So basically this is another cry for help thread related to some King Ranch seats in poor condition. Admittedly when I got my truck I had no idea I had to clean my seats and no one really told me. I finally figured it out about a year down the road when my seats had already taken the grunt of it. My main problem is the darkness in my driver side seat that I cannot get rid of no matter what. I've conditioned them very well and very routinely for the past year and nothing seems to help. I've been researching the "spa treatment" to clean them but haven't come up with much if you guys could help it'd be great! I'll post a picture of my driver side which is the worst. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

I might be wrong, but I think your seat bottom might be history. The bottom has almost become black leather.

 

My King Ranch has this same issue and I have researched forever and made the same mistake you did... If you would have Cleaned the leather before loading it with conditioner you could have lifted some of the dirt but instead conditioned it into the leather..The only option I have heard of is dying the leather but after much research all that does is paint the leather and it will not breathe anymore like our leather does. I have just learned to live with it and clean and condition it as needed bout once a month here in FL.
My driver seat is just as dark if not worse due to the previous owner not conditioning it and sweating on it.. I didnt realize there was no way to clean the black when I bought it...Leave it alone for about 1 or 2 months depending on your climate and the conditioner will fully soak in and show you the true color if you keep coating it with conditioner it will stay very dark. Like I said I did this when I first got my truck and conditioned it with every product and cleaned it with many methods and this leather is just stubborn...It is what it is I guess Good Luck Bud

 

Try Saddle Soap. Follow the directions & be sure to rinse well w/ a wet & clean towel after to remove any extra slime. Ford KR leather seats & console lids are not really protected well from the factory--they're aiming for the natural leather look of the cowhide.
Saddle Soap will remove coke stains & McD's milkshake stains 'cause we've done it at the factory (KCAP).

 

So since my seat can't get much worse i've been trying something very dramatic for the past few days. Once a day basically I fill up a bucket with hot hot hot water and let towels sit in them for a while then ring them out completely to where you can't squeeze and ring any more water out of them. I then scrub the sh** out of my seats where it's dark and continue till the towel gets cold or is covered in dirt. Now I don't have to drive it every day since i'm in school and ride my bike so i don't lotion them either. I have been doing this for the past few days and it seems to be taking away the layers and layers of dirt and conditioner that i've conditioned into the seats - at least the recent layers, can't say much for the ones from over a year ago hah. But what i'm thinking is it may just eventually get as much dirt out as possible. The towels do just turn into a different color cause it gets so much crap out of my seats. After a week or so I'll put a thin thin layer of lotion (KR conditioner from the website) on it and see how it looks. But i'm going to continue it for a while. I'll keep you updated on how it turns out in about a month, but i figure it cannot make my seats any worse so i'm going to see what this does and give you my opinion on it since I think we're in the same position!

 

SO MANY older King Ranch seats look horrible, like yours do. I am lucky enough to have seats that look almost factory new. (I condition once a month with Leather CPR.)

My recommendation is read through these two posts of mine.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/4149518-post3.html

https://www.f150online.com/forums/4110638-post64.html

KingRanchCoy suggested KIWI saddle soap works better than the Fiebing's, and he has been working with the KR leather longer than myself so whichever you choose is up to you, I went with the Fiebing's.

As for use of it, like stated in my posts, try it in one area, don't do all the seats. I chose to do the bottom cushion of my drivers seat. I haven't seen many seats as dark as yours so I would say as long as the saddle soap doesn't yield any "bad" results, keep working with that until the dirt and grime is out of them, then, if you feel up to it, give the neatsfoot oil a try.

Keep me posted with how things are going and feel free to ask questions, were here to help.

 

B-Carter, Be careful with scrubbing the **** outta the seats you could end up making them look like suede... My passenger seat bottom is now rough and suede like from scrubbing too hard with a cloth, Hope yours turn out better than mine lol

 

From his pictures, I noticed he has the first style of King Ranch leather which can be rubbed a bit more aggresively. That is why i did not warn him about that. (While you still shouldn't be putting all your weight into it.) The leather they switched to in 04 is a little different and the fibers will break apart quite a bit easier. Always good to warn people though so no harm done

 

I think it looks good being darkened from use. But I guess that's just my style, things that are used and look like it. Makes it look manly lol.

 

To me, the nice thing about the King Ranch leather is that the more wear it receives, the more character it has. So long as it's clean that is! I'd love to have it in my lowly FX4!

 

If you think the neglect those seats have recieved looks good, then you don't deserve the luxury of King Ranch leather.

General wear on King Ranch leather is good.

Dirt and grime from someone who didn't take care of them is not.

 

Really? Pure comedy! LOL!

 

IMO for someone to truly respect something dedicated to the actual King Ranch in Texas, then its not completly wrong to like the look of the worn darkened leather. The leather of an actual saddle, which the KR seats are fashoned after, is constructed from thick saddle leather so that the wear can be managed over time. Indeed a 50 year old saddle's leather thats been darkened into a deep rich color that cant be replicated looks far more appealing than that of a brand new shiney one with weekly conditioning and babynig.... just IMO.

 

XtremeBawls....what do you expect from an AUBURN guy????

"GATOR" skin holds up much better! HAHAHA......(no offense)

Personally, I prefer a nice clean look as opposed to grinding in dirt, grime & sweat from a previous owner that didn't keep the leather clean......

I'll be buying an F250 LARIAT, most likely, just because the KR seats are an issue....... but I DO love the look of the KR's!

 

B Carter, what ever happened with this old thread?