Client today had me choose between their older Lexus 300 or their newer RX350, I chose to do the older sedan today...why? Because the leather has been untreated for 4 years! I wanted the most dramatic before and after so here we go.

You asked for a leather care write-up.....you got one!

I know its a ton of literature.....please take the time to read full through!

Overview
- Leather can be one of the easiest materials to maintain and with proper care can last for ages! Newer products on the market today have allowed detailers as well as car owners to revive faded, stiff and soiled leather back to life with just a few easy steps. Nothings better than climbing in a perfectly detailed interior with clean, soft leather

Why does my leather become soiled, greasy, shiny and CRACK??
- Leather is like your skin, its porous and needs to be fed with moisturizers and conditioners. When it ages and is not conditioned properly, it will crack and dry out. Cracking sometimes is just inevitable...the design of a bucket seat may affect the amount of wear and tear from its owner getting in and out of the car... generally the left side of the drivers seat is always worn more from getting in and out.
- Some leather.....domestic pleather cough cough..... will stain and sometimes even after deep cleansing certain areas will not be removed 100%....this is normal. If you think about it a lot of soil and crud gets onto the seat, add on black leather and 100 degree heat while letting the interior bake for 6 hours while your at work will also allow the soil to just penetrate more deeply!
- So your leather is cracked......no need to worry, you can still safely clean your leather!! With proper prep, the right products and a little more patience you can still improve your leather!


The Products
- Their are a couple different names for the chemicals used to treat leather......when all is said and done it boils down to 3 categories:
1) Leather Cleaner- to clean of course
2) Leather Conditioner- after cleansing away the soil....don't just leave it hangin! Throw some moisturizer on it!
3) Leather Hide Feed- usually given to you with your purchase of a Bentley or Rolls (fancy shit) very similar to a conditioner

Any product you purchase should be a pH balanced solution...the safer the better. Try to avoid products with silicone or petroleum products in them namely.......ARMOR ALL. :vomit:

The Tools
- Leather scrub brush or a general interior brush
- Boars or horse hair brush- for gentle use on cracked or delicate leather
- A couple Microfiber towels
- small or general size bucket to hold hot water
- empty spray bottle to hold hot water (optional)
- Tooth brush- Small and tight areas as well as to clean the stitching gently

Demo Time!

What I use and have been used on the various pictures at the end.
Lexol pH cleaner
Leatherique Rejuvenator oil
I have a gentle scrub brush attatched to my Porter Cable polisher that I use- Its fast, cuts time and effort during a detail!


Some before shots:





Leatherique Rejuvenator oil application

Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil is a rich conditioning oil that works best with heat and time. It penetrates the leather, conditions it and literally lifts dirt. With one application the difference in suppleness and moist feel of the leather is incredible. By far my favorite leather product. Period.

For those of you with older and much more neglected leather seats-
You can apply the leatherique, put a garbage bag over the seat, and park it somewhere nice and hot 8) The heat will create a sauna affect and after a couple hours your leather will be sweating out the dirt from its pores! You can apply and let stand for up to 48 hours!

On this application (due to time restrictions) I usually let it sit for somewhere between 1 to 2 hours.

Q- Why the Oil first? I thought you conditioned after cleaning.........
A- The oil is used to first lift and sweat out the dirt and soil, as well as moisturizing and softening the leather in preparation for cleansing. A moist, supple and moisturized leather is much easier and safer to scrub than a stick, cracked and dried out leather.....better chance of doing more harm than good.

Spray on and massage into the leather with your hands


Sitting in the morning sun (7:45 am)


After the Oil had been sitting and working its magic for close to 2 hours, I then prepared:
1) A bucket filled with steaming hot water - remember leather is like your skin- it has pores....lets open those bad boys up
2) 2 MF Towels- One to be damp with the hot water, the other to wipe dry



Take your damp MF towel with hot water, and wipe down the seat to strip the oil and all the soil and other crap that has been sweated out.
Don't believe me that the oil literally sweats out the dirt and grime? Check out the bucket next to you when you go to re-dampen your wet MF towel.....yupp you were sitting in that.

