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Hey everyone so I have a 2011 screw lariat. It has the tan leather inside. My seats keep getting little cracks and wear areas. I've tried lexol and also armor all products. Looking for suggestions on products and or ideas to repair the seats. When I bought the truck and first cleaned it, the seats had like a paste on them which had made the leather look perfect. But after cleaning it came off some. I'm going to post pictures in just a min
I'm in a similar situation to yours! I'd like something more rejuvenating with longer lasting protection but I keep coming up short myself. Don't both with blue magic products! I've also tried the meguiars leather conditioner only product and the one I linked works significantly better than the conditioner alone.
Stay away from ArmorAll products.
The issues you are seeing are wear and tear, and cracks due to drying out.
Vacuum the seats, and then wipe them down with a clean damp microfiber towel. Then apply a spray or paste leather conditioner.
I use Meguiar's Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner and Conditioner (link above) both in paste and spray. The paste tends to stick in the perforations in the leather, so use it only on the smooth surfaces, and use the spray near the stitching and middle of the seats.
Wipe down the seats frequently with a damp cloth to clean them in between conditioning. The dirt down in the cracks makes them more noticeable.
The damage on your seats will never be perfect unless you replace the covers, but you can minimize the appearance of the cracks with quality products and frequent cleaning. Look at autogeek.net interior products also. That is a great resource.
I have an '11 Lariat with the Adobe interior also. I'm OCD about keeping my truck looking good. I've used McGuires, Mothers, and a few others. For the past year or so I've been using the Lexol PH balanced cleaner, then the Lexol conditioner. About once a month I will use plain warm water and a good terry cloth towel to wipe down all the seats. Then pat them dry. I would like to say I vacuum the seats every month, but the truth is I just get lazy. It's usually just me in the truck, so the drivers seat is what gets most of the attention. Usually about twice a year, or if the seat starts to look a little dull I do a regular cleaning. What I do: First I'll lightly vacuum with the brush attachment and crevice tool. I'll have two clean buckets filled about half way with Very Warm, Not Hot water. One is for the cleaning towels, the other one is for the rinse towels. I'll start with the seat back. I'll wring out a couple towels and lay them across the seat back. After a minute or so I'll remove them. Then I'll spray some cleaner in the palm of my hands and massage it into the seat back. I'll re-dip the cleaning towels in the first bucket, wring them out and put them back on the seat back. After a few minutes I'll take the towels off and use them to gently agitate the surface. Once that's done, I'll put those towels back into the cleaning bucket, and rinse my hands. Then I'll go to the rinse bucket which has the rinse towels. I'll wring one out, then rinse/wipe the seat back clean. I'll do it several times to make sure I have as much cleaner removed that I can. Some residue may remain if too much is used. That's what will usually cause the seats to re-soil quickly. Initially before cleaning, the seat may not look that dirty. But the water in the buckets tells another story. Once I'm done cleaning I'll use dry towels to wipe the seat back dry. While it continues to air dry I will change the water in both buckets, and get some clean towels. I only clean the seating surfaces in this manner. The rest of the seat doesn't get much contact (the rear of the seat, the top, etc.), so they just need a wipe down with the warm towel, then wiped dry. So while the seat back is air drying, I move onto the seat itself and repeat the cleaning process in the same manner. A quick note: Don't use too much cleaner. You don't need to rub hard either. Let the cleaner do the work. If it's that bad, wait a few days then do another lite cleaning. After the seat has air dried, I have one bucket refilled with clean water. I'll then spray some conditioner in my hands and massage it into the seat back. Again a little goes a long way. I let it sit as I do the same for the seat. If the conditioner soaks in quickly I'll reapply a little as needed. I'll then rinse my hands clean, and let the seat sit a few minutes. I then wipe it off with a good clean terry cloth towel. It should feel smooth and clean. If it doesn't I'll re-rinse my hands and switch to a clean dry towel and wipe again. That should be it. Then every once in a while I'll use a warm cloth for maintenance. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not bad............
