How often to apply Leather Cream?

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Jap Burd
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Car: ‘95 Q45
Location: In a van, by the river

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How often does anyone apply leather conditioner in their seats, I assume most here has leather, I used to use the griots garage leather wipes in my avalanche, I’ve only used Lexol on the Q, for this old and 84k on it, only the drivers side shows some wrinkling. What does everyone use? Lexol makes a cleaner, but the Q seats are never dirty.
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AZhitman
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Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
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Leatherique has always been the go-to for the older Q seats. I used to use that, alternating with the Lexol conditioner (brown bottle) 2x a year.

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Jap Burd
Posts: 332
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:49 pm
Car: ‘95 Q45
Location: In a van, by the river

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I saw an episode of Wheeler Dealers, they had these crusty leather seats, they didn’t say the brand they used, but they took the seats out of the car, applied it heavy, put each seat in a black garbage bag, and put out in the sun. The seats came back. It was unreal.
Leatherique, i never heard of that brand, I did some searching, I see quite a few brands out now , my Lexol is old, I should prob get a new one.

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Jap Burd
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Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:49 pm
Car: ‘95 Q45
Location: In a van, by the river

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Well you do have to pitch your leather cream at some point, the old le old was like water. The new was a thick oil. I guess I’ll do a couple coats over the winter when I’m not driving the car.

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PalmerWMD
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I used leather conditioner once every six months making sure to to it right before an extreme season would start (right before summer and right before winter)
Even though frankly once a year is probably sufficient.

I never used leather cleaner .. I found using a lot of leather conditioner also had a cleaning benefit.
I used ArmorAll leather conditioner in the brown bottle.
I always had good luck with it but in recent years its been discontinued it seems.
At least I cant find it at retailers.
Come to think of it..
I been slacking on the leather conditioner.

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Jap Burd
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Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:49 pm
Car: ‘95 Q45
Location: In a van, by the river

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I forgot the last couple years, but the car wasn’t driven. I see the old bottle was like putting water on the leather. It was old. The new stuff you can Deff tell the difference.
You guys do the st wheel, shifter, console all that ?

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AZhitman
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Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
Contact:

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I always did the wheel and shifter, but left it sit outside afterwards to "cook." AZ sun and UV is brutal on leather.

Be advised, get some good glass cleaner - the leather conditioner has a tendency to offgas onto the glass over time.

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Jap Burd
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Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:49 pm
Car: ‘95 Q45
Location: In a van, by the river

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I want to buy a windshield tool to clean it better, I saw them somewhere. I made a silver sunscreen for the car, I always use it in the summer. Has anyone purchased a dash mat for their Q? I was wondering how it would work with the pass side airbag

98_Q45
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Jap Burd wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:44 am
I want to buy a windshield tool to clean it better, I saw them somewhere. I made a silver sunscreen for the car, I always use it in the summer. Has anyone purchased a dash mat for their Q? I was wondering how it would work with the pass side airbag
My Q was “raised” in Arizona...Idk how the previous owners kept it, but looks like a mix of garage and off street parking over the years. But I wouldn’t use tacky Dashboard covers. My dashboard has outlived my previous leather seats and the paint job lol. There’s no discoloration or peeling. In the summer, I use sunshade. I see a lot of cars not use them, but they’re not gimmicky. It makes a huge difference in the amount of heat. It’ll still get hot, but the days I forget to put my sunshade up, it feels 100 degrees hotter

My 97 Maxima is the same. Long as you don’t sit stuff on the dashboard or use something bad for the material, it’ll last forever. Stark contrast to the 2000s vehicles which start peeling and discoloring within 10 years.

As for leather conditioning, I carry wipes that I may use every other week. But I also will once or twice a year use a veggie brush and water mixed with woolite or leather cleaner. You’d be surprised how much gunk gets between the wrinkles of the leather. I do that to any junkyard leather I get.

However, I only do so sparingly and not press too aggressively...Old dirty leather can start to crack after a good deep cleaning. And the seams can also get damaged in the process.

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Jap Burd
Posts: 332
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:49 pm
Car: ‘95 Q45
Location: In a van, by the river

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Yes on the sunshade, I use one in everyone of my vehicles. I buy a large truck one and custom fit it to the car. They usually don’t fit well.
My 78 I do use a dash mat, I do t want a y sun beating on it at all. The way rather pass air bag is, I don’t see a dash mat working out on the Q.
I like doing the seats in the winter months, it’s kinda sticky, let it sit on it all winter. I’ll buff it off in the spring. My garage is 65°, so it’s not like putting it on in a freezer. Lol


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