Recommended leather cleaners/conditioners to use?

[slingshot]

What products do you like best to clean and condition leather car seats? Any wipes good? What has worked best on Toyota leather?
Thanks in advance,
Dave

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I use the leather wipes everytime i wash the car, they are just cleaning wipes, and not good for detailing, etc.

Once in 3 months i do use mguires leather conditioning kit, That really helps restore the leather back to softness in feel and texture. I've heard some celica dude's using mink oik for conditioning their leather seats. but i've yet to try it myself! Anyone else here anything about mink oil?

[slingshot]

The Solara has perforated leather seats. What effect does that have on using oils since it would seep right in the holes?

[TW85]

I personally like the Zymol leather products.

One tip I read for perforated leather is to vacuum the conditioner out of the holes once you've wiped the conditioner off the seats.

[bigpow]

DO NOT use Meguair's Leather product.
I bought it last week, it was cheap (like me) - but it sucks!
It has the consistency of a tooth paste - very thick and hard to apply
It sticks & hard to remove too

There goes my $6!

[slingshot]

I saw tiny short leather hairs sticking out of many of the perforations in my brand new leather. Anything I can do about that or is it a fact of life with making many holes in leather and seen on all cars?

[Guest]

I have the same hairs sticking out of my seats to!

[slingshot]

I wonder who started this trend with perforated leather that is so common in cars these days. I find it no more comfortable than regular leather. One dealer told me it is more comfortable since the holes make it stick formwise to your body better.

[TW85]

LOL, I think perforated leather is used for two reasons. 1) It is sportier in appearance 2) It has been/is used in luxury vehicles to allow fans to pass air through the seat

I could care less whether the Solara has it, but then again, I have yet to condition it. I may be an unhappy camper when the conditioner clogs the holes.

[bigpow]

LOL, I think perforated leather is used for two reasons. 1) It is sportier in appearance 2) It has been/is used in luxury vehicles to allow fans to pass air through the seat

I could care less whether the Solara has it, but then again, I have yet to condition it. I may be an unhappy camper when the conditioner clogs the holes.

"to allow fans to pass air through the seat"

Well the holes work both ways, in and out

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I remember abroad, SAAB had perforated seats with a/c built into them. System was kinda like heated seats (but with the cooling aspect). I've not driven a SAAB in the US to know if this is offered here..but that was one nifty option!

[slingshot]

On the subject of Air Conditioning, I just heard of an even niftier thing. The 2004 Acura TL with NAV knows where the sun is in relation to your car (by using the NAV) and deliberately puts out more cooler air on that side of the car to compensate!

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

taking this offtopic (nifty options) - Audi aborad has this option where the top of the moonroof is a panal (with lines - kinda like our rear windows with defogging lines)..and you can programe your car to tilt the moonroof automatically when its gets too warm in the car..and it tilts back when the sun goes down (or if a downpour comes in unexpectedly). That would be nice sweet option...

Another nifty thing i remeber reading in european auto mag was this inbuilt jack that some tuned built into his car..nice idea...but i think thats like 10 years too early!

[TW85]

I think all the major luxury car manufacturers (Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Audi) have air conditioned seats available on their top models. I know the LS 430 has it in the Ultra Luxury package, though that package may have been renamed by now.

[Hammerli]

We have used Lexol leather conditioner on our 2000 Celica seats with great results. It is not wax based like almost all major brands. Particularly if you have not used some sort of conditioner, the leather will absorb many light coatings, and be noticeably more supple after application. It also acts as a cleaner, use a white towel, and you will be amazed at what comes off.