At approx. the lumbar position on the drivers seat there is a stubborn dark stain. The leather is the stone (lt. gray) color and the stain appears to be black clothing dye transfered through probably sweat (ew, I know) or maybe just from friction over time. It is either from cotton or a silk shirt if I had to guess, I wear a lot of black.

First I tried Megs then Zymol to no success. I have also tried vinegar and a magic eraser (lightly). The magic eraser had some success but I didn't want to apply too much pressure.

Any suggestions?

 

lexol

 

There are two products you will want to use to clean up this discoloration. First use the Leatherique Rejuvenator and massage it into the seats. Let it sit or bake into the seats for about 4 - 24 hours. I like to back the car into the sun and let it bake in there all day. The high temperature will help the product break down and penetrate the leather. When the leather cleaner is deep in the leather it can seperate and release the particles that are giving you the discolored appearance. At the same time your leather is getting the best conditioning available to keep it soft and like new. Then I apply the Leatherique Prestine Clean on top of it. I let that sit for about 15-20 minutes and then remove it with a damp cloth followed by a dry one. These two steps are bar none the most effective way to clean leather that I have found. If you have anyquestions, let me know I'd be happy to help.

 

Got a chance to try Lexol (the orange bottle cleaner) this weekend, no effect even when using a semi abrasive applicator. Gonna try the leatherique when I get my hands on some.

 

Good to hear leatherique is the only product I know that can really help out in these situations if anything can fix the leather. Make sure you let it bake in the sun too, that really helps. Be somewhat generous with the Rejuvenator, they recomend 4 oz per seat, I use about 2 -3 but on that spot your referring to I would put plenty on it. Leatherique can not be found at local stores, it's usually only at places that do leather cleaning/repairs or online at places like www.detailedimage.com.

 

Actually the best way to get stains and discoloration out of Leather is gonna freak you out.

Go out and get yourself some Leather Cleaner. I don't know which one off the shelf works best since everything I use I get in bulk from distributors on a commercial cleaning level. But try a couple, they are all very similar.

Also go to Home Depot and buy from the Paint Area 000 Steel Wool. Yes, that's right, Steel Wool, but MAKE SURE it is 000. That is for polishing and it's soft enough that it won't harm your leather.

Now what you need to do it spray the leather cleaner onto the seat in the area of the stain. You need to wet the entire area of the stain along with an additional 4-8" around it. Then you need to rub the steel wool on the leather with almost no pressure what-so-ever. This will allow the steel wool the pull the dye off the seat from the stain as well as massage the actual dye from the seat around the area and make the seat look one color once again. If you plan to do the whole seat, I would advise you to only do a section at a time.

Once you have done each area, dry it off with a cotton towel. Don't be surprised if you see some of the leather dye on the towel, this is normal. It all depends on what leather cleaner you are using. Hopefully the cleaners you have will be strong enough. Once you have done the entire seat, then use a good leather conditioner and condition the seat by following the instructions of that conditioner. I would condition the seat at least twice. Once you are all finished, your seat will now look better than it did when you bought it new.

 

I wrote of a similar problem a while back from blue jeans dye. Used this..

http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrclea...s/eraser.shtml

...and blue dye disappeared in seconds. Then leather cleaner and conditioner.