Major Brand Leather Care Products - Are they Ruining our Leather Interiors? Some would say yes, advocating that only water based protectants should be used, and that big name 'conditoners' merely serve to attract dirt and ultimately degrade leather finishes.
This may be true, or it may not. The problem is; when ever such a debate is raised we never receive technical comment from the major brands.
Ultimately this is leading to people being confused as to what they should use.
So I think we should clear this up once and for all with input from the 'big name' manufacturers.
[This is a quite lengthy post, I apologise for that, please read it carefully though as I hope it answers the original question]
I had seen this thread but was also requested to comment by dominic84 in a PM. I would like to reply by commenting on the above statement.
"Some would say yes, advocating that only water based protectants should be used, and that big name 'conditioners' merely serve to attract dirt and ultimately degrade leather finishes."
Autoglym has a leather range comprising of 2 products, Leather Cleaner and Leather Care Balm. Both these products are water based, although the Balm does contain oils. Interior Cleaner can also be used to clean leather provided suitable care is taken. Leather Care Balm would fall under the 'conditioner umbrella' and if used according to the instructions it will neither 'attract dirt', 'degrade finishes' nor ruin leather interiors. If it did the product would not sell very well, nor have gained the approval of several large motor manufacturers.
From our website:
"More than twenty motor manufacturers use Autoglym products in manufacturing or presentation processes. Early recognition and technical approvals by Jaguar Cars, Aston Martin, Morgan Cars and other important names contributed to initial success.
The company currently holds international approvals from over forty car marques with many leading car manufacturers and importers choosing Autoglym products for on-line production work, main-dealer use and motorshow preparation."
I would like to concentrate a little more on Jaguar, as they approached us for proof that our products could be safely used on their leather whilst still ensuring the original leather specification set by Jaguar was maintained. This came about as Jaguar could not recommend a proprietary leather cleaner/protector, as some of the products available at the time where aggressive and could cause damage over time. 15 tests, a mixture of Jaguars own tests and other ISO test methods were carried out. These tests were carried out by Jaguar at their own testing facility and not by Autoglym. As a result of this testing, our leather range and interior cleaner were approved to be used on Jaguar leather and this was communicated to all dealers via a bulletin in 2006.
We also have a long standing relationship with Aston Martin. Many of our products, including our leather range, are used at the company's Works Service in Buckinghamshire which renovate, carry out repairs, improvements and modifications to their customer's vehicles.
We have also produced bespoke collections for Rolls Royce, Bentley, Subaru and Mazda with our leather range included in those products. Again we have had to meet external manufacturers approval, not just our own specifications.
The products we do make have had real thought and care put into them and we believe they do a good job. We genuinely like the motor sector and are hugely proud to be a part of it, especially when our role is so visual and can bring about real change in our customers vehicles. There are leather experts on Detailing World who have devoted many many hours to this particular material and therefore have a heightened understanding of it. We may not have this in house but do not just invent a product and ship it out to market. Over the years we have consulted with leather manufacturers including Connoly Hides, Bridge of Weir and other leading firms. We were given access to the manufacturing methods and processes to ensure we were not making something that would damage or degrade their product.
We have proved the efficacy of our products to ourselves, our customers and the respected manufacturers above. Taking all this into consideration I feel we are justified in saying our products do not 'attract dirt and ultimately degrade leather finishes', nor are they 'ruining [y]our Leather Interiors'.
- "Leather Care - CliffNotes® Version" "Leather Upholstery Type Surface Identification" "Oil and oil-based leather products" "What products to use for auto leather upholstery care?"
