Those are interesting links Mark, and I wish you'd brought this point up sooner. Way back when I joined this forum, about a year ago, I asked opinions about the use of saddle soap and NO ONE responded!

The previous owner of my truck said he used ONLY saddle soap on the seats (Kiwi's brand) and they looked fine to me. He was actually quite careful in the maintenance of the truck and it certainly showed. A few months after I got it, I noticed the steering wheel and console darkening and that's when I got "aggressive" to get them clean. That's also where I decided to apply a waterproofing sealer to those areas, which restored (and has maintained) their appearance.

I tried Leather CPR as a "cleaner", but found it did not do much. It was better though, as a conditioner.

My best results in removing the "black", came from saddle soap, which is why I recommended it. I think I tried Lexol Cleaner once too, but didn't like it.

The Obenauf products were mentioned a few months ago, but I have not tried them so did not think to suggest them.

So, 4x4King - Try Mark's advice. Sorry that what worked for me is not doing it for you.

- Jack

 

Sorry I did not respond sooner. I did not see your post from last year.

I have just recently been made aware of the downside of using saddle soap. Saddle soap has been around for a very long time, and I think it still has it's uses. I just don't think it is the best thing to use on very fine leathers, including our Castano leather.

I work with wood as a hobby, and I see a lot of similarity between finishing wood products and the finishing and treating of very fine leathers. It seems much more intuitive to feed the needs of both leather and wood rather than trying to seal them form anything external, which is unlikely to ever be successful.

My own feeling is to give the leather(or wood) what it needs to 'fend off attacks', rather than to try to block those attacks myself. Let natural causes and effects do their own thing.

 

this is all great advice and info, but i dont think ill be able to get them back my self i call colornew and im haveing a guy come to my house this coming tuesday to clean and recolor my seats, console, steering wheel. i think this will probably be the best route for me considering my steering wheel is cracking on top a little. i also dont fell like completly destroying them even if the product does work i dont want to risk my seats. while he is here ill ask him his opinion on the products he think will work best an ill let you guys know. i also will post some before and after pics.

 

Good luck on the dye job.

Looking forward to the before and after pictures. I'm also interested in finding out what the ColorNew guy recomends.

 

Well i got my seats dyed today and they look brand new its amazing how much they changed. i wasnt able to get before pics today but previously in the thread there are some posted. here is what my seats look like now.







i ask him what to condition with he said he liked leather CPR and for cleaning he said use baby soap and water.

 

Woah. Those came out looking very nice!

If you don't mind me asking, what did that job end up costing you? And, how long did it take?

BTW, I understood that Leather CPR is a cleaner/conditioner. If you are going to use Leather CPR, why would you need a separate cleaning product?

 

well it took him about 3 hours and cost me 300 dollars flat for the whole truck.
he just said soap and water that because he didnt think that leather CPR was as good of a cleaner as it is a conditioner.

 

Congratulations, 4x4King. I'm glad all my "advice" didn't ruin everything. The seats look great to me too.

Mark, I've found, as have other users that CPR isn't great as a cleaner and, because it is a conditioner, it kind of traps dirt into the leather. It might work just fine on "finished" leather though - it certainly seems to in CPR's promotional video.

- Jack

 

thanks i really like how they look, i think he did a great job. only bad part is i cant sit in the seats till tomarrow. Currently he said the top will be dry but the inside still needs some time to soak and dry. All he really did was clean it up with soapy water. then used sand paper and sanded it down where the leather had been cut, but not all the way through. then he mixed the color using a paint gun to colored it and then used a heat gun to dry the top.

 

what was the process he used to clean with the baby soap & water? curious what he used to scrub them.

 

He just had it mixed in a spray bottle then he sprayed it on a clean terri cloth and basicly dabbed and wiped it down. There wasnt alot of agressive cleaning. He said he didnt use harsh chemicles to clean it because, it would just dry the leather out and make it stiff.

Jack you had all good advice the only thing that i was conserned about was the saddle soap because, i didnt get all of it out which ended up making the leather darker. i discovered that after taking a wet rage and wiping it down because, then it lightened up.

 

Thanks for letting me know this 4x4King! I always "rinse" the saddle soap out with a clean wet cloth or sponge (till I don't see foam anymore) and in MY experience, the leather comes out much lighter, as well as being dry and lifeless. It didn't occur to me to tell you to do this. :o And, it really bothered me that my advice seemed to make the dark stains worse!

I can see how leaving it in would make the leather darker though.

So, now I feel better and I'm really happy that your seats turned out so well. The "sanding" part sounds scary though. He must have used VERY fine sandpaper.

- Jack

 

He said, he sanded but honestly you cant even tell. It was very fine sand paper and he hardly sanded it.