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This is a copy/paste from the C7 section. It is long and informative (worth reading if you're interested in care for your interior). I also am including the post for proper credit due: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...eats-nope.html
I've been through the gambit on automotive leather care and have made mistakes. Many of these products and one on which I became sold (Leatherique) eventually ruined the seats in one of my Jaguars. It had an off-white leather in the seat inserts. The "oil-based" product eventually completely dissolved the colorant which, in the case of Jaguar, was a water-based dye (water-based paint which seals the underlying product from absorbing moisture {and oils}). Once the "paint" was destroyed, it exposed the underlying raw leather which is not what you think, or very pleasant to look at.
Here is the copy/paste:
The three most common types of automotive leather are:
Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a pigment (colored urethane paint) to yield uniform color and then clear coated. This type of leather does not reveal scars, pores and blemishes and has an artificial uniform grain pattern embossed. It is typically the only real leather in the seat and located only in the center inserts of the seat. The sides, bolsters, etc., are vinyl painted with the same colored urethane paint so it matches the leather inserts perfectly giving the entire seat a "leather" look. This is what 99% of cars have including Corvette, Escalade, newer Ferrari and Lamborghini. Don't believe me? Put a drop of water on your seat and see if it soaks in. It will not soak in as the leather has a painted on urethane coating on it. If water can't penetrate the coating how can "conditioners" and "protectants?" Read on.....
Semi-Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a semi-transparent pigment then clear coated This type of leather may reveal some of the underlying scars and blemishes of the hide as well as some color and grain changes. Almost never seen in the past twenty years.
Synthetic: Much of the leather, and in some, all of the leather in many of today's vehicles is entirely synthetic or engineered leather. It looks like real leather but is really entirely synthetic. This is in use in some high ticket brands like Lexus, MB and Infinity for example. It is often difficult to tell what is real leather and what is engineered leather.
The bottom line is 99.9% of cars sold today have leather only on the middle insert of the seat bottom and back. The sides are completely 100% vinyl. The color and texture matches the leather inserts perfectly as they are all sprayed with a colored urethane coating. A perfect way to demonstrate they are vinyl is the water drop test outlined above. Another way is pull some of the seat siding out from underneath the seat. Notice there is a foam backing? Real leather (from real cows) doesn't have foam backing on it.
Have you noticed the change in new car window stickers when referring to the seats? They now call the interior "leather lined," or "leather trim." Just take a look at a new C7 Corvette window sticker. They don't say "leather seats" like they used to. Now they say, "trim, leather." This is because only the center inserts are actually leather! The remainder of the seat is vinyl. Remember, vinyl has a foam backing on it.
Everyone seems to like the term "conditioner," but just what is conditioning? When leather professionals speak of “conditioning leather” they are usually speaking about leather hydration. Properly hydrated leather will be soft, plump and flexible making it resistant to creasing and cracking. Most traditional conditioners are typically oily or contain silicone, wax or things like Aloe or Neat's-foot or Mink oil. No protected leather needs or benefits from these things. Conditioning products were initially designed for a much different type of leather.
Most oily conditioners leave a film on protected leather that can hasten the accumulation of soil. Conditioners do not penetrate the urethane painted top coat to condition the leather. True, some of the H2O in these conditioners evaporates and raises the relative humidity surrounding the leather which is beneficial as the leather will pick up the H2O through the process of transpiration, but a damp wipe down will do this as well and not leave that soil grabbing film. Keep in mind that the topcoat was added to the leather for the purpose of preventing spills and liquids from getting to the leather, as well as hiding the leather’s underlying scars, and blemishes, and making the leather more abrasion resistant.
Leather conditioners do nothing to prevent stains or dye transfer. If your leather has developed cracks, using an oily conditioner may further degrade the adhesion of the painted topcoat around the crack and make the damage worse.
So how does this painted on protectiv eurethane coating work and still allow the leather to stay hydrated? Much the same way as a rain coat would protect you from a driving rain. At the same time the rain is being repelled, you will begin to notice that your clothing is becoming damp due to the 100% humidity level. That's basically how your leather stays hydrated, at the molecular level. If you want to test this put a drop of water on your protected leather in an inconspicuous place and leave for 15-20 minutes and you will see that it does not soak in. That is the urethane top coat preventing the absorption of the liquid as it was designed to do. H2O is a small molecule when compared to an oily conditioner so if water is not being absorbed by the leather, the larger molecules of a conditioner certainly are not.
