on leather care
FROM colourlock Leather Care
In this edition I thought I’d write about one of the most common problems we see in cars that come into our workshop.
Worn, cracked or torn-through bolster panels on the driver’s seat. You know the panel that sits against your right kidney. There is no way to drive your car without brushing past it, on the way in and out of your car, and therefore it suffers more wear than any other seat panel in your interior.
Almost every car owner coming into our leather repair workshop starts the conversation with, “Can you come and take a look at my driver’s seat?”
When I look, they generally fall into two categories: 1. The leather colouring is wearing off, or 2. The leather is significantly worn or has worn right through into a hole.
The first one can easily be repaired with careful preparation, resurfacing using special leather fillers, (the same fillers used in tanneries to correct flaws and defects in leather hides), colour matching, re-colouring and top-coat applications. Cost about $200.
The second is by far the more expensive, as the affected panel will need to be replaced, then the new leather has to be re-coloured to match the existing leather. This can cost $400-$500.
A little bit of ongoing care and attention can greatly reduce this problem.
The obvious cause of this damage is friction caused by us, the drivers, as we get into and out of our cars. (How careless of us, what were we thinking!) You can blame it on jeans studs, belts or whatever you like, it just happens.
So how do we prevent this sort of wear? Honestly, without sounding like a door-to-door vacuum salesman.
Leather Shield protector is the best thing I’ve seen at reducing friction and wear on leather.
To qualify that, it’s the best new leather-care product I’ve seen in the last twenty years. We use it daily as leatherrepair technicians; every job we do leaves with Leather Shield applied.
Reducing this sort of wear is the exact brief in its design. Manufacturers and owners were getting sick and tired of entry areas wearing out too quickly (sometimes within 35,000 km). Manufacturers don’t like warranty issues and owners don’t like holes in their leather.
How does it work? Leather Shield forms a nano-particle protective barrier on the leather, leaving the leather feeling beautiful and silky; this reduces friction and therefore reduces wear.
I have seen the test results done by Audi and BMW and done our own tests in our workshop.
The results are brilliant. In robot rub-tests the car manufacturers found that in the untreated areas the colour layer rubbed through after 50,000 rubs, whereas on treated areas the colour is still in place even after 50,000 rubs.
Its common sense, reduced friction = reduced wear.
I know some of you will be thinking ‘what about the protective wax I’ve been using for years?’
I put it this way. If surfers use wax on their boards is it because it reduces friction and gives a soft silky feel or is it because it promotes grip? We’d be seeing a few more wipe-outs if it was silky. I guess what I’m saying is that the old style waxy protectors have been superseded.
The leading leather authority in the UK, The British Leather Council, ran a comprehensive series of tests on Leather Shield. They were so impressed, not just by the results but what those results mean, that for the first time they have taken on Leather Shield to market under their own brand name.
Another significant advancement with Leather Shield is its ability to minimise dye transfer. Dye transfer is when dark-coloured fabrics like denim, rub against light-coloured leather, causing it to look soiled and dirty.
How to use Leather shield? It is very simple. It pays to give the leather a clean first, then pour a little on a cloth and apply to the required areas. On heavy wear areas I like to apply a second coat about an hour later.
Leather shield creates a protective nano-barrier but it is water-based and is removed when the leather is cleaned, thus making it easier to keep lightcoloured leather looking clean.
This doesn’t take away the need to regularly clean and condition your leather (be it automotive or furniture). In fact, we recommend a good clean, protect and condition every 3 months.
I hope this helps you to manage your leather to keep it looking and feeling great.
Have a look at our web site www. colourlock.nz for further info on Leather Shield and other great products.