Should I Use Silicone Based Conditioners In My Auto Interior?
You should pass. Let's talk about out auto leather conditioner for a bit. Car leather today is the product of advanced engineering and manufacturing. It is highly resistant to wear and tear and daily use and abuse.
Top questions about cleaning leather
- Does my leather really need conditioning?
- What kind of conditioners are best?
- What about cleaning my car leather?
Color Glo specialists work to repair worn auto interiors and bring them back to life.
Starting With The Basics
With decades of experience in cleaning and refurbishing surfaces, we've learned a few things along the way. The single most important thing to remember is that we live in a marketing society that is overloaded with information - much of it incorrect. So how do you disect what is good and bad for you care interior, for your boat interior, for the health of your home, for your family... You catch our drift...
"In Our Opinion", based on experience
Research has only confirmed that leathers of today are not the leathers of yesterday. Hopefully, you've come to this same conclusion with many products in your life. Today's modern pigments, dyes and finishing processes have produced a car leather that is very resistant to the wear and tear that leather must endure inside the operating environment of our families, our jobs and our recreation vehicles.
This also means that the days of searching for the best auto leather conditioner are mostly a thing of the past. Since many of you may be "old dogs" and since old rules die very slow deaths, you will likely continue your search for the best auto leather conditioner that your money can buy, regardless of updated teachings.
Quest on my friend.
About cleaning leather interior
- Virtually all car leathers used today are finished with a clear protective coating that is applied for protection and durability of the leather. What does this mean? It means you will actually be cleaning, treating, or conditioning a clear protective layer that is made up of different types of resins, polymers, synthetics. The point is that you are not dealing with the actual leather, but the clear protective layer; just like the clear coat on your car paint.
- Keeping your car leather clean is the most important and critical part of the health and beauty of your car leather. In the experience of Color Glo professionals, keeping your leather clean and safe from elements consistently over the life of the car can keep your interior looking just like new 10 years later.
- With all that said, SOME auto leather conditioners can still play a role in the health and beauty of your car's leather interiors. Do your homework or ask your local Color Glo specialist.
So let's get to it
As mentioned, if you want your chariot to look clean and new for its lifetime, then weekly cleaning of its interior is a key point here, specifically for your leather. So what are the essentials?
Leather Care
Color Glo International specializes in leather cleaning and refurbishing.
If you have an older car, you just might have leather that is un-coated with modern day clear coats. Your high-end luxury exotic has a completely different technology behind it's leather pilot's seats than your 1964 Ford Fairlane that took you on Friday night pink slip laps around the neighborhood.
Silicone dressing for automobile interior.
You should pass. Let's talk about out auto leather conditioner for a bit. Car leather today is the product of advanced engineering and manufacturing. It is highly resistant to wear and tear and daily use and abuse. Most of us that are in our early 40's and beyond, remember the day of hard cracked leather seats, hot surfaces, and deep conditioning. Gone are these days.
The thoughts of massaging some magically engineered car leather conditioner into our car leather that can take it from a state of wear to gleaming new, is the stuff of legends. These philosophies still sit deep-rooted in our society's heads, but in reality, this is clever marketing to keep you buying into manufacturer's "kool-aid".
- Don't think you can apply auto leather conditioner without cleaning your leather first. The only exception is if your car is literally brand new. There will always be some form of dirt regardless of how clean your leather looks...so make sure you clean it first. Talk to your local Color Glo professional about mild cleaners that are designed to the job well.
- Cleaning your car leather only will leave it with a satin, or matte appearance. If you want it to have a little shine then a dressing or conditioner may be the way to go, but be warned about dressings. Ryan explains why below.
- Black or very dark leather interiors will typically have an inconsistent appearance after cleaning, making them more difficult to keep looking "like new". For this reason, we do suggest using a conditioner/dressing in most cases to create a perfectly even appearance after the cleaning process.
- As you may have noticed, humans get lazy and like to skip steps. So you might find yourself wanting to skip the cleaning part next time around and simply be seduced into applying a fresh coat of dressing. This will create a worse problem over time as you will be rubbing a fresh coat of dressing along with any dirt deeper and deeper into every area of your fine upholstery. Over time you will create a nice build-up of dirt and conditioners which will actually begin to deteriorate your automobile's protective top coat. Keep our number handy... you will need it. :-)
- Lastly, beware of the brands labeled as "long-lasting" or "water-resistant" as these silicone based dressings/conditioners will be difficult to clean completely off each time you do clean your car leather. Don't take the Tim Allen approach here form Tool Time and assuem that more is better. When it comes to dressings/conditioners, you actually want a product that will clean off easily each time and therefore allow for complete cleaning of your leather each time prior to a new application of conditioners.
Ryan Feeborn from Color Glo Oregon gives us his thoughts on silicone based dressings.
A few tips on auto leather conditioners
Just be smart and educated about your leather and auto interiors. Now that you're armed with a little bit of information based on real world experience, you can use the recommendations above to begin your own search. You may want to implement a schedule on your calendar if you're serious about protecting your investments. The "garage" or Man Cave schedule.
