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Looking to order seat skins and foam but did crazy amounts of research. Saw old posts from ZFlash and El Original and others who said the new skins had to be replaced again.
I know synthetic won’t crack like leather but the OEM is so bad. Anybody with recovered seats have problems with reliability + longevity of new seat skins?
Thanks
Every car I have had with leather seats have cracked no matter how much care I give. Even home chairs. So if I replace the C5 skins, definitely it will be vinyl.
QUOTE=rrwirsi;1601404430]Every car I have had with leather seats have cracked no matter how much care I give. Even home chairs. So if I replace the C5 skins, definitely it will be vinyl.[/QUOTE]
I believe that if the leather is well taken care of that they will last. These seats came out of a 2002 8 years ago that I put in my car.I just put new padding in the drivers seat this past fall. This is the seat that I had the padding replaced. These seats are 18 years old. I use Zanio leather products. In between, Every time I clean my car I spray done the seats with plan water. Well taken care of they will hold up.
They look fantastic. You’re right—plain water is supposed to help. Some swear by different sprays, liquids, etc., but I don’t understand how any product preserves OEM seats since they had a clear coat finish.
I put on conditioner and thought it soaked in, only to find when my wife got out of the car with white pants to visit friends, she had black all over her. That’s when I started researching and discovered conditioner can’t get through the clear finish of the seats.
QUOTE=Fcar 98;1601405048]
I believe that if the leather is well taken care of that they will last. These seats came out of a 2002 8 years ago that I put in my car.I just put new padding in the drivers seat this past fall. This is the seat that I had the padding replaced. These seats are 18 years old. I use Zanio leather products. In between, Every time I clean my car I spray done the seats with plan water. Well taken care of they will hold up.[/QUOTE]
The main thing is to start with a seat that's in good condition (no cracks that split the material, or worn away upholstery). If I may, I'd like to share this video for reference:
I followed this process completely using the Leatherique products for my own 20 year old seats with excellent results. I did this application initially in Sept 2019. Before I recolored the seats this past month, I repeated the entire process once more to get them as clean as I could.
*The OEM finish is a water-resistant coating, but it's not waterproof , so the leatherique, if allowed to set overnight (I waited 24 hours for mine), it will soak in and leach out the built up oils and dirt.
Again, I followed the instructions laid out in the video and was rewarded with better than expected results.
The seats went from feeling brittle and hard, to being much softer than they had been. Over the following two to three weeks, they softened up even more. The products left no residue on the surface to transfer to clothing, and I now only use a distilled water-dampened microfiber for cleaning.
Hope this is of help, and best of luck to you on your project!
Last edited by Edmund Iverson; Apr 28, 2020 at 08:21 AM.
You may want to try giving the leather a good cleaning. You'd be surprised how much body oil gets onto the leather over time, which in turn becomes a dirt magnet. For the cleaning I use a horsehair brush and a good leather cleaner. If you use a light colored rag to wipe the leather down after cleaning, you'll see how much dirt gets onto the leather. Then I put on a good leather conditioner. I do it 3-4 times a year, it's easy maintenance and it'll help preserve the leather, However, if the cracks have already started there's really nothing that will restore that. But at least you can soften up the leather. Looks like Edmund and I posted at the same time.
Thanks, guys. A few years ago, I put on a lot of leather conditioner on the seats overnight, then wiped off excess and rubbed it down the next few days. Still got the “transfer” my wife won’t forget.
Maybe I didn’t use a cleaner first. If I find the old post about conditioner being of no help, I’ll repost it for comment. Thanks
This is the old post from someone. Here’s one of the points that got my attention. I’ll repost the whole thing in a minute. His words, not mine:
“I never use products that contain neat's-foot, mink, or other oils, silicone, aloe, or any other odd, useless item, but often the labels doesn't tell you what is in the bottle. This includes Leatherique, Lexol, 303 Protectant, Armor All, Zaino, etc., etc. In my experience, these products do nothing but sit on top of the urethane top coating until your clothing wipes them off. In the meantime, they collect dust and dirt which is then ground into your seats and stitching as you slide across the seat getting in and out much like sandpaper. 90% of your seat damage comes from this!“
I totally understand the average conditioner not working, and I'm afraid my post mentioning a conditioner-style product seemed counter-productive to what you mentioned. I am saying that the Leatherique system actually works when you follow the instructions exactly as it is laid out in that video. Todd Cooperider owns Esoteric, is a Corvette owner and forum vendor, with his company doing work on many high end vehicles; he's got a lot of experience with many aspects of interior as well as exterior detailing and restoration.
I have my own seats as proof of the success of using the system with no transfer issues
Some conditioners have silicones in them, which would never dry no matter what you do to them. They are not good for any interior surface either short-term nor long-term. I chose the leatherique because it contains no silicones. I think if you watch that vid, it would help you with what you're trying to attain.
Edmund Iverson, thank you. That makes sense. I would prefer not to spend $1400 for new seats, foam and install when my oem seats only have 35k on the clock.
Amen to that, my friend! Unless you have material failure (tears, holes, cracks) you have viable options for restoration of a still-viable material. We can find better ways to use that $1400 than seat covers!
As with any project, making preparation a priority, and following the instructions are vital to the success of a restoration like this.
Last edited by Edmund Iverson; Apr 28, 2020 at 10:39 AM.
Do seat skins last?
