much like a paint. It lays on the surface and "seals" the material. When you use a penetrating type oil like leatherique, it is really destroying this paint like seal which is the color. Oil also does not do well on vinyl material which is really a plastic. Oil accelerates the deterioration of vinyl. So, after extended use (over a couple of years) you might not be very happy with the condition of the leather and vinyl in the car because the paint is being removed by the oil.

Additionally, after much use, Leatherique begins to leave a foul odor like a rancid oil smell. It took me a very long time to get rid of this odor in my X300 VDP and I almost ruined the interior in my XK8. I won't get into the dye products, yet another story, but on my interiors now I only use a UV product that is good for vinyl and works on leather too.

Finally, take a quick look at any late model owner's handbook and see Jaguar's recommendations and warnings for interior care. They're giving these warnings based on their knowledge of the dye materials along with the interior materials. Sorry again the be a spoiler here. You have to use what you're going to use, but it is probably worth thinking past just the initial use.

 

The ONLY stuff to use on Jaguar interiors is Gliptone Liquid Leather, end of story.....

I rang them about some dye for my XJR, the guy said their products are the only ones recommended by Jaguar, and are used on the manufacturing line to tidy up small blemishes.

http://www.liquidleather.com/

They are an exact match, and a breeze to use. I wouldn't recommend anything else, and I'm happy with the results on my interior. The kit to look for is Scuffmaster, and they do a cleaner and conditioner, even Rolls Royce recommend them.

 

I've never heard of liquidleather, and as far as Jaguar's recommendations, my dealer recommends Connolly Hyde care.

I do know of people who have used Leatherique for years and haven't said anything negative about it. I hope they will chime in a bit. I've only used Leatherique once, and plan on doing so again in a few months when time comes back around. I still have some leather dye that I haven't used yet (from leatherique). If you could, please elaborate with those issues.

 

Interesting reading on the leather site

 

Steven,

First, I agree, you'll get a lot of wieghin here endorsing this product, but I've also run into people with similar experiences to mine with the leather treatments (not on this site to my knowledge). The negatives, unfortunately, don't show up right away.

I tried the dye product to redo a driver's seat on my X300. I contacted Leatherique directly beforehand because I wanted this car perfect as it is perfect in every other way. I talked to the owner, he assured me they were experts and specialized in Jaguar interiors. He told me what products to order.

Long story short, when I completed all the steps, the color didn't match at all, but more seriously, the finish turned out glossy as the rest of the interior was satin (or flat). I called back and the owner (or chief, might have that part wrong) told ME I forgot to order the "flattener" additive that I should have known about. Somehow this all turned out to be my fault, even though I had never taken on a job like this before and told him that. He sent out the flattener in a bottle. I started adding it to the dye and kept trying samples. I ended up using the entire bottle and still had a gloss finish that never matched. So, needless to say, completely dissatisfied with both the product and the CS. Additionally, as I continued (at the time) to use the leather cleaner/preservative products on the treated seat, it started ti dissolve their own dye.