Stop using conditioner on your leather car seats. Use this instead – Jalopnik

You don’t just clean your car, you also detail it. You wash, you wax and you polish. You even clean the inner edges of your rims. The interior of your car is just as impeccable. You probably have a whole cleaning caddy of products you use. After all, the inside of those vents doesn’t clean itself (here are some tips for cleaning those vents, by the way). At least, that’s what we think your cleaning routine looks like. Sometimes our cleaning routine is just a quick glance to make sure there aren’t any stray Cheetos on the floor. But if you’re serious about cleaning your car and you have leather seats, you’ll want to keep them.

The problem is that many people think this involves wiping leather conditioner onto the upholstery. While this has been good practice for car leather in the past, it can actually damage the leather upholstery of most modern cars. Today, using leather conditioner or saddle soap on new leather can leave it unprotected from harmful UV rays. “But wait,” you may be thinking, “when I use conditioner on my chairs, they get so shiny.” Yes, healthy leather should not shine. It should have a natural, matte appearance. That shine is the silicone residue from the conditioner. So, what should you do instead?

If you have leather upholstery that is less than 3 years old, it is better to clean it regularly. There are also water-based leather protection products on the market that will help protect your leather from UV rays and prevent it from drying out.

But things have changed. Nearly all leather in new cars is finished or sealed with a top coat of pigmented urethane or a clear coat. This applies not only to synthetic polyurethane leather, but also to genuine leather found in luxury cars. So you basically have a thin layer of plastic covering your leather and protecting it from sunlight and contaminants.

What does conditioner do with that protective layer? Nothing good. That plastic layer cannot fully absorb the conditioner because the oil molecules are too large. That means residue of the conditioner will just sit on top and collect dirt and other debris. That dirt and debris is rubbed against the coating like sandpaper and eventually wears away, stripping the protective layer from your leather. Depending on the pH of the conditioner, it can chemically break down the top layer, causing it to flake or crack, which deceptively looks like your leather is drying out. Traditional oil-based conditioner is especially bad for perforated leather because it can clog pores and trap moisture beneath the plastic coating, even causing mold to form.

Instead of conditioning the leather, you want to focus on protecting the top layer. You can do this by using a water-based protectant. Some of these protectors include 303® Aviation Protection And ColourLock leather protectorboth of which are designed to protect against UV radiation, among other things. The first should be applied every 3 to 5 weeks and should not be used on unfinished leather, which is an important detail to pay attention to when using a new leather protector. Product information for the latter says it can be used on both coated and semi-aniline leathers and is intended to be applied every 3 to 6 months. Whatever product you use, try it on a hidden part of the upholstery first.

What are your tips for caring for car leather? Let us know in the comments. And while you’re here, check out our other car cleaning tips.