Ok, so for those who insist that their leather feels softer after using a conditioner I can suggest three reasons for this. The first is that the conditioner has left an oily film on the leather and it altered the "hand" or feel of the leather. It has not really done anything to the leather, as it can't get to the leather, but it makes the hand feel nice for a short time until it is rubbed off or evaporates.
The other reason is that the conditioner likely contains a good deal of water and that it is raising the humidity level in the proximity of the leather. If this happens, the leather may absorb the water molecules and plump up and feel softer. The thing about this is that a wipe down with a wrung out watered cotton towel would accomplish the exact same thing. The third reason is that the term conditioner has no defined meaning. Who knows what is in the bottle labeled Leather Conditioner? What one company calls a conditioner another might call a protectant. The industry has too many vague definitions.
Leather is made soft in the tanning process and then sealed. You cannot add oils back through the topcoat of protected leather. Leather becomes hard if it loses its needed hydration. Dry leather shrinks and feels hard. Much the same way a chamois gets hard when it is dry. Rehydrate the chamois and it becomes soft again. Rehydrate your protected leather and it should soften to the degree designed in the original tanning process. Think about it.
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. These products do nothing but sit on top of the urethane 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 vacuum my leather and wipe it down with a wrung out watered towel weekly. That is it! Your leather will look like brand new for many years to come!
You are going to read a lot of people who make comments disagreeing with me. Just conduct the two above tests and make your own decisions. Does a drop of water soak into the seat or just sit on top until it evaporates? Does the backing of your seat material on the side pieces (bolster) have foam on the back? Enuf said!
This is a copy/paste from the C7 section. It is long and informative (worth reading if you're interested in care for your interior). I also am including the post for proper credit due: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...eats-nope.html
I've been through the gambit on automotive leather care and have made mistakes. Many of these products and one on which I became sold (Leatherique) eventually ruined the seats in one of my Jaguars. It had an off-white leather in the seat inserts. The "oil-based" product eventually completely dissolved the colorant which, in the case of Jaguar, was a water-based dye (water-based paint which seals the underlying product from absorbing moisture {and oils}). Once the "paint" was destroyed, it exposed the underlying raw leather which is not what you think, or very pleasant to look at.
Here is the copy/paste:
The three most common types of automotive leather are:
Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a pigment (colored urethane paint) to yield uniform color and then clear coated. This type of leather does not reveal scars, pores and blemishes and has an artificial uniform grain pattern embossed. It is typically the only real leather in the seat and located only in the center inserts of the seat. The sides, bolsters, etc., are vinyl painted with the same colored urethane paint so it matches the leather inserts perfectly giving the entire seat a "leather" look. This is what 99% of cars have including Corvette, Escalade, newer Ferrari and Lamborghini. Don't believe me? Put a drop of water on your seat and see if it soaks in. It will not soak in as the leather has a painted on urethane coating on it. If water can't penetrate the coating how can "conditioners" and "protectants?" Read on.....
Semi-Aniline: Leather that has been dyed and coated with a semi-transparent pigment then clear coated This type of leather may reveal some of the underlying scars and blemishes of the hide as well as some color and grain changes. Almost never seen in the past twenty years.
Synthetic: Much of the leather, and in some, all of the leather in many of today's vehicles is entirely synthetic or engineered leather. It looks like real leather but is really entirely synthetic. This is in use in some high ticket brands like Lexus, MB and Infinity for example. It is often difficult to tell what is real leather and what is engineered leather.
The bottom line is 99.9% of cars sold today have leather only on the middle insert of the seat bottom and back. The sides are completely 100% vinyl. The color and texture matches the leather inserts perfectly as they are all sprayed with a colored urethane coating. A perfect way to demonstrate they are vinyl is the water drop test outlined above. Another way is pull some of the seat siding out from underneath the seat. Notice there is a foam backing? Real leather (from real cows) doesn't have foam backing on it.
Have you noticed the change in new car window stickers when referring to the seats? They now call the interior "leather lined," or "leather trim." Just take a look at a new C7 Corvette window sticker. They don't say "leather seats" like they used to. Now they say, "trim, leather." This is because only the center inserts are actually leather! The remainder of the seat is vinyl. Remember, vinyl has a foam backing on it.
