Thread: Leather Book

I've attached a pdf with useful info about leather (from the beginning until covering the car seats. The book was written by George Pavlisko (creator of Leatherique).

apparently you thought you attached a PDF... however.. nothing is here.

Sorry. You can download the book from here. The size is bigger than forum's limit and I can't attach it.

The operative word with this product is the type of leather used in your vehicle-[Leatherique arose from a need to find a product that would restore the leather in his 1939 Bentley. Nothing he tried was adequate for this special car, so he approached Peck about creating something new. After a lot of work, they produced Leatherique”] [Leatherique]

This type of top-grain premium leather is mostly used in prestige European automobiles; Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lotus, Lexus and Rolls Royce, US Cadillac and high-end German automobiles such as Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG and BMW. This is the market sector both Leatherique and Connolly were originally formulated


Leather used in Automobiles

The most fundamental question to be answered before you clean or care for leather is to establish the type of leather used in the vehicle and / or finish applied (natural, pigmented, vinyl, urethane coated, and etc) as the methodologies are very specific for each type of leather / finish applied. Using quality dedicated leather products (ones tested within the leather industry) are far more economical as these will always prolong the life of your leather and the need for corrective work won’t be necessary

Automotive leather care is a subject surrounded with misinformation and myth. Products such as leather (Saddle) soaps, oil-based Conditioners, Neat-foot oil, and Hide Food still prevail as top sellers, albeit most are made for equestrian tack. These are very different leathers with drastically differing care requirements. The exact reason for this type of misapplication is unclear.

It’s possible that there is an association with old world quality (i.e. European automobiles with leather upholstery and real burl wood interiors) with these types of products, despite the fact that the automotive industry has been using water-based polyurethane covered pigmented leather for many years.

By-cast Leather

A by-cast (bottom split-leather) is produced from the remainder of the leather hide after the premium leather is removed; it is coated by first melting a type of glue on the surface, then rolling on a film of coloured polyurethane, thus rendering it non- absorbent. This type of leather is also known as coated or covered.

The majority (95% + ) of automotive upholstery is by-cast polyurethane covered leather, these leathers have aspects of a natural finish, but more uniform in appearance, by-cast will also stretch more than top grain leather and is therefore subject to show creasing.

The heavier pigments can create much darker colours, protected leather has a substantial finish applied that makes them more resistant to heavy wear and stains. The heavier pigments and finish do affect the softness and scent, so these leathers often they don't feel or smell like real leather. Just remember you are dealing with the finished (polyurethane) coating on the leather and not with the leather hide itself.

As materials and production methods that are used change; we need to adapt our product usage and application methodologies to change with them

An extract from one of a series of unbiased Detailing Technical Papers © TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2009, all rights reserved.

Chances are you'll learn something and advance your knowledge of detailing if you read any of these.

great article