I'll say it again; unless you know the Ph, it's just a guess. Wait for it... Do you know Simple Green's Ph #?? Enough said. If you're not paying attention to the Ph level/s of chemicals you're using, you can be damaging your surfaces..

 

If you are going to use any soap I'd recommend diluted Woolite. It is ph neutral.

 

Agreed. However, I estimate 95% of my interior cleaning experience required no soap at all, just the clean, damp microfiber. The need for any type of detergent is rare. In fact, I can't remember ever needing to use any detergent on the leather surfaces.

 

I have been using Simple Green on my 3LT 2016 and now on my 3LT 2020 natural dipped and it works perfectly. Zero problems. So why should I be concerned with the Ph?

 

The thing that concerns me with Simple Green cleaner is that it specifically says not for use on leather, and GM calls both Mulan and Napa leather. While I realize that you are cleaning the urethane coated leather surface it still makes me nervous. I think Woolite would be the safest choice if just water isn't working.

 

I have used the Zaino Leather Cleaner for many years on all of my vehicles. I have never had an issue. Works great On my wife’s Ivory interior. Cleans the “Blue” spot from her jeans without any wear.

 

The only issue is spending money to do what water does for free.

 

Or maybe they’re just suggesting you shouldn’t wear blue jeans while working out?

 

Nobody is trying to “condition” their paint. They’re just protecting the surface gloss. Unless you plan on buffing and waxing your seats to mirror perfection, there’s little you can do other than keep them clean. Any oils trap dust and dirt and eventually just get wiped off onto your pants anyway as your clothes will absorb the conditioner better than the plastic seats will.

 

Why are you hung up on the verbiage that multiple billion dollar corporations have collectively decided to use? Great way to spend your time fighting that battle to change the international consensus branding as conditioner.🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

Protection is protection. Let me dumb it down for you friend, with a healthy dose of return sarcasm😂. Your car is coated in a poly-chained urethane clear coat. This protects the painted surface. But, the same clowns out here claiming to ‘only water’ their seats are out there waxing their cars. Why? Protection of that poly-chained chemical AND UV protection of the underlying paint and clear coat AND a dirt barrier AND a surface to ease cleaning AND a lower friction coefficient etc etc etc. Those waxes are adding a SOFT, OILY,MALLEABLE layer to the poly-chained urethane clear. Put your thinking cap on now…is that a surface that would be more apt to imbed dirt than a clean, water polished clear coated panel? I’m not splitting hairs here with your verbiage debate over water spotted, sun worn, acid rained etc etc surface. A freshly painted panel, oh say like a new car, that is only water polished and cleaned from beginning to end. Versus, the same panel/car that is having a soft ‘dirt holding’ layer of protection added on it. Is it a constantly degrading layer that will have to be reapplied?

Hard pressed to find anyone not adding the ‘dirt holding’ layer to the paint. We get it. Protection comes at a cost, but the net-net benefit outweighs the alternative, bigly in this case.

The protectant, conditioner, or any number of dozens of other automotive chemicals you could add to the seat to protect it is SUPERIOR than nothing for the same reasons listed above. UV light protection, reduction of friction protection as you slide around, another barrier between the dirt and the seat’s coated surface, protection, protection etc etc etc for the seat/leather/poly coating——whatever. It’s NOT a made up fake news ‘CNN witchhunt’ marketing ploy to get your $8🤣

THE EXACT SAME REASONS. Louder for the people in the back!😂 Conditioner is the retail option that has been chemically formulated to protect best the seats, among other qualities better than regular plastic protectant I’m sure. It’s there, use it. What did it cost? You are ‘rubbing your seats with water’ anyway to clean them, you are literally already there. If you aren’t squirting some conditioner on those bare-dry poly-chemical coated-full uv exposed-high friction seats while you are there don’t you dare wax your car and think you aren’t a hypocrite.

“Well my seats went xxx and no protection, oil traps dirt, there is no penetration, but my pants wipe it, the poly has uv blockers in it’ blah blah blah good for you not ever waxing your car either because “that’s different”🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️Your poly-chain clearcoat nor your poly-chain coated seats will be in better condition than an exact variable opposing car with those protections in place. Read my previous post, then this one and let me know if I can further elaborate with videos or venn diagrams.

 

Lol sure; marketing is not “fake news” . What incentive would a company possibly have to get $8 from you?
You’re comparing a hard surface outside the car that people want to remain shiny, to a soft surface inside the car that you sit in. If you were to plan on sitting on your hood, neither wax nor conditioning oil is going to protect it.

Your conditioner is not the equivalent of waxing your seat. It just leaves an oily mess that gets soaked in by your pants. The manufacturers of most car interiors tell you specifically to clean it with a damp cloth.

It’s your money and I’m sure your anecdote of your interior lasting forever using leather conditioner will hold up just as well as mine doing nothing other than keeping it clean and wiping with a damp cloth. Mine is just cheaper and better informed.

 

Here is the thing, folks. I remember back in the days that I used the best leather cleaner and then the best leather preservative every 3-4 months. Back in those days the leather in expensive cars was not the same as we have today. As I said in my opening post, I had a discussion which the head designer of the C7 interior. He told me about the coatings used on all C7 levels of interior, anmd it has not chnaged for the C8. He told me that leather cleaners are not needed and not to use any preservative. He told me a damp microfiber towel will normally do the trick and that Simple Green used very sparingly is fine for tough to remove dirt. So I have followed his lead for cleaning my C7 and now my C8 interior. My C8 3LT HTC has natural dipped leather. I live in LA. My top is down almost always. My C8 is my daily driver. My car gets dirty inside and out. The advice that I was given works just fine on my leather and on the interior suede. I am not in the leather business. I am not in the business of designing car interiors. And I certainly am not in the business of telling folks what to do. All I can do is pass on to my fellow C8 enthusiasts what I was told by someone who, in my opinion, knows more than I do when it comes to caring for the C8 leather.