After wiping clean the dampened seat, you are now ready to re-dampen the leather once again so that you can begin the cleaning process.

Spray on your lexol:


Lexol works in conjunction with water, spray on the thick gel-like Lexol cleaner liberally and begin to agitate with a brush.
You should start to see a lather (foam) begin to appear....think of the cleaner as a "soap."

Heres a pic from a Z4 detail a couple weeks back showing the Porter Cable with attatched brush head that I use:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
TIP #1: start with the headrest and work your way down, no sense in cleaning the lower portion when your just going to have to wipe it clean again a second time when you clean the upper back portion.

TIP #2: Lay a MF towel behind the seat you are working on, a good amount of water is needed to work up a lather and it will drain nicely right through the back!


TIP #3: PERFORM THE CLEANING PROCESS IN THE SHADE AND OUT OF THE SUN. Allow the leather to cool and perform the cleaning process. Immature drying/ heat can sometimes cause the cleaner (any cleaner for that matter) to dry and possibly leave a residue

Note- You can also lay MF Towels across the center console and other dash areas if you are concerned about electronic devices/ areas. I have never once had a problem from any type of cleaner, degreaser or condtioner staining, eating through, or effecting any electrical components!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

After scrubbing every area with whichever brush you choose to go with, use a clean and dry MF towel to wipe down the seat.

Follow up with conditioner:
After a thorough cleansing any essential oils/ moisturizers are now stripped and absent.....replace them!
Apply some sort of condition or hide feed. I prefer to use Lexol Conditioner (brown bottle) and for one of my clients only use Connolly's Hide Feed (he's got his own pot) Quite pricey stuff but pretty amazing.

For the Lexol conditioner- Apply to a MF Towel or applicator pad, foam/terry/MF whichever you choose is fine. Allow the conditioner to sit for 10 minutes and soak in, Buff off with a Dry MF, if you put too much on you can lightly dampen a MF towel and wipe the area, following up with a dry MF.

Thats all!

Afters (same Lexus as pictured above)






___________________________________QUICK SUMMARY_____________________________________

My process....in recipe print version for you!

1) Make sure area is vacuumed and clear of loose debris, use compressed air if necessary
2) Apply Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil
3) Create sauna- give the oil some sort of heat so it can sweat, garbage bags, park it in the hot lot.
3) Wait 1-2 hours minimum......up to 12+hours for maximum results 8)
4) Fill a bucket with the HOTTEST water possible.
5) Grab two MF towels
6) Wipe off sweated crud/ oil mixture off with damp MF
7) Wipe area again with dry MF towel
8) Fill a bucket with NEW hot water
9) Grab a few MF towels
10) Re-dampen seat
11) Spray on Lexol Cleaner
12) Agitate to a lather/ foamy mix with your chosen brush
13) Use a clean/ dry MF towel to wipe down seat
14) Apply Conditioner/ hide feed
15) Buff off excess conditioner- follow specified instruction for whichever you choose
16) Sit in your now sterile and properly conditioned leather seat, feels like the showroom right?

Here's some other pics I dug up from the camera from details this season so far:









You can just choose to use the Lexol Cleaner by itself without the oil and you will get results, but for aged, cracked, faded and soiled leather, a combo of Leatherique Oil first and a cleaner second so far has been the BEST combo for seeing dramatic results. A little of the oil goes a LONG way!
Other places the oil/cleaner can be used:
- leather shift knob
- leather inserts in the doors/ armrests
- the steering wheel
- and......your GF/ Wifes purse/ handbag.....use it as an excuse to purchase the chemicals


Remember to always preform a test spot before doing all of the above step!

Hope this helps!
Cheers guys! :thumbup:
- Dan K.

No, not to replace the Stratus. I am staying with someone in Charlotte, NC while I'm doing my internship. She's looking for a convertible (preferably hard-top) that's reliable and not too sporty, also preferably Front Wheel Drive. I figured you guys could help her out better than I could...

