Searching for that leather scent ...

That "wet" look was just the oil while it was soaking in. That picture was taken moments after the application. You let it sit in the heat and it gets kinda milky and the dirt apparently rises out and sits on the surface. After a wipe down with the cleaner at the end of the day, the seats are dry, supple and have a non-gloss matte look. I will try and snap some photos this afternoon. My car is blocked in the garage by some other cars at the moment, and getting it out to get good pictures in the natual light might be a pain, but I will try when I get time.

If the end result was the wet look, I, too, would be scared! You do not feel any product on the seats after the whole process.

My car will be on display this weekend at an event promoted over on the Mid-Atlantic section. There are a couple good photographers in that group. I will ask one of the guys this weekend to take some detailed interior pictures and post, as my photo skills and digital camera are not up to snuff.(Wetpet, BillP, Maranelloboy ...you guys hear that?)

 

ha, ha...got that Chicago cab look, just need a Christmas tree hanging from the mirror to complete the "look".

Thanks, FOU, for the update, I agree on the headliner - but I have always heard the same about F car dash tops (the area below the windscreen/shield) something about heat treatment from the factory and not apply any cleaners. But it sounds like you treated that area as well with great results!

 

I think you could replicate the body odor smell of a cab better than the leather fresh smell from the factory

 

I tried to snap a few "after" pictures this morning. Not very good lighting, you might have to wait till after this weekend. This was with a flash in the garage.
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Fou,

Very nice job! From the photos its appears to have been well worth the time you spent (watching the car from your window, wishing you were driving instead). Can you varifiy the supple feeling of this cleaned leather, that to me is the true measure of conditioning. Do you also have any photos of the dirt wiped up after the RO step.

Cheers,
GREG

 

What do you mean by verify?, like cut out a piece then send it to you to feel? Not sure what you mean. When I push down with my index finger it does not crease or make a sqikie noise. It pops right back and you cannot tell you touched it like a soft pillow. Not really sure where I am supposed to go with this, sounds like a lead in to a Penthouse Forum letter.

No, I did not take pictures of the dirty rag. That sounds wierd. I can tell you that it took me four micro towels to wipe down as the final step because all of them were getting full of dirt and turning black.

 

Fou! What's your address and what day does the garbage guy....uh...come?

Sorry, Greg, just messing with ya

 

Yes If I read this with a perverted spin on it I can see all you points......LOL

What I meant is, does the leather feel more supple to touch vs. hard and dry. It should feel like a penthouse experience!

The dirty rag..........yes never touch a dirty RAG. It would have been cool to show every one of the MF towels with the amout of dirt removed.

Cheers,
GREG

 

Penthouse feel. You dirty old minds. LOL.
Any way, I can tell you that this one is an interesting thread. But what we are looking for is that leather smell from a brand new Ferrari. I have a 2001 360 spider and the car smells much the same way as it did out the factory. I use AutoGlym all interior shampoo to clean the leather and Treat from Zymol to condition. Treat has banana oil smell to it and is full of collagen which supports and enhances the leather just as cosmetics for humans where wrinkles are prevented. However after application there is no smell from the product, the leather has its own clean factory original hyde smell and great matt finish . This is done monthly as it is a spider and gets a fair exposure to sun every w/e. Leathereque is more involved and Jason, our preffered Ferrari detailer in socal does it for me yearly. Both these treatments to the leather come form perhaps the best detailers in socal- Moe Mistry for Treat and Jason for Leatherique. Obviously they came to settle for this after a number of experiments.
My conclusion is that leather in our cars does not need an external scent from a product, but should be inherently preserved in the leather by cleaning and conditioning with the right products. So dont think about adding but preserving the smell. Adil.

 

That goes back to the original question, and my results as well.

My Ferrari smells like leather to a point that people comment on it when I open the door to let them peek inside at a parking lot. The leatherique neither took away nor added to that smell.

The Range Rover actually took on a leather smell to some extent, and I guess that may have to do with 15 years of grime removed, thereby releasing the natural leather smell from the way it was when built in Solihull.

I bought the Rover used, and it has been used even more by me as strictly a bathing suit on the leather, water skis and junk in the trunk vehicle. I do not know what a Rover Classic smelled like new.

I think one of the other posters may have hit it when hypothisizing that the true smell comes from clean leather releasing its aroma, rather than a store bought fragrance product.

