Water damage on leather

Post by **priapism** » 22 Jan 2011, 08:22

So, someone (not I) left a leaking bottle of water on one of the back seats. The leather is hard as a rock now.

Any tried-and-tested methods to soften the leather? I suggested moisturizer but nothing has been done yet.

Post by **jimmy57** » 22 Jan 2011, 09:04

There are lots of leather conditioner products out there at auto supply stores. I have used different ones and never found a "OH MY GOD!" best one. There are expensive brands with bold statements on the package and I bit into the hype but didn't see any real difference in making hard leather softer compared to cheaper ones. Armor All has a leather cream in a brown bottle that will be on shelf of any of the chain auto supply places.
It has done a good job of softening old leather on old seats. Use liberally and let it stand with a thick coating. The surface coating on auto leather doesn't let it soak in very quick.

otis44 · Post by **otis44** » 22 Jan 2011, 09:57

The armor all seems to be a good product, I like it about as well as any. Lexol seems to do a good job as well and it is now available in many of the national chain parts stores.

Post by **JRL** » 22 Jan 2011, 11:17

Never use that junk on leather
It's surprising that plain water made your seats hard, however, wash them gently in a warm water /Woolite solution let dry and then spply some Lexol conditioner not the cleaner (in the brown bottle).
Apply as much as necessary, several times, let it soak in, don't rub it off