Becoming a leather care expert

by Prentice St. Clair

An important part of an interior detail is seat care. Automotive seats are commonly upholstered in one of three types of material: leather, vinyl, or fabric or cloth. Less commonly, some manufacturers offer a suede or synthetic suede. Of the three, leather is by far the most common in higher end vehicles.

It is important for the professional detailer to understand how to maintain leather in order to provide appropriate service for the customer. Becoming a leather care expert also allows the detailer to market specialized skills to the customer.

Step One: Is it Leather or Vinyl?

The first step in the care of automotive leather is to make sure that you are dealing with a leather seat. With experience, you will be able to distinguish between leather and vinyl by sight. Until then, or in situations in which you are unclear, use the following information to determine the upholstery.

The surface of leather has a natural-looking, non-even grain sometimes highlighted by long character lines and imperfections. Leather is, after all, animal skin. Vinyl, on the other hand, has a grain that appears imprinted or stamped (because it is). The grain of many vinyls also appears perfectly even. Vinyl is a man-made material and it is difficult to simulate the random patterns of natural leather grain. The back of leather looks like suede whereas vinyl is backed by manmade material such as mesh, fabric or foam.

The material that we know as “leather” begins as animal hide. The hide is then converted into leather through a chemical process called tanning. Most leather used for automotive purposes is then coated with a dye that gives it color  as well as protection. The “color” of the leather is only on the surface. This is why automotive leather will scuff. The scuff is actually the scraping off of the dye.

If the scuff marks become moistened (e.g., with leather cleaner), they darken dramatically. The darkening is simply the natural hide material soaking up the moisture.

Vinyl, on the other hand, is an extruded plastic product. The color of the vinyl is determined by the color of the batch of liquid plastic from which it was extruded. That is, the color of the vinyl is the same all the way through its thickness. Vinyl will not scuff. If you scratch vinyl with a sharp tool, there is typically only one of two results: no impact on the surface or it is cut or torn.

An important note: so-called “leather seats” in many modern high-production vehicles are actually not completely covered in leather. The typical situation is that the parts of the seat that you actually contact while seated are covered in leather panels, but the remainder of the seat (e.g., the sides and back) are actually covered in vinyl. In this case, the seats are often referred by the manufacturer and dealer as being “leather trimmed,” meaning “only partially covered in leather.”

A simple way to determine whether the upholstery is leather or vinyl is push and hold your finger or thumb into the seat cushion and check the result. Both leather and vinyl will dimple and fold under the pressure, creating “valleys” extending from the center point of your fingertip. It is what happens within the valleys that can help you determine the upholstery. If the material is leather, the valleys are likely to have very small wrinkles or ridges that immediately disappear upon releasing the pressure. If the material is vinyl, the valleys will be smooth, with no extra wrinkling. That is, the surface appearance of the vinyl is unchanged (other than slight stretching) under pressure.

Over the years, some automotive manufacturers have used faux leather upholstery, which looks and feels very much like leather, but is actually made of polyurethane, a form of plastic. The most recent forms of faux leather have almost the exact same feel and look as natural leather. This material is typically found in recreational and other vehicles and is not yet common in automobiles. I have noticed that faux leather is softer and more pliable than natural leather. To care for faux leather, use either leather or vinyl care techniques.

Basic Leather Care

Cleaning

As with most surfaces on the vehicle, leather should be first cleaned and then protected. Start by thoroughly vacuuming the seat, including the crevice between the seat bottom and back and the seam areas between the bolsters. Spread the bolsters with your free hand and use a crevice attachment and a nylon tooth brush to vacuum out dust, dirt and debris from the seams.

There are two choices for cleaning leather. You can either use a leather cleaning chemical or steam.

When using a chemical, choose leather cleaning chemicals specifically designed for use on automotive leather. Such products are just strong enough to help remove build-up of body oils and grime without stripping the leather of its dye coating. When using anything stronger than automotive leather cleaner (such as multi-purpose cleaner or solvent cleaner), the technician risks removing the dye. Whatever chemical that you use on the leather surface, be sure that it is pH balanced.

When using a leather cleaning chemical, work one area of the leather seat at a time. For example, work on the seat back and then the seat bottom. Spray some of the leather cleaner directly onto the surface. To agitate the area, I recommend using a soft-bristled brush, made with horse hair or hogs hair. This type of brush will help loosen the grime from the nooks, crannies, and character lines of the leather. If this type of brush is not available, you can use a clean terry towel or terry-covered applicator to scrub the leather surface.

Do not allow the “stew” of leather cleaner and worked-up grime to dry on the surface. Instead, wipe it right away with a clean terry towel. If you allow the cleaner to re-dry onto the surface, the grime will simply set back onto the surface. Thus the importance of working a small area at a time.