 

I could not help but think about this some more over the evening:

As a practical matter, everyone knows you cannot smell the leather in a Landrover product because of the overwhelming aroma of power steering fluid and oil on the ground under the vehicle. So, maybe that is not a good example.

 

Very funny and very true! BTW, I saw your location - do you have the truck serviced at Richmond Rover? The reason I ask is that (off topic) they are perhaps the greatest dealership folks I have ever met. I was driving to FL in my, less than 1,000 miles on the odo, Rover when smoke started pouring out from the hood/bonnet. PS pump line had blown. Anyway, I called LR; they identified the Richmond guys (I was just outside of Richmond) who then called me. Anyway, the guys at the dealership were all in "outback" motif and were hands down my "fastest" new best friends. I had my dog with me and they let him have the run of the show room floor, they even insisted I put his water bowl and food bowl out on the floor for him...

They repaired the PS line, cleaned the engine, filled the fuel tank, washed the truck and had me on my way within a few hours.

I just wish the LR quality matched up......

 

There are many leather products out there.The thing to remember is each car has its own unique leather scent. You can use the same product on a Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, etc. and they will each have thier own unique scent. The question now becomes what product has the least after-scent. If you use products that contain cheaper petrochemicals, armor all comes to mind, not only are you left with a strong odor for days, but you also get an un-natural shine to the leather as well.

To get the best results, you must first properly clean the leather and remove the body oils, dirt, lotions, etc. One of the safest products is castile soap. It's a natural cleaner that has been used to clean leather for centuries. If done properly, the leather should feel a bit softer and look perfectly flat and dull.

Once the leather is cleaned, use a good quality leather conditioner. I've had great luck with zymol Treat. Treat requires a bit of technique. Make sure the leather is about body temperature. Use a medium density foam applicator. If too soft of a foam is used, you get streaking. If done properly, you shouldn't have any streaking and you won't need to wipe anything off.

Some other great leather conditioners are Swissvax Leather Milk and einszett Leather Conditioner.

I know some will write in and say what about the leather that has a coating on it? From my experience, the technique above works well on all types of leather.

So, don't go by the initial smell of the bottle, becuase if you use a quality product, it doesn't matter since your car's natural scent will come through anyway.

Hope this helps.

 

Yea, those fellas are top notch. They are always giving a gift to my little daughter when I bring her by and they know all my family by name. I even stop by in the Ferrari just for coffee sometimes. I was there yesterday getting an oil change on one of my many Rovers. I feel like they are my children because over the years I have spent enough to put each one of those guys through college.

 

As the song by "The Vapors" says......ever thought about "turning/going Japanese"? I've owned both. You can have the vintage and/or the modern thing with the FJ Landcruiser line (excepting current the FJ Cruiser). Don't get me wrong, I love Land Rovers; I just dislike oil leaks, "Prince of Darkness" electricals and unplanned walking more......

 

In the long run, Rovers have saved me money by not playing the lottery. After a hard rain, your odds of the car starting are about the same, but cost less than Power Ball.

 

Recommended and sold through them is the Sonus Leather Care bundle; http://www.autopia-carcare.com/son-600-610.html
It claims to restore "new car" leather smell and also creates a perfect “factory original” matte finish. I've also had independent endorsement of this product on his Porsche 997 Cab who advised that "it smells a bit like lemons when you put it on, but it fades away after 24 hours. After that the natural leather smell seems to come out (there doesn’t appear to be a fake leather smell additive like with Griots, Connolly, etc…)".

Anyone tried this on F-car leather?

 

Yes I did. It started bleeding the dye off the leather. But on my Porsche it worked just fine. I will caution it on Ferrari leather though. Moe is right. Treat works the best and has no sheen or unnatural luster. After you are done the leather looks like the car just came off the factory.

 

Hi Dr. F....how are you? How's the 360 looking?

 

What is the difference between Zymol TREAT and Zymol 509 (conditioner)? I dislike 509 a lot.

Cheers,
GREG

 

Years ago zymol came out with a "premium" line to compete with meguiar's and mothers, etc. The 509 is designed for treated lether, synthetic leather, etc. Treat was meant to only be used on natural, un-treated leather, like the older stuff in Ferrari, Rolls Royce, etc. I've found it works really well on all types of leather.

I'm current field testing another leather conditioner that I like much better than zymol. It has a stronger scent initially but it disappears after a while...so far about an hour. I'll keep you guys posted.