Everyone seems to like the term "conditioner," but just what is conditioning? When leather professionals speak of “conditioning leather” they are usually speaking about leather hydration. Properly hydrated leather will be soft, plump and flexible making it resistant to creasing and cracking. Most traditional conditioners are typically oily or contain silicone, wax or things like Aloe or Neat's-foot or Mink oil. No protected leather needs or benefits from these things. Conditioning products were initially designed for a much different type of leather.
Most oily conditioners leave a film on protected leather that can hasten the accumulation of soil. Conditioners do not penetrate the urethane painted top coat to condition the leather. True, some of the H2O in these conditioners evaporates and raises the relative humidity surrounding the leather which is beneficial as the leather will pick up the H2O through the process of transpiration, but a damp wipe down will do this as well and not leave that soil grabbing film. Keep in mind that the topcoat was added to the leather for the purpose of preventing spills and liquids from getting to the leather, as well as hiding the leather’s underlying scars, and blemishes, and making the leather more abrasion resistant.
Leather conditioners do nothing to prevent stains or dye transfer. If your leather has developed cracks, using an oily conditioner may further degrade the adhesion of the painted topcoat around the crack and make the damage worse.
So how does this painted on protectiv eurethane coating work and still allow the leather to stay hydrated? Much the same way as a rain coat would protect you from a driving rain. At the same time the rain is being repelled, you will begin to notice that your clothing is becoming damp due to the 100% humidity level. That's basically how your leather stays hydrated, at the molecular level. If you want to test this put a drop of water on your protected leather in an inconspicuous place and leave for 15-20 minutes and you will see that it does not soak in. That is the urethane top coat preventing the absorption of the liquid as it was designed to do. H2O is a small molecule when compared to an oily conditioner so if water is not being absorbed by the leather, the larger molecules of a conditioner certainly are not.
Ok, so for those who insist that their leather feels softer after using a conditioner I can suggest three reasons for this. The first is that the conditioner has left an oily film on the leather and it altered the "hand" or feel of the leather. It has not really done anything to the leather, as it can't get to the leather, but it makes the hand feel nice for a short time until it is rubbed off or evaporates.
The other reason is that the conditioner likely contains a good deal of water and that it is raising the humidity level in the proximity of the leather. If this happens, the leather may absorb the water molecules and plump up and feel softer. The thing about this is that a wipe down with a wrung out watered cotton towel would accomplish the exact same thing. The third reason is that the term conditioner has no defined meaning. Who knows what is in the bottle labeled Leather Conditioner? What one company calls a conditioner another might call a protectant. The industry has too many vague definitions.
Leather is made soft in the tanning process and then sealed. You cannot add oils back through the topcoat of protected leather. Leather becomes hard if it loses its needed hydration. Dry leather shrinks and feels hard. Much the same way a chamois gets hard when it is dry. Rehydrate the chamois and it becomes soft again. Rehydrate your protected leather and it should soften to the degree designed in the original tanning process. Think about it.
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. These products do nothing but sit on top of the urethane 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 vacuum my leather and wipe it down with a wrung out watered towel weekly. That is it! Your leather will look like brand new for many years to come!
You are going to read a lot of people who make comments disagreeing with me. Just conduct the two above tests and make your own decisions. Does a drop of water soak into the seat or just sit on top until it evaporates? Does the backing of your seat material on the side pieces (bolster) have foam on the back? Enuf said!
Well doesn't the coating have to wear off before a hole will appear ??.....or does it wear a hole in it but the coating stays there ??........
Windy, you gotta get up to speed with modern tech: This newly-discovered phenomenon, which is throwing centuries-old physics principles out the window, is called "Reverse wear."
Windy, you gotta get up to speed with modern tech: This newly-discovered phenomenon, which is throwing centuries-old physics principles out the window, is called "Reverse wear."
Oh....OK.....I think I get it. One time I did wax so hard on my paint job that all the primer/base coat came off, but the clear coat stayed............Mr. Wizard help us please !!!!!
No, it's not. There's a reason paint jobs today are called "two-stage paint." You have a base coat and a clear coat. Both are paint, but only one has pigment; the other is clear.
10-01-2018, 09:15 AM
.....Mr. Wizard help us please !!!!!
