Leather Care with Race Glaze UK
Detailers spend most of their attention perfecting a vehicle’s paint. This is great for everyone but the driver. Sure, your car may look great parked but how can you appreciate a well detailed exterior while you are driving. The fact is you can’t. A well maintained interior is considered by some, including myself, to be more important than pristine paint.
One of the most delicate surfaces to care for in your vehicle is leather. Leather surfaces can be very tricky to clean as there are different types including perforated, full grain, coated, uncoated, and ecoleather. First, inspect the leather in your care and determine as best you can what different types you may have so that you can formulate the best plan to begin the detail. As with all products, always read and follow the label before you begin so you understand how to properly use your leather cleaner and conditioner. Also, be sure to test your cleaner on an inconspicuous spot of the leather to ensure that you will not cause any damage as you move through your leather care regimen.
The Tools
Let’s take a quick look at some of the tools that we will need in our leather care toolbox:
Leather Cleaner (Race Glaze UK, Adam’s Polishes)
Leather Conditioner (Race Glaze UK, Adam’s Polishes)
Leather Brush (Race Glaze UK, Adam’s Polishes, Wheel Woolie)
Microfiber Towels (I’m preferential to a dual pile towel like this or these but the choice is yours)
Applicator pad (Adam’s Polishes or The Rag Company)
The Process
In this process we use Race Glaze UK leather care products, The Rag Company Spectrum 420 towels, a soft foam applicator, and water to clean and condition the seats.
Step 1: Carefully vacuum the seats including all crevices to remove loose debris and dirt. Use one hand to press each crevice of the seat open and vacuum inside with the other hand. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo for this.
Step 2: Lightly mist the seat with water. You will be working in sections so do not saturate or soak the whole seat. Only work with one section at a time so mist the portion you will be cleaning. (This photo is a little too wet but it’s difficult to get a good photo and control the amount of moisture, I wiped the seat down and resprayed before I began cleaning.)
Step 3: Apply a small amount of Race Glaze UK Leather Cleaner to your Race Glaze UK Leather Brush and begin to agitate the leather. Ensure to work in different directions so to thoroughly clean every nook and cranny. You will begin to see the Cleaner foam and lather up as you work it across the surface.
Step 4: Allow the cleaner to sit on the seat for one to two minutes before wiping it off. Wipe the leather with a microfiber towel.
Aside: Notice the blue that remains on the left side of the seat as compared to the side that has been cleaned.
Pre-Step 5: Allow the seat to dry for a number of minutes before you move on to conditioning.
Step 5: Using the Race Glaze Leather Balm and a soft applicator, apply a thin and even layer of conditioner to the surface of the leather. The balm brings moisture back to the leather, keeping it soft and supple.
Step 6: Allow some time for the leather balm to penetrate the leather and dry. For deeper conditioning on old, dry, and cracked surfaces, consider further thin coats to add more moisture and protection.
And that’s it, you’re all done. You can now enjoy your freshly cleaned and conditioned seats. For quick wipe downs between deep cleaning and conditioning, use Adam’s Polishes Interior Detailer as an easy spray and wipe option to remove dust and dirt. Race Glaze UK also offers an all in one solution in the form of their Leather Care Kit, available online at DetailFanatics.com.