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If you have leather upholstered car seats, you will eventually want to clean them. The common problem is that many of us don’t know how to maintain our leather car seats.
You may even find yourself postponing cleaning your leather car seats because of a preconceived notion that it will be difficult and time-consuming.
Many of us don’t realize that cleaning leather car seats is easy and maintaining them even more straightforward.
Most modern-day leather car seats come with a synthetic coating that covers the leather. This coating makes it extremely easy to clean the leather seats.
You may think that it is easy to maintain and clean leather car seats, but what about if they are white?
White leather doesn’t automatically mean that it is harder to look after. In this article, we will look at everything there is to know about white leather car seats, including maintaining, cleaning, and taking care of them.
You don’t need to take your car to a professional to get the best results. You can clean and maintain your white leather car seats yourself at home.
What Is Coated Car Leather?
You may be wondering what precisely coated car leather is. The synthetic coating on many car leather seats, including white leather seats, does not mean that your leather is fake. This coating makes it far easier to maintain and clean leather car seats.
Hearing that your leather is coated in a synthetic layer may be disappointing at first. Don’t despair; this coating is good news.
The automotive industry frequently wants us to believe that we need to buy numerous expensive products to clean and maintain our white car leather seats.
This is no longer the case; we don’t need to purchase separate products and use them for each part of the process.
This is possible thanks to the synthetic coating that is now the industry standard for car leather seats.
Why Is This Important?
It is crucial to know whether your car’s white leather seats are of the modern coated variety or the more traditional non-coated variety.
A vehicle with white leather seats without the synthetic coating will mean that you will have to note the products you use.
It will also affect how you clean and maintain your white leather car seats. The non-coated leather car seats of yesteryear will be harder to clean and more sensitive to certain products.
So you must make sure that you know exactly what type you are working with.
What Should You Do When Cleaning White Leather Car Seats
First, you will want to make sure the products you use are of the best quality. Always make sure that you use a microfiber cloth when cleaning your leather seats.
This type of material cloth is specifically designed to clean sensitive surfaces. Using this fabric, you ensure that your white leather seats will not get scratched or potentially torn.
Secondly, before you undertake any cleaning involving your leather car seats, you must vacuum thoroughly.
Vacuuming in the seams of the seats as well will help ensure you do not miss any loose grains of dirt. Thirdly you should always clean your white leather car seats once or twice a week.
You don’t need to do anything too extensive, but you should, at the minimum, wipe the seats down with a microfiber damp cloth every week.
However, note that if your seats do not have a synthetic coating, you will have to be cautious of how you wipe them.
Lastly, conditioning leather is vital for its lifetime. It would help if you used quality conditioners made specifically for leather to condition your car seats a few times a year. Conditioned seats will be suppler and less likely to tear or crack.
Therefore, it is imperative to condition your seats but take care not to over condition them. You are sure to prolong the lifetime of your white leather car seats by you doing these things.
What You Shouldn’t Do When Cleaning White Leather Car Seats
Firstly don’t ever use a hard bristled brush when cleaning your car leather seats. These more rigid style brushes are more likely to damage your leather seats.
Secondly, don’t assume that your white leather seats are synthetically coated.
If you use incorrect products that are not meant for traditional-style leather, you can irrevocably damage your car seats.
Additionally, you should always use reputable products that don’t contain harmful ingredients. Many bad products will have ingredients that can adversely affect your leather car seats.
Thirdly don’t ever spray a solution directly onto your car’s leather seats. Always make sure that you first spray it onto a microfiber cloth.
Doing it this way avoids potential discolorations to your seats and prevents mold from forming in the seat tears, if you have any.
Using a spray bottle with adjustable settings would help tremendously with the volume of the solution that comes out. Furthermore, this will help you to control the amount that you want to use.
Lastly, you will need to remember never to use harmful products or products not made for leather on your white leather car seats.
These incorrect products often can cause build-up on your seats or even cause them to become oily and slippery. Make sure to choose the correct products that are not wax or silicone-based.
Why Is This Important?
By only doing what you should, it will help extend the lifetime of your leather seats. If you conduct the incorrect practices, you will diminish the lifetime of your white leather car seats.
Presently and in the future, this could cost you more money than if you had followed the proper guidelines.
Guide On How To Clean And Maintain White Leather Car Seats
A downside to white leather is that it often shows dirt easier, and cracks are more visible.
Below we will look at a step-by-step guide on how to clean our white leather car seats and what we can do to keep them clean.
Step One
Your first step to cleaning your leather car seats is to vacuum the seats. Make sure that you get in between the seams of the seats. By doing this, you will prevent scratching, and you will also be able to identify any tears.
Step Two
Next, you will want to remove any dirt on the surface of your seats. You will do this by using a non-toxic leather cleaner or your very own DIY solution. Apply this solution to a microfiber cloth and clean your seats.
Step Three
Now you will want to deeply clean the white leather seats. Begin by lightly spraying your cleaning solution directly onto the seats.
You will then need to scrub your leather seats lightly and wipe away the dirt with your microfiber cloth.
Step Four
At this point, your seats should be thoroughly cleaned. You can now vacuum them one more time to ensure that there is no loose dirt left behind. Finish up by buffing your seats.
Step Five
Bi-Weekly or monthly, you will want to condition your white leather seats. The leather conditioner will help replenish the leather’s oils, keep it supple, and prevent cracking.
Step Six
Yearly you will want to use a leather rejuvenation oil. You must coat your seats in a generous amount of oil and leave it out in the sun for about 24 hours.
The next day you will want to wipe down the seats with a microfiber rag with leather cleaner.
Why Does This All Matter?
Keeping your white leather car seats clean and maintaining them is incredibly important if you want them to last for many years.
By following this guide, you will save yourself money, and you will have white leather car seats that stand the test of time.
In conclusion, taking care of white leather car seats is easier than we first believed. If you follow the guidelines and the tips on what to do and what not to do, you should have no problems.
Now in the future, you will not need to worry about cleaning and maintaining the integrity of your white leather car seats.
James has been a car enthusiast since his childhood when he learned the differences between a ford and a chevy from his father. He loves to drive and restore old cars with a special drive for Italian marvels. Currently, he has a 1968 Alfa Romeo. He has studied aeronautics and civil aviation in his college and still gets smitten by Galant SS and Lancer GSR.
He is a New York-based product training director working with a giant automotive retailer. He loves to review and uncover the vehicles and their fascinating stories. He believes in keeping it legitimate with a keen passion for research on the latest technological upgrades in cars. While reading his articles or blogs, you can sense the extensive research and dedication backing the piece of text. He loves fried chicken, music, and spending quality time with his pet dog.