What Options Are Available for Protecting Leather Surfaces

Those of us who are old-school car guys swear by leather conditioners and dressings. But what is different about these two products?

A leather conditioner is intended to maintain hydration in a leather car seat and other interior parts. The conditioner soaks into the top layer of the hyde, which helps to reduce the potential of drying, cracking, and other damage caused by UV rays and excessive heat.

A leather dressing is applied to help protect the surface against exposure to UVA and UVB. Consider a leather dressing similar with sunscreen for your skin. However, it’s also used to help improve the shine of the leather surface.

These are the two big dogs in leather protection. There are also specific leather cleaner products, but we covered that in a previous episode of Car Detailing 1010. They were initially created to work with traditional leather upholstery materials.

But then something happened in the automotive industry – cost cutting. The manufacturers were realizing that genuine leather became cost-prohibitive. This led to the creation of leatherette and synthetic leather used to create an upgraded vehicle seat. It also saw a large addition of perforated leather seats.
These materials are painted then coated with a urethane coating – like a clear coat for paint. Even genuine leather today in luxury vehicles receives this similar factory-applied treatment. We’ll dive into this new process and the professional-grade interior nano coatings that provide superior protection for leather surfaces.