I have a couple ideas on "how-to" topics to cover, listed below are a couple ideas I quick came up with.

WHAT DO YOU all want to see me cover with a write-up/ product review?? I will do product comparisons too!
Business is starting to pick up soon so I'll be able to show a lot!

- Headlight lens correction
- wetsanding
- polishing 101
- proper wash method
- wheel care
- engine cleaning 101

Help me out! Give me some ideas guys!!
Cheers,
:beer:

LOL.





We just got in our issue of GRM at work and bam...hot pink MM's throwin it down on a 2 page spread. 'grats to Cobetto and fam for the feature, and nice work Rex :lol:

One of my very good clients and good friend Phil had me come to his center last week to have his 2010 Mustang GT cleaned up for the season. Phil has been a great business partner and also will most likely read this post, cheers Phil! :beer:

Focus of the detail was on the exterior as it had gone through a ROUGH NJ winter up here, the car also does not get garaged.

Exterior:
2-bucket decontamination wash
Chemical Guys Maxi Suds
Sonax FE wheel cleaner
Bleche White (sidewalls)
Zep Citrus 3:1 / 5:1
Uber FIne Clay

Paint correction:
Flex DA
6" LC Orange/ White pads
Menzerna 106FA
LSP- BFWD paint sealant

Total Time- 5.5 hours

No before pics- only had time to snap process after decontamination wash

Left front fender / Left side of the hood- small marring/ light cobwebbing







All taped up

Chose to go with Menz 106- Light finishing polish- Orange Light/Med. Cutting pad chosen- paint is somewhat hard!

Afters of the same above areas:





Driver Door Before:


Driver Door After:


And some final shots:

i found this article really interesting, as well as sobering. many alumni who have raced competitively have been-there-done-that and already know what this article is about, however for many of us its a bit of an insider look at whats going on with those people we jealously watch at trackdays driving those beautifully prepped $$$$ racecars, and how they got there. fair to say the old adage still holds true - to make a fortunate racing cars, start with one.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/blog/introduction-dark-ecrets-the-realities-of-professional-road-racing/">http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/blog/introduction-dark-ecrets-the-realities-of-professional-road-racing/</a><!-- m -->

Did a little spirited driving out of my neighborhood to merge into traffic, went first and into second but when I went into second, revs stayed high and then the trans kicked itself into neutral with a loud pop. My shifter bushings are shot and I plan to replace them but could this be my trans syncros or something actin up. My trans occasionally acts like I didn't shift gears if I'm pushing the car like the revs stay high and no noticable drop for the new gear.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

My E36 (328is, not M3 :lol: ) has started making some valve noise when starting and at certain RPM's. It's kind of a ticking noise for a few seconds at start up, but I can make it happen when I let the clutch out. I'm worried that this is the VANOS starting to go and I was hoping that some of my fellow MMers with more E36 expertise could help me out with a diagnosis. The car has roughly 131,000 miles on it and I don't know if it has ever been replaced before.

Well.

I bit the bullet and bought the other "Inline 6" auto that MM is famous for.

Specs: 1989 Jeep Cherokee
128,362 miles
?D35 Rear Axle?
4WD
4.0 "Standard" Output
AW4 Auto
Factory Towing package

The seller's pictures:





I couldn't drive it home today (seller had to find the title, and I didn't have a trip permit) so I'll pick it up tomorrow.

Problems/Issues:
Rust through rear bumper (but not through the mounting). This will be solved by a bitchin' new tube steel bumper. I also need to take everything off back there, sandblast, and POR-15.
Rear Driver's Side window won't roll down. They're power windows, so it might be a wiring issue. We'll see when we dig into it. All the other windows work though.
Power steering is a little, er, grabby I guess is the word. Probably needs a new pump or rack. NBD.
There was a small (most likely oil) fire under the hood, that singed the injector harness. All the injectors seemed to work ok, but I want to repair it just the same.
AC doesn't work. Jason...?

Eventual goal:
Pretty much this.

Looking to move my battery to the trunk so i can extend intake, so if you have one of these and want to get rid of it let me know!!