# How to make dried out leather soft?



## quazzi07 (Jul 26, 2007)

Hi! My 1997 E36 with black leather interior spent a year on Montreal streets in harsh weather conditions like snow and direct sun light, which totally dried out its leather seats. No cracks (thanks God!), but leather dried pretty hard. I've made a research on how to soften it and that's what I found as possible solutions:

Leatherique Rejuvinator Oil together with Prestine Clean is the best, though the most expensive way to restore your leather.

Then goes Lexol PH cleaner and conditioner - though they say that the cleaner is great, but the conditioner leaves a sticky and greasy finish on leather...

Zaino 9 and Zaino 10 Leather in a bottle

Among other things used to bring leather back to life were:
-Leather Neatsfoot Oil (darkens leather and smells like cow feet
-Fiebing's All Purpose Leather Cleaner and Conditioner
-Leather Balm with Atom Wax
-Baseball glove conditioner
-mink oil
-saddle soap

Could anyone give any comment on these products? Did you try it? 
Any other alternative way to treat leather?

Thanks in advance


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## Bill-SD (Feb 18, 2002)

Leatherique Rejuvinator Oil will work if the leather isn't too hard. The seats in my E34 were hard and it was too much for the Rejuvinator Oil. I went the hole nine yards with the Leatherique dye kit. It was pricey, but was pretty easy and turned out *GREAT*. They are almost like new now!


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## quazzi07 (Jul 26, 2007)

Thanks Bill-SD! 
By the time I bought my 1997 E36 in 2005, the seats were "naturally hard"







which I accepted as one of BMW feature: manual transmission, hard clutch, hard seats - a perfect car for a real man... or a car that makes a woman stronger 

Was Rejuvinator Oil the only product you tried on your seats? 
Frankly, I want to start with something less expensive, like Zaino 10, or a hand cream


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## dboy11 (Mar 6, 2006)

quazzi07 said:


> Thanks Bill-SD!
> By the time I bought my 1997 E36 in 2005, the seats were "naturally hard"
> 
> 
> ...


I would start with something that is going to replenishing the needed oils back into the leather..then use a maintenance product to keep them that way...sounds like your leather is in need of some serious restoration...the leatherique is that product...I have brought some real bad leather seats back from the dead with this product


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## quazzi07 (Jul 26, 2007)

Leatherique has a $35 special on 16oz Rejuvinator Oil and 16oz Prestine Clean set.
Any ideas of how much do they want for delivery?
How long would a 8oz bottle of leatherique last? 16oz bottle?


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## dboy11 (Mar 6, 2006)

quazzi07 said:


> Leatherique has a $35 special on 16oz Rejuvinator Oil and 16oz Prestine Clean set.
> Any ideas of how much do they want for delivery?
> How long would a 8oz bottle of leatherique last? 16oz bottle?


no clue on the shipping charges but you could call they are real good with advice...also they have a forum on there site that you can post at...i do..I would go with the 16oz bottles this way you can do all the seats and then use the pristine clean as the maintenance product...I use it about every 6 months on my leather..mines a 99


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## Bill-SD (Feb 18, 2002)

quazzi07 said:


> Thanks Bill-SD!
> By the time I bought my 1997 E36 in 2005, the seats were "naturally hard"
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, the Rejuvinator Oil was the only thing I tried. But I put a lot of it on and let the car bake in the sun. It did help but the seat were still hard. My understanding is that what is really hard is the old leather dye. Part of the dye process is to strip that off. I used the Leatherique product that came with the kit (forget the name), and lightly wetsanded using that solution. That sounds scary, but it was quite easy and doing that made the leather soft. Then you apply the new dye with a paint brush. The kit is pricey, so I'd definately try something cheaper first. But again, I'm very pleased with how mine turned out!

Good luck! Let us know what you decide and how it turns out.

~Bill


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## Bill-SD (Feb 18, 2002)

Actually, I did try Lexol. That didn't really help at all.


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## quazzi07 (Jul 26, 2007)

So, there's nothing but Leatherique in the world of leathercare. Bizarre!
I hate choosing a monopolist product. I don't like when there's no alternative.
By now it sounds like: you may choose the best product Leatherique and get your seats like brand new, or you may choose any other product - whatever you choose from other products, the result would be same bad.

Please, don't offer me ArmorAll as alternative :thumbdwn: But there must be something else, except for Leatherique, that would do the same quality job on leather softenning. Don't you think so?


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## TOGWT (May 26, 2004)

You are absolutely correct, Leatherequi is not the only leather product, there are many others you could try, but none of them have the ability to renovate leather to the extent this product will. 

So your choices are; spend your money and time trying lesser product or purchase what is the best leather renovation system and enjoy renewed leather upholstery in your vehicle


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## dboy11 (Mar 6, 2006)

TOGWT said:


> You are absolutely correct, Leatherequi is not the only leather product, there are many others you could try, but none of them have the ability to renovate leather to the extent this product will.
> 
> So your choices are; spend your money and time trying lesser product or purchase what is the best leather renovation system and enjoy renewed leather upholstery in your vehicle


its what I was going to say..its about as good as it gets


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Contact JonM or AndyM - They are members here as well. You'll find them in the Z forum.

http://www.leatherz.com

They have a product kit called Spinneybeck Leather Maintenance Kit.

Click

Spinneybeck kit is one of the top products for leather. (the other one is Connolly Hide Food)


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## Mark_325i (May 1, 2003)

I have found Griots Leather Rejuvenator works well. My '88 e30 leather was getting crisp and a few applications seems to have softened it.


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