friend of mine down in Florida has a 2nd Gen bravada...he wanted me to ask opinions on a good over the shelf leather conditioner. any tips appreciated! thanks
OTC as in find just about anywhere, Megs cleaner and conditioner works as well as anything else I've used, the spray, not the cream
Most importantly, clean and condition often. I can't count how many times a customer waits 10 years until the leather is shot, uses a product then claims the product sucks because it did not perform miracles.
There is a great deal of conflicting information on leather care being put out by leather experts themselves who use baffling pseudo scientific techno speak as another marketing ploy, which makes it difficult to find a definitive, unbiased answer. Here is one definitive truth –you are dealing with the leathers finish, not the hide itself. The use of oils, replacement of fat liquor, oil-based conditioning, proteins or the adjustment of pH levels is totally unnecessary; the surface is a urethane that contains pigmentation (colour) it neither needs or benefits from any of the above Unless a Premium Leather option was purchased Isocyanate based ethyl carbamate (urethane) finished leather upholstery is used by 95% as OEM in modern (post ’95) automobiles. It comprises a multi stratum acrylic and polyurethane resin binder system covering over the leather hide; the top strata are the surface pigmentation (colour) and an abrasion resistant urethane is used to improve flexibility, fastness and adhesion to the leather. TOGWT® Autopia Detailing Wiki - “Leather Articles Hyperlinks” http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia-detailing-wiki/141973-leather-articles-hyperlinks.html TOGWT® Autopia Detailing Wiki -“Proper Finished Leather Cleaning and Care” - http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/136421-proper-finished-leather-cleaning-care.html If you have any questions about automotive leather, its care or renovation techniques, please let me know or feel free to send me an email
I have used Lexol (it's been a while) and Surf City Garage. Both of them are definitely maintenance conditioners that may be able to restore leather slightly.
Lexol, Megs, Zymol and AutoGlym I can get all of them from autozone or pepboys and all are good! Just be sure to use them properly and get what you want, I mistakenly got some weird Megs one time and that left my leather seats feeling like I SOAKED them in armor-all, my ass got all greased up and I was sliding in my seat through corners...as soon as I got home I hit them with cleaner, applied some better stuff and then threw that away! FYI, it may be worth a look at what you can get online, ie DD...Phil gets stuff out the door FAST and has some good stuff at good prices, if the leather is still in good condition, and not trashed, it may be good to get something a little higher quality...like leather masters or leatherique