How to keep auto interior looking new

Eating fast food in your car is unavoidable on some busy days, and we’ve all had those, “Oh crap!” moments when fries went flying all over the car seat.  Although this isn’t unusual or uncommon, it’s probably not something you should brush off too lightly if you have leather seats. Grease and oil, even just the natural oils in your skin, can really add up and cause damage to your leather seats. In fact, oil (from food or just the oil in your skin) is one of the main reasons leather car seats end up looking old and worn.

How does oil damage leather car seats?

There are two main ways that oil causes damage to leather auto seats:

1. Oil combines with little bits of dust and dirt, acting like a fine sand paper that wears down the protective coating on your seats as passengers get in and out of your car.  That protective layer makes your leather seats more resilient to scratches, water and heat damage as well as other types of wear and tear, so, once that layer is worn thin, your seats are more susceptible to all types of damage.

2. When oil gets on your leather seats, especially once it starts to break down that protective coating, it is soaked into the back side of the leather—the part you can’t see.  Over time, the leather will “fill up,” and the oil will rise to the surface. Once the oil saturates the leather, the result is typically ugly oil stains.

How to prevent oil damage to your auto seats

To prevent oil damage, you should clean and protect your car seats 6-8 times a year, cleaning the most used areas more frequently than those that aren’t used very often. Check out our leather cleaning post for tips on leather cleaning and protection.

Additionally, never treat your leather with olive oil, petroleum or any other type of oil. A lot of people do to try to prevent drying, but the oil you use will get soaked up just like any other oil, resulting in spots and discoloration.

How do I get rid of oil damage?

If you find oil spots on your car seats, you can try to remove them by rubbing the area with a soft leather cleaner. You may be able to temporarily remove the spot, but since more oil remains deep within the leather, you will probably see it resurface over time.

Depending on the extent of the damage, a professional may be able to do a more thorough cleaning of the leather seat than you will be able to do yourself, as they have special cleaning tools and processes that can cleanse deep into the leather.

Post any additional questions in the comments or visit us at Fibrenew Franchising.

Source: Fibrenew

How to clean and repair your leather furniture

When it comes to repairing and caring for leather furniture, there are hundreds of options.  Furniture stores and online retailers offer up products that do everything from cleaning to dying leather.  However, you should proceed with extreme caution when you use these DIY products on your furniture.  I’ve heard and seen the effects of horror stories where these products ruined people’s leather furniture, so here are a few pointers on what to look out for.

1. Don’t use any products that contain alcohol or acetone.  Alcohol seeps into and damages the protective surface of furniture leather.  Acetone will remove the dye and color from leather.

2. Be sure to use products designed for upholstery.  Leather used for shoes, jackets and clothing is very different than that used in furniture.

3. Only use products designed for the type of leather you have.  Most furniture is made of aniline, semi-aniline or fully-finished leather.  Because of the differences in finish, it is very important to use only products designed for the leather you have.

4. Dying leather is a highly specialized art.  Professionals receive extensive training on color matching and dying, and it’s not at all likely that any DIY dye kit will produce very good dying results.  So, be very careful with these products – test them on a part of the furniture that no one will ever see before you use it on the visible part of the piece.

5. Stay away from products that say they are for multiple surfaces, even if one of those surfaces is leather.  Most of the time these products contain elements that will damage leather.  It is best to stick with products made specifically for leather.

Also, there are lots of people out there who have heard old wives’ tales about household products to use on leather.  Some of these can be helpful, but there are many that do not work and will ruin your leather furniture.  One example is using olive oil to fix minor dings and scratches on leather.  People also try using finger nail polish remover, shoe polish and window cleaner, among other things, to work on damaged leather.  All of these options can cause major damage to your leather down the road.

Any questions?  Have any experiences with leather products to share?  Post them in the comments!

How to Clean Leather Furniture

Your leather couch is an expensive investment, and you need to treat it right if you want it to last. Think about it like preventative maintenance on   your car. You change your oil to keep your car running smoothly.  To keep your leather couch in good shape, you need to protect it and clean it regularly. Did you know that a leather couch will last 3 times as long if you clean and protect it regularly?

Here are the top questions we get on how to maintain and care for leather furniture the right way:

How often and Why?

We recommend that you clean and condition your whole couch twice a year.  Clean the parts you use the most (the head and armrest of your favorite spot, for example) 3 to 4 times a year.

Leather is very porous, so it soaks up the dirt and oils from our skin very easily.  Even before you can see the effects of this damage, the leather is collecting the dirt and oil it soaks up on the back side of the leather.  Once there is enough on the back side, it will eventually seep to the front and form little dark spots like in this photo... read more on source!

Contact Bob Johnston at Fibrenew Franchising for more info
Director of Franchise Development
Phone: 262-457-4272
bjohnston@fibrenew.com
www.fibrenew-franchising.com