Tools and things to properly clean leather seats

If you have just purchased a new to you vehicle and are looking to clean the seats up properly or if you are just looking to clean your vehicle that has gotten a bit out of hands, cleaning the leather seats can seem like a daunting task but it doesn't need to be.

What you need for the job

The tools you will need will highly depend on the seats you are working on. Are they extremely dirty? Are the seats starting to rip and crack? These things play a massive role on the approach that needs to be taken when looking to clean the seats but lucky for you, we will go over all scenarios so that anyone looking to clean their car, can get the results that are most likely achievable.

First, we will assume that you do not have anything at your disposal right now so obviously, you need to grab some tools.

Ideally, you could go on

Autogeek.net

shinesupply.com

Or even auto zone if needed.

You will need these four main types of tools and supplies to complete any type of leather cleaning

1.Brush

2. Leather Cleaner

3.Towels

4.Vacuum

5.Leather Conditioner

Pretty simple huh? Not as bad as you thought I hope!

So lets go over what all these items will do for you starting with brush.

Brush: With this brush what you will basically be doing is scrubbing any surface dirt on the seat to agitate it and remove it. Ideally, you have a horse hair bush and horse hair brushes are not as abrasive and will not damage the leather. You wouldn't want to use the same brush to clean your tires as you would with leather as obviously tires can take more of a beating.

Horse hair brushes are meant for these types of cleaning and will provide the best results you are looking to get.

Leather Cleaner: This cleaner is what you will be using to clean the seat with the brush you will be using. You can either spray the cleaner on the surface you are cleaning and then work the chemical in with the brush OR you can spray the cleaner into the brush and then wipe the leather seats to clean them. The heavier the seat, the more cleaner you will probably have to spray on the surface but be careful if the seat seems damaged already because too much cleaner and too much agitation can damage the seat further so its up to you to make that distinction with what you are working with.

Towels: As you can imagine, your seats are probably dirtier than you think. The sweat, oils and more are always getting on the car seats and layers of muck just keep packing on over itself. So, your trusty towels will be one of your good companions here. These will be used to wipe down after you have rubbed the cleaner into the surface.

Vacuum: Now this one is optional, you don't technically need a vacuum and additionally buying one for a single time use would be overkill as you can easily spend over $100 for one. With the vacuum what you will essentially be doing is getting all the first from out of the cracks and crevices in that seat to get you a perfectly clean seat to work out prior to working in the cleaner. We use a 16 gallon vacuum but that is because we run a business where we detail hundreds of cars over the years. Should you decide to get one, you can get a 5 gallon rigid one from Home Depot that will go a long way not only for you car but for the house as well!

Leather Conditioner: This is also optional but for us, is a must. Just like wax protects car paint, conditioner protects leather seats and rejuvenates them to prevent future damage like cracking and making the color look due.