- Clean your car leather once a month. If done regularly, it's just minutes of your time. If you procrastinate, it's a much bigger job which requires some beer and complaining - maybe that's better for you.... A microfiber cloth dampened with cleaner and aggressive rubbing is all your particular car leather may require if done so regularly.
- Use a Color Glo leather conditioner if it makes you and your car leather feel a bit better about it all.
- Use a canned aerosol dressing after cleaning any colored car leather to create a nice sheen. This will provide a consistent appearance after cleaning your car leather. This auto leather conditioner/dressing will also address the black/dark colored leather/vinyl interiors issue mentioned above.
Motor On!
Top 4 Tips For Cleaning Marine Vinyl Interior
Marine grade vinyl is a type of vinyl that you should want in your vessel to withstand time, torture, and sun. The problem is that not all boats come with it. Check your sales guy.
Should I be careful when cleaning my boat?
Yes. Yes, yes and yes. You probably read our article on how to Bring Your Boat Interior Back to New, where we reminded you of the acronym B.O.A.T. ... But our Color Glo Specialists wanted to make sure you know the Top 4 Tips for keeping your boat interior in good shape.
You work hard to buy a boat and work harder to keep your boat looking good. You routinely put it in and take it out of the water, wash it, apply wax, and do your best to ensure it remains the boat of your dreams. Then it happens; one of our friends (hopefully invited) spills their adult beverage all over your well-kept carpeting, or they spill a cleaner or bleach on our vinyl seats and seams.
Proud boat owners know this feeling well and have learned to keep their watercraft "in the family" due to it. Boat ownership is exhausting as much as it is rewarding, so we thought we give you a few more tips on how to ensure your work pays off in the end.
Check your grades of marine vinyl.
Vinyl upholstery fabrics come in different grades, but this grade does not reflect fabric quality; it refers to the price it cost to make the fabric. You cannot find consistency in the vinyl fabric grading process because each manufacturer sets its own grades, much like tire manufacturers rate tires for speed without government or industry standards. So buyer beware...
Some boat interiors take a little more "TLC" than others...
Price grades range from "A" to "F," with the "F" grade representing the pricier fabrics. Rather than selecting vinyl upholstery fabrics by grade, choose the type of vinyl upholstery material you need according to its intended use.
Marine grade vinyl is a type of vinyl that you should want in your vessel to withstand time, torture, and sun. The problem is that not all boats come with it. Check your sales guy.
Cleaning your vinyl the right way
You might be tempted to spray bleach on your boat interior seats or use other harsh chemicals to try and mitigate some crude. JUST SAY NO.
Brenda from Great Lakes Color Glo in Michigan give us the scoop on great marine interior cleaning advice.
The process can be very simple if you take the time maintain your boat after each and every use. Just remember these quick tips.
Clean off the vinyl with a damp cloth first, removing salt, grime, dirt, and other debris.
Apply a thin layer of Vinyl cleaning material, such as the Color Glo Vinyl Clean that Brenda recommended above.
Rinse with fresh water, dry, and repeat as needed.
If you have deep mildew stains or other mold problems from improper care, a good firm brush may be needed along with a water/ammonia solution to break up the mildew growth.
How about UV protection?
Today, its a sales benefit as many people are aware they need UV protection - not only on their vinyl but our skins and everything else in our lives. The sun will beat your marine interior down and chew it up. So the question to ask is simply this:
Does my boat interior come with a high-grade vinyl that has UV protectant manufactured in?
If they answer is yes, then you're in really good shape by the time you've gotten to this question. If it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. You can still have high-quality interiors but have to use a Color Glo product to ensure your vibrant boat colors stay in check. Just contact your local Color Glo Specialist for advice.
Choose your personal UV block with caution!
What you put on yourself will transfer to your precious craft. Choose your sunscreens and sun oils wisely as some will stain or leave oily marks in your vinyl, which can be very difficult to remove. In today's market of more health-conscious consumers, your options for organic products, oil and paraben-free products and creams that boast not being greasy are numerous.
Choose wisely for the health of your skin and your boat's skin.
Lastly... Vinyl seats and covers on your boat are susceptible to drying, fading, and cracking. The sun, water, and regular wear and tear all age vinyl very quickly. Any vinyl on or in your boat should be regularly cleaned and protected to maintain it over the service life of our boat.
The worst enemy to vinyl is extended exposure to the sun's rays and dirt and grime/sand/dirt build-up. UV rays from the sun fade and dry vinyl out. Dirt and grime retain moisture on the surface and together cause the protective topcoat on vinyl to deteriorate, cause mildew or other mold problems.
The best advice we can give is to treat the boat like your own body. You clean it every day (hopefully) and brush your teeth. After every use of your boat, bring its livelihood back to new by brushing off seats and rinsing them, cleaning the interiors and exteriors and storing it with a cover to protect it from the elements.