DETAILING WORLD.CO.UK FORUM. 27th March 2009:
Ref; lack of satisfactory answers from ITT and Furniture Clinic
I have been asked by one of our trade customers to view your forum and hopefully answer your questions as frustration seems to have set in. My experience in leather care and restoration goes back to 1972 and covers all markets involving leather. I disagree with many of the thoughts of your “experts”, I ask you to compare my reasoning and make up your own minds.
Are water based leather conditioners best? YES, but the other constituents are important, lanoline attacks ox hide fibres, too much beeswax prevents the leather from breathing which causes perspiration and perspiration rots leather finishes, look at a car leather steering wheel, or areas on a suite where you rest your hands and head, silicones and certain waxes produce a shine and slippery surface.
What’s wrong with oil based conditioners? Oils can soak into leather easily, however in warm conditions they rise to the surface transferring to clothing and attracting dust, they also make cosmetic repairs difficult and re colouring short lived. See my later paragraph about CE tests with oil based products on m/cycle leathers.
There is one very simple way of deciding if a leather conditioner works: Try some on the back of your hand, see how quick it soaks in, does it leave a sticky residue? If the instructions say “polish off or buff up after several minutes”, why do they say that? Simple, it doesn’t all soak in and will transfer to clothing. If the product is very watery, it’s only the water that’s doing the softening, and it will dry out within days, whereas a good conditioner will give weeks or months softness. Some products leave a slight “bloom” often only noticed on black leather, this is residue and attracts dirt.
Are water based cleaners best? YES, but what’s in them? If it smells “chemical” it will probably clean very well, but continual use will remove the original leather sealant and cause dirt to sink deep into the colour. If it smells “safe” [not perfumed] it will be milder and not harmful, added glycerine will also start to soften the leather whilst cleaning it, this is advantageous and can halve restoration times. Solvent cleaners can be used for the “spot” cleaning of grease marks, a low odour one could be the safest, we have a “safe” solvent [GT14] for removing dye transfer, it will not attack top coat sealant or stitching.
Soap and Water. You detailers should all know about soap and water and leather, look what happens to your chamois leather every day, it shrinks and goes hard, Rovers leather care instructions in the 60/70’s advised cleaning the leather with Lux Flakes and water, most of these seats suffered from burst stitching, they shrank just like your shammy!.
Cleaner, Conditioner and Protector all in one. I’m dubious about the claims of this type of product, firstly a good cleaner takes dirt and oils out, conditioners put softening agents in, how can 1 product effectively do both? “Protector”, this word could mean anything, some products leave a wax coating, this wax is the “protector”, but it rubs off in days, others consider the fact that just softening the leather protects it, which technically it does but it can’t be called a “protector”. Fluorochemicals [3M Scotchgard is one] can be classified as “Protectors”, but they are extremely expensive and the content rate determines their effectiveness, good results are only fully achieved after 3 applications applied 24 hours apart. One treatment doesn’t work. We were the first to use Fluoro’s in leather care products [GT13] in 1993. see the CE test paragraph later.
So are Conditioners with Fluorochemicals best? If you want your leather to repel water and oil stains, yes, because that’s what Fluoro’s do, but they won’t stop dye transfer, sun fading or spilt curry stains. They will effect cosmetic repairs and re colouring restoration.
Any “conditioner” offering UV protection is suspect, if it was possible to make one that worked, we would have made one! Sun creams that work on us do not work on leather and can remove colour
Do Conditioners work? YES if they are good, no conditioner will penetrate new leather, but they will after the seat has been used on a regular basis for 6 months. Constant creasing and twisting of the leather finish will cause micro cracks to form in the finish, a good conditioner will penetrate these and stop them turning into visible creases/cracks. We have many cases of customers who bought World of Leather and Frayling suites over 12 years ago, they have constantly maintained them only with our products, and they say their suites are still like new, we also presently have a case of a customer with a 1901 Veteran car that has been in storage for 80 years, he is having great success softening the interior and exterior with our conditioner, it even has leather mud guards, he is using our GT13/250 outdoor leather product.
Are there any conditions where a Conditioner will not work? YES, where the leather has been re-coloured with a spirit based dye, these dyes cause the leather fibres to shrink and the plasticizers in the dyes go hard with age, the leather will feel rock hard, even water won’t temporary soften it. Another case is if our Flexicote dye is used, a conditioner cannot penetrate the finish, we sell this dye as a “last resort” dye, but it doesn’t harden leather.
Different Leathers. Car leather and furniture leather are different. Car leather has to perform at temperatures well below freezing and baking sunlight. Suites are subjected to different conditions and therefore often use cheaper hides. Our standard cleaners and conditioners can be safely used on both.
Saddlery. Saddles have thick leather which rarely becomes saturated and shrinkage can go unnoticed, however bridles and harnesses do suffer, the leather shrinks, stitching becomes loose, grit mixes with sweat and grinds stitching which then fails. This is often a problem with Polo kit.
OIL BASED LEATHERCARE PRODUCTS. We produce a Conditioner GT13 for outdoor leather [M/Cycle suits] and we supplied,[many have closed] and still supply nearly all the UK “made to measure” racing/leisure suit manufacturers, this resulted in our product being tested for CE approval in 1994, the Cambridge test was to find out if leather care products weakened m/c suits. Mars Oil, Nikwax and G Wax were also tested, the results were surprising, all except Gliptone weakened the strength of the suits within a period of a few weeks, Mars Oil by 21%, Nikwax by 14% and G Wax by 8%.
SO ARE WATER BASED LEATHER CARE PRODUCTS THE SAFEST? YES, but choose carefully and why not choose one that smells of real leather like MaD MaXX does?
All our cleaners, conditioners and dyes are water based, and all our conditioners smell of traditional English quality leather, again a first and it is generally accepted to be the only one that truly does smell correct. Our long lasting air fresheners and Aroma pads also smell “right”.
I’m sorry but time prevents me visiting your forum on a regular basis. If you wish to respond to any of the above, I can be emailed on sales@liquidleather.com.
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