I bought another MINI Cooper last night, and while it's low mileage, it also spent a lot of time in the sun. The seats are leather and show a lot of aging from 20 years outdoors. What is a good product to make the leather supple again and hide all the creases and cracks?
Have had good luck with meguires.
Also like the Lexol products. All of them will need a concerted effort over some days if it's crispy.
David got some good results using Lithium's Leather Love on the seats in his M3.
[A more cost effective alternative to buying new seat covers?]
I thought leatherique was the gold standard?
I have some really crispy boxster seats I intend to try it on in the next few weeks. I used it on my jag last summer and I think it helped but can still use more treatment.
Colin Wood said:David got some good results using Lithium's Leather Love on the seats in his M3.
[A more cost effective alternative to buying new seat covers?]
Thanks, Colin, I was just about to say something similar. Yeah, so far, so good on the Lithium product. Wipe on, let it sit, then wipe off. It won’t erase the damage but the leather does feel softer.
One treatment is just not enough.
I treated the leather seats in the Jaguars 3 times. And each time it got a little softer.
It's still not the buttery soft leather of new but that because it's been neglected for over 50 years in one case and 40 years in another.
The nice thing though is each treatment gets better. I put it in in the garage and leave the windows open. Others say treatment leaves the interior with a slight smell of pairs hence the leave the windows open. With no sense of smell it wouldn't bother me. But my niece it might.
Saddle cleaner followed by saddle conditioner. You want a balm like paste.
Autoglym Leather Care Balm is very good stuff. I bought it on the recommendation of the Bentley and Rolls Royce group.
It made a huge difference in the pliableness of the leather on the sofa in the RV and the seats in the Bentley. The leather sucks it in like a drowning person with water.
Edit to say, don't buy it from Amazon. They are crazy expensive.
For serious repair, Leatherique has always been the go-to for the vintage BMW crowd. For just plain old maintenance of leather in good condition I've always liked Lexol.
This has been my go-to for a while - Elephant Wax
Why? Gas Monkey Garage. He bought an old Austin Healey barn find and brought in the "high end detail specialist" to then have drama over the cost of the job. This is the stuff the guy was using on the leather. It didn't appear as a product placement - it was highlighted because you let it melt with the heat of your hands and then work it in. Richard was making fun of the way the guy was "making love" to the seats.
It definitely takes a little work to get it applied but it seems to do a nice job.
Surprisingly Pledge furniture polish works great with leather. Kind of a cheaper solution to the big name things.
Dry leather will drink it.
In reply to stuart in mn :
I used Lexol on some rock hard but untorn E30 seats. I was skeptical. After multiple applications applied over several months, I actually notices a difference. It would be nice to find something that works faster, but Lexol really did appear to work.
In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :
That stuff is fantastic 
Being a traditional classic British car guy, I have always used this (it works!):
Porsche guys swear by a product called Leatherique.
You'll need to log in to post.
