King Ranch Leather – Oil and Dirt Stains

Hi, this is Nathan.
I’m on a college budget at the moment, I had a few question on which of your products to chose for my leather.
I know I have aniline leather.
I’m just not sure which to choose.
I have some dirt or oil stains on my steering wheel.
I tried the basic $20 turtle wax spray on from the local auto parts store.
It doesn’t seem to do much but make my microfiber rag dirty.
Some of the seats have wear on the leather and show how it is beginning to crack.
Any advice?

I've attached some photos; hopefully you are able to view them.
It's hard to tell on the steering wheel, since it is dark.
But I attached some pictures of the steering wheel from sides showing the small dirt spot that is discolored.
The top part of steering wheel is similar to the dark discolor,
I'm guessing from oily sweaty hands.
Most of the leather on steering wheel is very rough to the touch and dry.
Similar to steering wheel, the same kind of dark discolor oil/dirt is on the gear shifter as well.
My back seats seem to be doing well.
But I've included pictures for the driver side along with passenger side seat.
They both have a few cracks and small discrepancies.
I hope this pictures help.
Thanks so much for the quick response.

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>>> I have some dirt or oil stains on my steering wheel. I tried the basic $20 turtle wax spray on from the local auto parts store.
It doesn’t seem to do much but make my microfiber rag dirty.

View from pictures #2 and #4, the darker coloring are accumulated soiling that fills the creases or the lower grain areas. The lighter grains or tips of grain finishes are worn-off and aggressive cleaning may reveal more. Restorative cleaning with Prep-4.4 > Clean-3.8 > Rinse-3.0 will remove them without compromising with the weaken finishes. To get in-between the grains or creases and grooves horsehair detailing Brush-1 is recommended to loosen them up for towel extraction. Thereafter color refinishing recommended with Adhesor-73 > Aniline-76 > AnilineTop-76S > Protector-D system.

>>> Some of the seats have wear on the leather and show how it is beginning to crack.

View from pictures #5, #6, #7 and #8 the finishes need refinishing but before the refinishing only for appearance the leather integrity has to be deal first. All the cracks suggest that the leather is dried of its original fatliquor (fat and oil averages 14% when read with a leather moisture meter or an equivalent wood moisture meter). Leather rejuvenating is by Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system.

>>> Most of the leather on steering wheel is very rough to the touch and dry.

The roughness is smooth with sandpaper during the dry preparation and in-between the topcoat application.

>>> Similar to steering wheel, the same kind of dark discolor oil/dirt is on the gear shifter as well.

Follow the same recommendation as for the steering wheel.

>>> My back seats seem to be doing well.But I've included pictures for the driver side along with passenger side seat.
They both have a few cracks and small discrepancies.

Cracking is a sign that the leather is too dry. Diminishes difference in fatliquor (fat and oil) moisture level need to top-up with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system and you will see the cracks closing up and be less noticeable. Thereafter refinishing as mentioned applies.

You may search the products from this on-line store by typing over the ‘search’ on the left top green bar.
http://www.leatherdoctor.com/

Let me know your decision and we can go over the step-by-step details accordingly.

Roger Koh
Leather Care System Formulator / Practitioner / Consultant / Instructor / Coach