I spent about an hour treating the leather seats to a full-blown Gliptone leather treatment. I had used an all-in-one leather cleaner/conditioner a few times already and the seats had become shiny and slippery. Plus, my local dealer had put oily, black smudges all over the door handle areas. All of the products used were purchased from Elite Car Care:
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/
I ordered the following products:
1 x Gliptone Liquid Leather Gentle Cleaner Spray - 600ml () = £5.99
1 x Gliptone Liquid Leather Conditioner - 1Litre () = £19.99
1 x Leather Cleaning Brush () = £1.99
1 x Gliptone Liquid Leather Intensive Cleaner - 1 Litre () = £14.99
The Gliptone Liquid Leather Gentle Cleaner Spray is a maintenance leather cleaner spray for maintaining the finish on your leather. It was the other heavyweight products that I used today.
They're not particularly cheap products and £35 for a cleaner and conditioner is pretty pricey. But they come in big bottles and should last at least 2-3 years. The only extra things I used were:
2 x small detailing towels
1 x soft microfibre cloth
1. Preparing the leather for cleaning
I rinsed out the microfibre cloth in warm/hot water and rubbed down all the of the interior leather surfaces. This serves several purposes: it softens the leather and makes it more absorbent. It cleans off any loos dirt on the leather. Normally you shouldn't use a microfibre cloth on leather as it tends to be abrasive but I used one as I wanted it to strip off the previous leather treatment I had applied.
2. Cleaning the leather
I then used one of the towels to apply the Gliptone Liquid Leather Intensive Cleaner. This is a thick, treacle-like liquid. I poured a small amount directly onto the towel and rubbed it in gently to the leather. It was applied all over the seats, leather trim on the doors, steering wheel and dashboard. There is a LOT of leather in the Jagwar XF! As each bit of leather had cleaner applied. I used the leather cleaning brush to agitate the cleaner. You can just buy a simple, soft nail brush and it will do the same job. Once all of the leather had been treated with the cleaner, I wiped it down with the damp microfibre cloth. Every single mark and smudge came off the leather. The cleaning process took arounf 35 minutes.
3. Conditioning the leather
Once the leather had been cleaned I used the second towel to apply the Gliptone Liquid Leather Conditioner. This is a thick. white liquid and fairly easy to apply. It needs to be worked into the leather so does take some time to apply. Once the leather absorbs the liquid you can move on to the next bit of leather. The leather will look shiny when you apply the conditioner but this turns to a matt finish after about an hour. All of the interior leather took around 25 minutes to condition. You need to leave the leather to breathe for about an hour.
4. The results
Simply astonishing! The condition and cleanliness of the leather is BETTER than when I collected the car from the showroom! It is not shiny, but a natural matt finish. Plus, the leather has more grip now and is not slippery at all. It is also much softer and feels more cosy. I am very, very impressed with the Gliptone leather care products.
5. Ongoing Maintenance
This full-blown leather treatment only needs to be performed every 3-4 months. In between i'll be sprucing up the leather with the Gliptone Liquid Leather Gentle Cleaner Spray.
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/
I ordered the following products:
1 x Gliptone Liquid Leather Gentle Cleaner Spray - 600ml () = £5.99
1 x Gliptone Liquid Leather Conditioner - 1Litre () = £19.99
1 x Leather Cleaning Brush () = £1.99
1 x Gliptone Liquid Leather Intensive Cleaner - 1 Litre () = £14.99
The Gliptone Liquid Leather Gentle Cleaner Spray is a maintenance leather cleaner spray for maintaining the finish on your leather. It was the other heavyweight products that I used today.
They're not particularly cheap products and £35 for a cleaner and conditioner is pretty pricey. But they come in big bottles and should last at least 2-3 years. The only extra things I used were:
2 x small detailing towels
1 x soft microfibre cloth
1. Preparing the leather for cleaning
I rinsed out the microfibre cloth in warm/hot water and rubbed down all the of the interior leather surfaces. This serves several purposes: it softens the leather and makes it more absorbent. It cleans off any loos dirt on the leather. Normally you shouldn't use a microfibre cloth on leather as it tends to be abrasive but I used one as I wanted it to strip off the previous leather treatment I had applied.
2. Cleaning the leather
I then used one of the towels to apply the Gliptone Liquid Leather Intensive Cleaner. This is a thick, treacle-like liquid. I poured a small amount directly onto the towel and rubbed it in gently to the leather. It was applied all over the seats, leather trim on the doors, steering wheel and dashboard. There is a LOT of leather in the Jagwar XF! As each bit of leather had cleaner applied. I used the leather cleaning brush to agitate the cleaner. You can just buy a simple, soft nail brush and it will do the same job. Once all of the leather had been treated with the cleaner, I wiped it down with the damp microfibre cloth. Every single mark and smudge came off the leather. The cleaning process took arounf 35 minutes.
3. Conditioning the leather
Once the leather had been cleaned I used the second towel to apply the Gliptone Liquid Leather Conditioner. This is a thick. white liquid and fairly easy to apply. It needs to be worked into the leather so does take some time to apply. Once the leather absorbs the liquid you can move on to the next bit of leather. The leather will look shiny when you apply the conditioner but this turns to a matt finish after about an hour. All of the interior leather took around 25 minutes to condition. You need to leave the leather to breathe for about an hour.
4. The results
Simply astonishing! The condition and cleanliness of the leather is BETTER than when I collected the car from the showroom! It is not shiny, but a natural matt finish. Plus, the leather has more grip now and is not slippery at all. It is also much softer and feels more cosy. I am very, very impressed with the Gliptone leather care products.
5. Ongoing Maintenance
This full-blown leather treatment only needs to be performed every 3-4 months. In between i'll be sprucing up the leather with the Gliptone Liquid Leather Gentle Cleaner Spray.
