Leather cleaner

[Fubusux]

Hello detailers. I have used the leather cleaner with great success. I finally got around doing my own vehicle a 2003 Honda Pilot and to my surprise using the cleaner I believe it is pulling the dye out of the leather. Is this pretty common and should I just dilute it? The leather needs cleaning really bad since this used to be my wife and toddlers daily. I do have color showing on the utility towel but since I have no clue when it was cleaned last. should I worry about it or is mild shedding typical since it is older and not conditioned well?

[LT1xL82]

Test the product on the cleanest, least easily seen spot you can find to see if it really is removing the dye. Believe it or not, it might be dirt you're seeing on the towel. More than one person, including me, has had this happen! (Personally, I use a white towel when doing the test making it easier to see what, if anything, is coming off onto the towel.)

[Fubusux]

Test the product on the cleanest, least easily seen spot you can find to see if it really is removing the dye. Believe it or not, it might be dirt you're seeing on the towel. More than one person, including me, has had this happen! (Personally, I use a white towel when doing the test making it easier to see what, if anything, is coming off onto the towel.)

I will definitely give it a shot. It is saddle color and it matched it more than I thought.

[Dan@Adams]

Our Leather & Interior Cleaner is a fairly strong cleaner, so it is possible that it could be pulling out some color depending on the leather material in your vehicle, sorry about that! As the instructions on the bottle state, always test in a small inconspicuous area first (I usually test the underside of the seat back), and in your case, you will probably want to dilute it down 50% with water if you are experiencing some color transfer

[Ricky Bobby]

99% of leather is urethane coated so you shouldn't necessarily be pulling out dye. However, your leather is 13 years old and Honda leather is not as hardy as say BMW leather so the coating may have been compromised over the years of abrasion, abuse, sun exposure etc.

 

You most likely are pulling dirt. However, an easy way to dilute it a bit is to wipe down the leather with a damp towel so there is some water on the surface, then a few spritzes of cleaner, and wipe it away with a mf towel.

 

But I have said it before, use least aggressive method first so cutting the leather cleaner 1:1 is a good start.

[Rich]

It's possible.  Especially blues and reds.  I always dilute the cleaner when I use it.  But be sure when you're done cleaning to put the Leather Conditioner on.  If  you see streaking, apply more until you get a uniform look.  Sometimes different areas absorb the conditioner faster than other spots so you get the streaking. 

But you want to have the fabric protected. 

[Fubusux]

I am going to dilute it but just might switch to the interior detailer instead just for the door leather and center console. I tested on the seats and I had zero color transfer which I was thankful for. Everything that has had skin to skin contact seems to be the only leather that has broken down and is coming off. Thanks for the responses and I love the products.

[chops1sc]

Do you have any pics of the rag and seat? I use it full strength on both my wife's Enclave and my Silverado's leather with no issues. We do have a light colored leather, though.

[Fubusux]

Do you have any pics of the rag and seat? I use it full strength on both my wife's Enclave and my Silverado's leather with no issues. We do have a light colored leather, though.

My life right now is time constraint but here are the pictures finally

[Rich]

1. That looks like pure dirt to me and not color.  Especially since it's the arm rest.  

[Bill-V8V]

Looks like dirt to me too. My favorite part of using the leather cleaner is using the leather conditioner after, I love that leather conditioner !!!!!

[Fubusux]

Looks like dirt to me too. My favorite part of using the leather cleaner is using the leather conditioner after, I love that leather conditioner !!!!!

Well now that I want to gag a little because that is dirty. But I do love the conditioner

[Rich]

Looks like dirt to me too. My favorite part of using the leather cleaner is using the leather conditioner after, I love that leather conditioner !!!!!

I grabbed some of the Leather Conditioner scented air fresheners in the fall, and they're great right now when the car is closed up all the time. Gotta love that smell.  They need to bring them back!

[chops1sc]

Oh yeah that's dirt. Probably from a spill or something like that.

[Bill-V8V]

If you have a vehicle without leather and you like the smell you can load up one of the foam blocks with leather conditioner and put it under the seat.

[marquez93]

I grabbed some of the Leather Conditioner scented air fresheners in the fall, and they're great right now when the car is closed up all the time. Gotta love that smell. They need to bring them back!

I only got one and it's lost most of its scent now. Every now and then I'll catch a good whiff of it, but they definitely need to come back. It's an amazing scent.

[Ricky Bobby]

X100 and I agree with long standing dirt as well. That is not color transfer

[marquez93]

It definitely does look like dirt. But I'm a little confused because it looks very clean and grey where you wiped it, but the rest of the door looks tan. Tan and grey seem like an unusual combination that I can't think if I've ever seen it before. Is that what it is? Or did you wipe off all of the tan?

[Fubusux]

It definitely does look like dirt. But I'm a little confused because it looks very clean and grey where you wiped it, but the rest of the door looks tan. Tan and grey seem like an unusual combination that I can't think if I've ever seen it before. Is that what it is? Or did you wipe off all of the tan?

It is just the lighting. The door plastic is saddle along with the leather door insert. The arm rest is what I would call a chocolate brown color. Very dark compared to the rest.

[vobro]

That's is dirt, wait til you do the steering wheel!