Cleaning Car Leather: BEST methods for professional results

Cleaning car leather is a tricky part of auto detailing and car care. The industry wants you to believe you need special cleaners and special conditioners to clean and maintain your car leather.
The truth is that cleaning your car leather is easier than you have likely been taught or believe.
Darren shows you how to clean car leather in the same way he does professionally as well as offer alternatives to the hyped-up car leather conditioners you think you need to buy as part of your other auto detailing products.

MUSIC CREDIT:
CFM Production

[lordhamptonwick]

I'm watching this video from in the UK and I think the amount of information is necessary. I personally don't need this amount of information, but some people do. Keep up the good work it is appreciated, thank you.

[rodolfosuave]

Watch at 1.5x speed and thank me later lol

[ArtyTomato]

Good job being informative. Most people just show tutorial but you explain certain scenarios you’ll run into as well. Been detailing for 6 years now, love watching other people’s detailing videos. Learn something new everyday

[arivera]

Your video was incredible and very informative. Not only did you explain every single step to clean your leather you took the time to reiterate possible scenarios that may and will come up. I thank you very much for the time you took to produce this instructional video. You are a professional 

[vnitto]

1) vacuum 2) Simple Green all purpose cleaner diluted 10:1 on synthetic cleaning pad NON-abrasive 3) Don't get it too wet 4) enjoy

[davidrose]

You ROCK Darren. I love the detail you provide. Never drove til late in life so now must learn how to care for my FIRST car! So happy!

[jesuisprest]

Wow, I've been cleaning my own cars for 30 years and I had no idea how wrong I was doing it! I am going to go fix all the car leather in my cars this weekend. Thank you so much for all the information.

[oldatarigamer]

Darren has been telling us this for years now. Good to see him driving his point home again in a new video.

[wagoner]

Thanks so much for this! I bought a new cream leather seat vehicle. Within 3 months, my blue jeans had stained the driver seat blue in spots. I asked the dealership what they recommended to clean it and they had no recommendations. Now at a year, I tried your methods and products and it cleaned right up! Thank you!

[VfRuckus]

Thank you for making this, made my life a lot easier knowing I can use diluted Simple Green to clear the leather. I agree, shorten the video by 10 minutes.

[robwoods]

Appreciate the professionalism of all your videos. Great information for people like me who aren’t professional detailers but who enjoy the process of properly taking care of my own vehicles. It can sometimes be tough, as a consumer, to cut through the marketing info and figure out the right regimen.

[scott]

Be careful with the Simple Green products on leather. SOME of them say don't use on leather. Now, that may not include car leather due to the coating, but I'd still be cautious -- it isn't a car care product like Meguiars. As far as the Rubbermaid (yellow handle) brush he uses in this video, I have the brush and I wouldn't recommend it on leather. I don't think it will do any harm to the leather but it is so stiff, I don't think it will be very effective. I like the softer brushes that can work into the seat a little better. The stiffer brush may not work as well on corners and the area where the back meets the seat. Of course, Darrin is a pro and gives great advice, so take mine with some caution. However, be aware that what works for him may or may not work for you.

[ContraNovae]

Just found your video, this is a masterclass, thank you so much.

I also as an uber driver in the so called greater Philly area completely understand your frustrations explaining common sense to people.

[HighImpactPromo]

I'm ready! I'm excited! Mind blowing wisdom to protect, beautify & preserve the COATINGS on our Leather Seats! Smart precautions to avoid surface scrapes from vacuum attachments, fingernails, rings. Novel (Wow!) conditioning products along with common alternatives! Thank you! ... My notes: CSI Q-7 DETAILER (QUICK DETAILER) / CSI Q-7 WAX! (CARNAUBA) / CSI NU TYRE LOTION (SHINE. DRIES.) --- Cleaning: SIMPLE GREEN (DIL 10:1)! "SCOUR CLOTH", MICROFIBER TOWELS. BRUSH.

[alejandroperalta]

Man this guy is the Scotty Kilmer of detailing, great video thanks!

[joyceperreault]

Wordy, but there was a lot of useful tips that made it worthwhile.

[MapleLeafForever]

Great video and pls disregard the comments about it being too long. You provide great info in this video. Thanks.

[Rocky_Inspire]

This is really helpful! I just purchased the most beatiful Jeep Grand Cherokee, 80th anniversary edition with all the bells and whistles and it’s such an awesome car. There is black interior throughout with ventilated seats and since we are in the Nevada desert I wear sunblock all the time and there are marks from the sunblock all over the driver’s side. I honestly don’t fully trust “Joe Blow” to just swing by and clean my car, I’d rather do it myself and this video helped me to know how clean the leather properly. I had no idea about the additional protective layer. It makes sense because cars from 20 years ago that had leather seats would crack and fall apart within a few years and it seems like in newer cars leather lasts forever and doesn’t crack and expand like it used to. Anyway, thank you again! Great video!

[williampinchbeck]

Love your videos they have helped a lot. What year did the manufacturers start using clear coat on the leather? Thanks again!!

[Marcoosianism]

Excuse me for asking a question 4 years after the publishing of this great information.
In my view, a conditioner is something that works by being absorbed into the material it is applied on. As most leather still has an intact layer of protective synthetic coating on top of it, there is no product that will actually penetrate (soften, rejuvenate) a synthetic coating. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

In view of this, would a cleaning followed by a simple UV protectant suffice as a leather preserving protocol for the life of the car?