HELP! Water damage on Mercedes S580 door panel leather

[benjir88]

Hello Mr. Roger Ko

I left the window down in the rain on my Mercedes S580 and ruined the door panel ..
Extremely sad to say the least..


I have ordered ;
1 Leather Hydrator 3.3
1 Leather Fatliquor 5.0

Based on reading your previous thread ..
https://www.leathercleaningrestorationforum.com/forum/showthread.php?31698-Veins-shaped-lines-on-my-nappa-leather-door-panels


Please advise how to apply and if ANYTHING else is needed.

Thank you so much for your time 🙏🏻
- Ben

[Roger Koh]

This vein-shaped line or ridge line is where the water ends, bringing along the leather constituents (tanning agent, fat, and oil) and depositing them there. Leather has a pH value of 3 and 5. Any liquid outside of this leather pH-neutral range tends to denature the leather by leaching the leather constituents and moving them away from the source of the water damage. Remember, it is the pH value of the water that causes this damage.

Leather is an amphoteric material that is pH-sensitive. If it is damaged by the pH value of water, it should be cleaned and pH-balanced using low pH value products such as Leather Pro Cleaner 1.5 and Leather Acidifier 2.0. (The product suffix number indicates their pH value).

To rectify the vein-shaped line, the entire leather structure needs to be hydrated to move and redistribute the deposit with Hydrator 3.3, and even out the vein-shaped line. When the deposit moves, it's time to continue with Fatliquor 5.0 for the entire leather structure.

The above two steps sound simple enough, but the technical difficulty lies in getting the products into the leather structures.

A test with Hydrator 3.3 involves dropping water onto the leather surface to observe if the product penetrates and causes the leather to darken. We will discuss further based on this information.

Meanwhile, read more information from the below link.

11246
Auto Leather Water and Heat Damaged Stiffness Restoration Kit AT5.ws
https://leatherdoctor.com/auto-leather-water-and-heat-damaged-stiffness-restoration-kit-at5-ws/

11247
Roger Koh
Leather Care System Formulator
Consultant / Practitioner / Instructor / Coach
web: www.leatherdoctor.com
forum: www.leathercleaningrestorationforum.com
email: [email protected],
email: [email protected]
phone: 604 773 1878

[benjir88]

Thank you so much for your response.
I'll order the entire kit then and try this out..

"A test with Hydrator 3.3 involves dropping water onto the leather surface to observe if the product penetrates and causes the leather to darken. We will discuss further based on this information."

Are you saying I should test this in a small area and then report back to you before I do the entire panel?

[benjir88]

I also needed help with these items..

One of them is an armrest from the side the window was left down, the soft a suppleness of the leather is gone and its feeling dry.

The other is my Driver's seat after only 24,000 miles of use.
Please advise on how to bring her back to life ! Seat is a little dry but not like the armrest, but mainly has many wrinkles to it that I'd like to help look better.



Thank you SO MUCH

[Roger Koh]

>>> Are you saying I should test this in a small area and then report back to you before I do the entire panel?

Do the work with understanding . . . to work out the vein-shape line or ridge the Hydrator 3.3 must first get underneath the leather finish as the water has gone through. Probably the water has got in from the edge of the leather, penetrated through, and stopped for unknown reason. To do the correction or eliminate, the 'vein', Hydrator 3.3 must get to the entire panel without a dry edge. It is also at this stage, that you just massage away the 'vein', easy as that, with satisfaction the Fatliquor 5.0 follows immediately and massages to spread and distribute to the entire panel below the leather finish. If you see the cross-section of the leather you will see two layers, it's the structure layer that causes the 'vein' issue.

If we know the possibility that Hydrator 3.3 can be easily absorbed through the finish into the leather structure, then the product application is quite straightforward. We just need to adopt different techniques to get the product into the leather structure layer.

There are a few techniques, so as not to confuse you, let me know how the drop pool test goes. Take some pictures.

[Roger Koh]

>>> One of them is an armrest from the side the window was left down, the soft a suppleness of the leather is gone and its feeling dry.

We can see micro creasing or cracks developed on the armrest and a good chance of the Hydrator 3.3 penetrating through these semi-porous openings. It still depends on the absorbency rate, and in this situation the technique of using Towel 5 as a reservoir becomes practical. Just wet out the towel with Hydrator 3.3 and allow slow absorption through the finishes. You should see a darkening effect with an even massaging throughout. Once you have achieved an even hydration, follow immediately with Fatliquor 5.0 using the same technique. Take some pictures so we know you are doing it correctly, the product system works, it is the technique to get the product into the structure that often fails without understanding and patience.

[Roger Koh]

>>> The other is my Driver's seat after only 24,000 miles of use.
Please advise on how to bring her back to life ! Seat is a little dry but not like the armrest, but mainly has many wrinkles to it that I'd like to help look better.

Hahaha!
This seat seems to be the easiest to get what you want with the Hydrator 3.3 and Fatliquor 5.0 system. Why? Because the products can easily get into these stitching and perforated holes. Techniques to execute would be to spray as much as you could and brush them in with Leather Brush 1. You will see a darkening effect throughout with massaging. Wrinkles are stretched and massaged crosswise to relax the crushed leather structure.

With the dryness, and suppleness restored and wrinkles improved, Protector B, or the preferred leather scent version B Plus, will help reduce wrinkles. Protector B will impart a non-stick rub-resistant buttery feel surface that translates into less friction noise when we slide in and out of the car seat.

Pay attention when you slide in and out of your car now, do you hear friction rubbing noises?

After applying Protector B, share with us your experience sliding in and out of your car seat again.