Cleaning and maintaining your leather seats: Our best advice

Regular upkeep: this is essential for keeping your seats and other leather areas inside your car in perfect condition

If you want to keep your leather supple and shiny, as well as stain-free and free from scratches, regular cleaning is necessary. There’s no point in over-using polishing products! The most important thing is to regularly dust the leather and get rid of any dirty residue that may have built up.

To maintain your leather seats on an ongoing basis, all you need to do is wipe them down with a slightly damp cloth.

To finish off cleaning your car’s interior, always vacuum. Do this as often as you need to. Pay close attention to any cavities or recessed, hidden areas, such as underneath seats and any place where dust tends to build up. Use the crevice nozzle tool on your vacuum cleaner and take care not to scratch any part of your car.

Here’s a good tip: If you’re a typical car user, cleaning your leather seats is enough keep them looking shiny.

Cleaning leather seats: Products and techniques to use

These days, you’ll see promotions for “miracle products” that promise to remove stains from leather and make it look like new. However, all you really need is just one product that’s both effective and cheap: soapy water. Here’s what you need to do to restore the shine to the leather seats in your car:

• Fill two basins with hot water, use Marseille soap or black soap and a soft brush along with two microfibre cloths.
• Taking one basin, soak your brush in the water and then rub it into the soap.
• Clean your seats with small brush strokes and circular movements.
• Wipe down the surface you’ve just washed with the first cloth.
• Slightly dampen the second cloth using clean water and wipe the surface you’ve just cleaned.
• Repeat this process on all your leather upholstery.

Here’s another good tip: You can also use a spray bottle to dampen your second rinsing cloth.

You can also choose from other leather cleaning products. Cleansing milk is a good option, as well as white vinegar with linseed oil added. This is a great way of getting rid of light stains or dirt. Follow the steps below:

• Dampen a microfibre cloth with a little milk or a ‘home’ cleaning product.
• Gently rub your seats, paying close attention to any stains.
• Wipe down the leather surfaces using a damp sponge.
• Leave all surfaces to dry in a well-ventilated area (ideally in the fresh air with the windows and doors open).

Of course, you can also buy special leather cleaning products. However, pay attention to the ingredients: Ideally, these should be water-based, not contain wax or silicone and have a neutral pH level.

How do you protect or renovate your car’s leather interior?

To keep your car seats as clean and shiny as possible, ideally, clean the leather surfaces every three months. Below are various products to choose from:

• Neatsfoot oil.
• Cleaning wipes or moisturising baby milk.
• Leather care products.

A final tip: To keep your leather seats in good condition and prevent scratches, try to avoid any wear and tear through contact with metal objects, such as keys or hard plastics like children’s toys.

So, what should you do if your leather is still stained despite all your best efforts? As a last resort, you can call upon a cleaning company. Indeed, this could give you the opportunity to have a thorough deep clean done on your car.

By being vigilant and carrying out a few simple steps, you can keep your leather seats in a shiny and soft condition for a long time to come. It’s well worth the effort of taking a little while to maintain your car’s interior on a regular basis!