Hey all, I'm getting a detail next week before my first service and they said that they use Lexol leather conditioner on the leather. Don't know if it is OK or not but it kind of made me cringe. How do y'all think this ranks on the car care quality scale? The guy is OK using something else if I bring it in.
Thanks!

 

No need to worry. Lexol is a premium quality no-silicone leather conditioner. I have used it for years on Jaguar leathers (including on the F-Type); it leaves the leather soft and smooth without any artificial gloss. It is important to use a conditioner to maintain the suppleness of the surface colour coating of the leather. Failure to do this results in cracking, increased wear and in high-wear areas such as the bolster of the driver's seat, loss of the colour coating. Lexol does a fine job on the F-Type leather. There are other good conditioners - Autoglym Leather Balm is another, but the primary thing is to make sure there is no silicone in the "conditioner" - quotation marks because a treatment with silicone ensures that no conditioning is actually done!

 

I use lexol cleaner and conditioner on a regular basis for years.

 

+1. But buckle up tight after it's applied, otherwise you'll find yourself on the floor. lol.

 

Lexol is one of my favorites. Also like Leatherique Pristine Clean and Conditioner....although it is a bit on the pricey side.

A pal of mine teases me about 'boutique' products. He always uses ordinary off-the-shelf Meguirers (sp?) for $7.95 a bottle at the local auto parts store. His car is now 17 years old with 250k miles and, I'll have to admit, the leather is still 'like buttah'...soft and crack-free throughout.

Cheers
DD

 

I use Autoglym Leather Balm but Meguiar's products are usually just as good.

 

I use gliptone gt 1108 (8oz.size) conditioner and corresponding cleaner. I understand, (but have not verified) that gliptone makes JLR leather conditioner that jag gives out with new cars (I received small bottle with my car). It does not contain silicone. Works well, nice new car smell of leather, but not obnoxious, oiley, or shiny.

 

It could be different in the US but in the UK JLR (and Aston Martin) have a commercial tie-in with Autoglym and recommend their products.

Graham

 

I used Lexol cleaner and conditioner on my BMW and it worked well on the F-type too. Really cleaned up the steering wheel and gear shift boot.

 

Lexol cleaner and conditioner (two separate products) have been around since the dawn of time. I have used them over the years and never had a complaint. I have heard comments that the conditioner leaves a residue, but I never noticed it. Some folks like Zymol. But you can't go wrong with Lexol. Griot Garage is a source for tons of stuff and WeatherTech in Bolingbrook is an outfit I like, in part because they have interesting vehicles on display in the retail store. There was a nice Porsche tractor the last time I was in.

 

Lexol does not leave a residue, nor is it slippery as one responder suggests, providing that it is applied, allowed to soak in and then the leather is lightly buffed with a clean cloth (and the amount of dirt it removes in this process is amazing). Other excellent products have been mentioned -Leatherique Rejuvenator, which is a combination of oils rather than a creamy liquid like Lexol or the Autoglym Leather Balm... but I find that Meguiars, Mothers, and Eagle One leave a shiny, artificial surface (and that makes me think of silicones...). My comments, by the way are the result of using almost every leather care product available over the restoration of more than 20 Jaguars.
The Leatherique Rejuvenator is excellent on the Connolly leathers that Jaguar used in the 80's and 90's but the Italian leather Jaguar has used since 2002 seems to respond better to the tried-and-true Lexol.

 

Yay, thank you all for the advice/experience! sov, 20 Jaguars?? Dang.... That really is a lot of experience! I appreciate your input!

 

There was a bottle that came with my F-Type. The brand appears to be "Leather Master (R) Developed by Dr. TORK"

Lexol has been around forever, and is also highly regarded for motorcycle racing leathers, and those have a rough life even in the best of times.

 

In addition to treating leather seats, has anyone treated the door cards, console and dashboard leather surfaces? If yes, does the treatment (Lexol or AutoGlym Leather Balm) change the colour or surface texture?
thanks
Steve

 

I bought both the cleaner and conditioner via Amazon a few months ago because someone somewhere a while back on this forum recommended it to someone else, there were some Amazon reviews complaining about it smelling bad but I bought it and used it anyway... I have no idea what people were smoking, smells fine to me, great even, works excellently, would recommend it to anyone.

With regard to cleaning the surfaces other than the seats, like the leather-ish dashboard pieces, I specifically avoid that even though it might work just fine, I'm hoping someone else here can chime in about that.

 

Every part of the interior which is leather (and if you have the “Extended leather” pack that means the dash, door panels and arm rests, headliner, console and every part of the seats) benefits from using a good non-silicone conditioner like Lexol or AutoGlym Leather Balm. Leather is leather. Properly applied, allowed to soak into the leather (yes, despite the colour coating) and then buffed, these products do NOT leave a shiny, slippery surface, nor do they leave streaks or marks, nor do they change the colour or grain of the leather. Again, the most important factor is that there must be no silicones in the conditioner formulation.

 

Thanks Gregory - very helpful!
steve

 

I've used the Dr Leather wipes for years but am considering trying the Autoglym leather balm. It actually all feels a bit overkill since my interior never really gets dirty and is rarely subjected to any extreme weather... I just wipe off the seats with a damp mf cloth pretty frequently and have used the Dr Leather wipes more rarely.

I also have this stuff since a few years, think I got it with my last Jag but can't remember ever using it. Did anyone use this? Looks like more of a plain cleaner than a balm/conditioner.



And did anyone with the full fat extended leather pack actually use Lexol or the Autoglym leather balm on any other surfaces than the seats?

 

Call me a heretic, but I did not like using Lexol in my XKR. I felt it left a lot of streaks and needed a lot of "buffing" to remove them. I do like some of the leather balms I have used, I don't recall the one I last used but will look in the garage and report back.

 

In the future, try rubbing in ANOTHER coat of leather conditioner. Rub it in the opposite direction as you did previously. IE, top-to-bottom rather than left-to-right.

Once the treatment is fully absorbed into the leather, it will look more uniform, for sure.


AND, I think that dash leather is MOST IMPORTANT to do, since the sun dries it out. (Luckily, our base model F doesn't have a leather dash. )


++++++++++++++

I've used equestrian Saddle Soap to treat leather after cleaning, works well!