Shinny leather seats

[breshi]

I have a '13 limited with the sandstone leather interior. When I first got the car, all the leather had a matte finish. I've noticed that the leather on the seats is becoming more and more shiny over time. I've tried cleaning it with Luxol cleaner and conditioner. No matter how much I clean it, the leather still has a shine to it. Has anybody come up with a method or product that restores the matte finish?

 

[tmg19103]

I don't know the technical reason for it, but most car leather seats lose the matte finish and get shiny with age. I think is has more to do with heat/sun and then sitting on the seat and having a top protective coating wear off. In my 12 year old Saab the driver's seat is a bit shiny, the passenger a little and the back like new as nobody is ever back there.

I have tried every product - including all the expensive ones. The best I have found is not some online boutique product, but something available in any auto store and not expensive at all.

Blue Magic Leather Cream Conditioner. They also have a cleaner, but the conditioner helps the most with the shine, but once you get the shine, hard to get back to looking completely new. Blue Magic Leather Cream Conditioner is the best I have found to getting the shine out the most you can. Also protects from the sun and helps prevent cracking like all these products say they do, but I have found this to be the best for me. I put it on once a month. Goes a long ways and pretty cheap.

 

[LukerDooker]

Are you still under warranty?

The seats are covered in seat covers that are a pretty cheap & thin leather. There are many posts on here of the drivers seat wearing out at seams, leather flaking, stitching ripped loose, cushion flattening out & cushion fibers popping out from perforated area etc.

Im at 14300 and warranty ends in winter, drivers side seat starting to rip at stitch on corner.
Horrible.

 

[Dr Plastic]

This is normal for leather seats. The process of your weight and your clothing/body rubbing across the surface is buffing the leather. The same process is used to make leather shoes shiny. I have never really heard of a way to reduce it. Cleaning helps but does not reduce it entirely. If out of warranty you may go to a shop that specialized in leather product manufacture and repair.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

^^ Go look at any good used saddle, leather gloves (work or a baseball), wallets, etc.... leather wears like this.

 

[breshi]

I was able to remove the shine by using a clothing steamer with a cleaning head on it. I saw this being done on the "*****en Rides" show. I guess the steam releases the oils embedded in the leather. I followed up the cleaning with a conditioner. the seats look new again.