Cleaning Leather Seats

Just picked up an 05 LGT and the front passenger seat has a slight dark discoloration on the leather. Not sure if the previous owner spilled something or what exactly it is. Was thinking about picking up som #00 Steel wool with some degreaser and going from there.

Thanks

Personally, I would go through the non-abrasive leather cleaners first.

Congrats on your new car.

Originally Posted by Hemingway

Personally, I would go through the non-abrasive leather cleaners first.

Congrats on your new car.

Yup, least agressive first (leather cleaning product like Pinnacle, Zymol, Mothers, Wolfgang, etc.), and then step it up as needed. It takes longer but is less likely to cause further damage.

You could PM OCDetails for specific cleaning tips as well.

Steel wool????? NOOOOOO!!! LOL!

Try this; Get a couple of packages of Mr. Clean magic erasers, the ones without soap or chemical in them. Get a bucket of luke warm water to rinse them out with. Clean them gently and they WILL LOOK NEW! Hit them with leather conditioner as soon as they dry. Let me know, you're gonna be amazed.

+1 on the magic erasers.

just dont go nuts scubbing you'll take the dye off the leather

+1'for magic eraser, also baby wipes are awesome. They leave no residue and can clean up some sticky gross messes from any auto interior surface. I use baby wipes as my first attack on any interior mess, from there I'm either e clean and done or need to brake out a heavy cleaner.

I only use baby wipes if I shit my pants.

Originally Posted by GTTuner

just dont go nuts scubbing you'll take the dye off the leather

I learned this the hard way, fortunately it was on my driver side seat which is already destroyed. I just used Meguiars leather seat cleaner and an interior brush then used the conditioner afterwards.

Originally Posted by GTTuner

Steel wool????? NOOOOOO!!! LOL!

Try this; Get a couple of packages of Mr. Clean magic erasers, the ones without soap or chemical in them. Get a bucket of luke warm water to rinse them out with. Clean them gently and they WILL LOOK NEW! Hit them with leather conditioner as soon as they dry. Let me know, you're gonna be amazed.

i use 00 or higher on interiors. takes grime right off. but Iwill try the Mr. Clean.

Screw all that business. Just find a guy who can do this:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthrea....html?t=199439

5 year old car with 112,000 miles and both front seats look brand new. Nobody ever sits in the back, or I'd do them too.

This isn't a Legacy, but the principle is the same. Locally you can get a nylon brush and an upholstery cleaner like Tuff Stuff and get quite a bit done. If you want really good leather cleaner then you pretty much have to order it online. I haven't found anything locally that really works. Or you could go to a leather shop and they probably have something, but it is going to be either more pricy or just crappy stuff like Lexol or something. Tuff Stuff and a nylon carpet brush works wonders. Trust me on that one.

The other night when I detailed the inside, I actually got the stain off the front pass. seat. Some degreaser and #0000 steel wool. Ill take a picture of the interior, doesnt look 8 years old, thats for sure.

Glad it worked out for you. I can't say that it was the safest route to go through. Degreaser has the tendency to stain leather and steel wool has the tendency to do a lot of damage as well. You need to treat leather like you would your skin, because that is essentially what it is. Subaru doesn't use the highest quality leather in the world, so scuffing it up and using acidic degreasers is not the way to care for it. It is, however, a great way to dry it out and cause a lot of damage that doesn't show up right away.