More and more professional detailers are choosing the use of steam for cleaning leather. With this device, technician rubs a cloth-covered steam nozzle over the seat surface. The steam emulsifies surface dirt and grime, which is then carried away by the cloth. Most technicians find that steam cleans the seat much more thoroughly than a leather cleaning chemical. Moreover, there is the added benefit that the steam actually sanitizes the surface while cleaning.

When cleaning the leather seat, don’t forget to take care of the head rest. Also, pull the headrest up a bit so that you can clean the area between the headrest and the top of the seat. Recline the seat halfway so that you can clean the crevice between the seat bottom and seat back. Also, spread the bolsters of the seat so that you can work the cleaner into the seam areas. You may want to even use a toothbrush to make remove accumulated grit, grime, and dried-up beverage residue from the seam areas. Clean any arm rests, as well. Finally, the arm rest between the two front seats and the one that pulls out of the middle of the rear seat should also be treated as leather.

Scuffing, which is evidenced by areas of the leather darkened when moistened, is simply a result of the wearing away of the leather coating or dye. It is normal, for example, for the outside bolsters (closest to the door) of the driver’s seat to become scuffed during the early years of the vehicle’s life. These bolsters are rubbed each time the driver enters or exits the car. The solution, again, is to re-dye the area.

Vinyl panels on “leather” seats can be cleaned with multi-purpose cleaner and a soft brush. Use the same process as described above with cleaning leather. If you have any doubt as to the composition of a seat or a particular panel on the seat, treat it as if it was leather. Automotive leather cleaners will not harm vinyl upholstery, but multi-purpose cleaners (used for vinyl) can harm leather.

Conditioning

Whether you clean the leather with steam or a leather cleaning chemical, always follow leather cleaning with leather conditioning. Use a conditioner or dressing that is specifically designed for automotive leather. These typically do not contain silicone or other ingredients that might leave the seats feeling greasy or slippery. Use of standard plastic/vinyl/rubber dressing on leather can damage the leather. More importantly, standard dressings will make the seats slippery, which is a potentially dangerous situation for the driver. Standard dressings will also make the leather appear unnaturally shiny.

Generously apply leather conditioner with a terry-covered applicator or similar device. Let the conditioner dwell for a few minutes and then buff off the excess conditioner with a clean terry towel. This final wipe will remove any excess conditioner and leave the leather seats with a natural-looking satin glow.

Use the leather conditioner on all panels of a “leather-trimmed” seat. Leather conditioner is safe and recommended for use on vinyl seats as well as the vinyl panels of leather-trimmed seats.

Caring for Leather on New Vehicles

New vehicle leather usually only needs conditioning, although it may be necessary to clean the driver’s seat because of incidental contact during vehicle transport. It is common for dealerships to offer “new vehicle protection packages” that include application of a paint sealant to the exterior as well as fabric protection on the carpeting and premium leather conditioning. Dealerships charge hundreds of dollars for such packages, which really only take a couple of labor hours to complete. Detailers should also offer these packages to their current customers who are thinking about purchasing new vehicles.

Selling Leather Care

Leather cleaning and conditioning should be a part of any standard interior detail. Make sure that the price you charge for your packages that include interior detailing includes an appropriate mark-up for the important service of leather cleaning and conditioning. This is true even though leather care sometimes takes only a fraction of the amount of time required for other vehicle surface care. Your customers who have chosen vehicles with leather seats understand that there is an increased value in having these luxurious seats. They will probably also understand that there is great value in regular maintenance of the seats.

If you happen to be providing an exterior-only detail and you notice that the vehicle has leather seats, I recommend asking the customer if he or she would like for you to clean and condition the seats. You can explain that regular maintenance for the leather seats is just as important as regular maintenance of the exterior paint. You can easily charge about half the cost of your exterior detail to add leather care. Best of all, the leather cleaning and conditioning should take only 15 to 30 minutes extra.

You may be able to attract certain customers if you include the specific mention of “leather care” in your marketing materials. A simple slogan like “you paid extra for it so why not take good care of it” could do wonders to bring in more customers. There will be a number of customers who call you specifically about their leather seats. You may end up providing only leather treatment for some of these customers. Others will be up-sold to complete interior or interior/exterior packages. The value of a-la-carte leather cleaning and conditioning ranges between $50 and $150.

Advanced Leather Care

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of leather seat problems that cannot be resolved through simple cleaning and conditioning techniques. In these situations, it is necessary to refer the customer to a technician that performs leather repair and re-dye service. Or you may consider learning some of these techniques so that you can solve leather seat problems for your customers. Leather repair and re-dyeing is not difficult to learn, and with some practice, you can become quite proficient at repairing leather to “like-new” condition.

Summary

Leather care is just as important as caring for the other surfaces on a vehicle. Regular maintenance for leather is a relatively simple process, yet it can bring in a nice profit.

Prentice St. Clair is the president of San Diego-based Detail in Progress Inc. which offers consulting and training in the automotive detailing and reconditioning industries. He can be reached directly at 619.701.1100 or by e-mail at prentice@detailinprogress.com.