I have an '11 Lariat with the Adobe interior also. I'm OCD about keeping my truck looking good. I've used McGuires, Mothers, and a few others. For the past year or so I've been using the Lexol PH balanced cleaner, then the Lexol conditioner. About once a month I will use plain warm water and a good terry cloth towel to wipe down all the seats. Then pat them dry. I would like to say I vacuum the seats every month, but the truth is I just get lazy. It's usually just me in the truck, so the drivers seat is what gets most of the attention. Usually about twice a year, or if the seat starts to look a little dull I do a regular cleaning. What I do: First I'll lightly vacuum with the brush attachment and crevice tool. I'll have two clean buckets filled about half way with Very Warm, Not Hot water. One is for the cleaning towels, the other one is for the rinse towels. I'll start with the seat back. I'll wring out a couple towels and lay them across the seat back. After a minute or so I'll remove them. Then I'll spray some cleaner in the palm of my hands and massage it into the seat back. I'll re-dip the cleaning towels in the first bucket, wring them out and put them back on the seat back. After a few minutes I'll take the towels off and use them to gently agitate the surface. Once that's done, I'll put those towels back into the cleaning bucket, and rinse my hands. Then I'll go to the rinse bucket which has the rinse towels. I'll wring one out, then rinse/wipe the seat back clean. I'll do it several times to make sure I have as much cleaner removed that I can. Some residue may remain if too much is used. That's what will usually cause the seats to re-soil quickly. Initially before cleaning, the seat may not look that dirty. But the water in the buckets tells another story. Once I'm done cleaning I'll use dry towels to wipe the seat back dry. While it continues to air dry I will change the water in both buckets, and get some clean towels. I only clean the seating surfaces in this manner. The rest of the seat doesn't get much contact (the rear of the seat, the top, etc.), so they just need a wipe down with the warm towel, then wiped dry. So while the seat back is air drying, I move onto the seat itself and repeat the cleaning process in the same manner. A quick note: Don't use too much cleaner. You don't need to rub hard either. Let the cleaner do the work. If it's that bad, wait a few days then do another lite cleaning. After the seat has air dried, I have one bucket refilled with clean water. I'll then spray some conditioner in my hands and massage it into the seat back. Again a little goes a long way. I let it sit as I do the same for the seat. If the conditioner soaks in quickly I'll reapply a little as needed. I'll then rinse my hands clean, and let the seat sit a few minutes. I then wipe it off with a good clean terry cloth towel. It should feel smooth and clean. If it doesn't I'll re-rinse my hands and switch to a clean dry towel and wipe again. That should be it. Then every once in a while I'll use a warm cloth for maintenance. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not bad............
WOW. Just WOW. You get the leather seat medal of the month. I am truly impressed with this attention to detail.
I was in the cleaning business for a lot of years. I first started in the Residential cleaning business when I lived down at the beach (Bethany beach, Rehoboth beach DE., Ocean city, MD. area). Did that for about nine years. When I moved up state to the Newark area, I was hired at a local ServPro, which was then residential/commercial/industrial cleaning services. Started at the bottom initially but shortly worked my way up to company Estimator. They sent me to regular training sessions at one of their national training centers. So I learned a lot.
For Pics? I have a set from 2013. Probably the first time I cleaned the seats. Can't remember what I used back then. Probably McGuires or Mothers. I now use Lexol PH balanced cleaner, and then the Lexol conditioner, and have been happy with their products so far. It's been about a week since I had sinus surgery (removed Polyps and fixed my deviated septum). Depending on how I feel, I plan on cleaning the truck this weekend, and maybe clean the seats as well. If I do I'll take pics and post them up here.
The first two pics are before I do the cleaning. One is with flash, one is not. As I recall it took me about an hour or so to do the cleaning. The next three pics are after I applied the conditioner. Since it's still shiny, I'm "assuming" I haven't wiped it off yet. But you can see the difference.
05-10-2018, 02:54 PM
Leather seats cleaning, conditioning, repairing
