How to Clean Leather Car Seat
What you need to know that you haven't been told

TLDR:

Most people think that you need to use special leather cleaners to clean car seats, however this is not true. 

Car leather, unlike other types of leather, has a clear protective coating that makes it easier to clean. 

You can actually use the same cleaner for the entire interior of your car including the leather seats, carpets, headliner, fabrics, vinyl, and dashboard.

I recommend Chemical Guys Fabric Clean because it is a concentrate, so you can dilute it according to the label instructions and use it on everything.

If you are skeptical and still want to use a product specifically for leather, I then suggest the Chemical Guys Car Leather Cleaning and Conditioning Kit. 

I also also recommend using microfiber cloths for all your cleaning tasks. Finally, I stress that there is a lot of bad information about car leather cleaning, and this article aims to correct that. 

The Deep Dive of Clean Leather Car Seat

Who among us doesn't prefer clean car leather over dirty car leather?

And the reason you are here is because you have come to the conclusion that you can't stand your dirty car leather any longer, and it's finally time to do something about this!

The industry wants you believing you need dedicated leather cleaners to do this. This makes sense to most of us since leather is a special type of material and therefore needs a special cleaner.

While this does make sense, it is misleading because it's not telling the whole story.

Sure leather is "special", but what is less special is the clear protective coating that sits as the top coat to any car leather regardless of the cost of the car.

The great thing about this clear protective coating is that is makes your life as a car owner much easier:

• It adds a layer of protection so your car leather holds up better for long term use
• Cleaning and maintaining the leather is simpler than ever
• Liquid spills clean up very easily

Very few car owners know this because the industry doesn't want you to know this.

The industry doesn't want you to know this because they want to continue to sell you all their dedicated car leather cleaners and conditioners.

The very dedicated products you don't actually need any longer.

The two images above highlight how effective most car upholstery cleaners can be in cleaning your car leather.

You can still use a dedicated car leather cleaner to clean the leather in your car if you choose, but I am telling you it's not a requirement.

You can keep your life simpler by using a product to clean your car leather that is also the same product you would use to clean everything else inside your car's interior.

Now you are buying one product, not multiple products!

If you follow my advice, you can buy one product and use this product to clean and detail the entire interior of your car:

• Car leather
• Carpeting
• Headliner material
• Fabrics
• Vinyl/plastic door panels
• Dashboards
• Etc.
  

What I Use To Clean Everything

Chemical Guys Fabric Clean on Amazon

• The one cleaner you can use to clean everything
• Concentrate: blend according to label instructions (I use the label instructions of 20:1 and use to clean everything inside a vehicle)
• Economical and effective

Since this product is a concentrate, you will need a sprayer to mix this into. You can see my recommendations at how to clean car upholstery.

Car Leather Is Car Leather

What do I mean by that?

Consider how many leather items we encounter every day—shoes, jackets, belts, gloves, handbags, and so on.

Here’s the point: *car leather is its own category.* Leather car upholstery is different from other types of leather you might own.

This matters because many of your other leather items may not have a protective coating, while car leather will be coated with a clear protective layer.

I’m including this extra information because there are plenty of people out there who, without professional knowledge, will treat *all* leather as the same.

They’ll eagerly recommend their favorite leather cleaner or conditioner, but their advice is based on a sweeping generalization that lumps all types of leather together. This can lead to confusion, as they overlook the differences I mentioned earlier.

For instance, I have dress shoes made from both coated and non-coated leather. But, once again, car leather is unique—it’s always coated. (yes, there are always exceptions to the rule. I just haven't come across any cars that are exceptions unless we are talking about cars that were built before 1990)

Best Scrub Pad for Car Leather

Scrub Ninja on Amazon

• Perfect size for the many large areas of cleaning car leather
• Molds perfectly to contours of both your hand and seating surfaces
• Corners allow you to get into tighter areas of leather cleaning
• Two sided scrub pad with different scrubbing material types
• Envelope style allows you to also insert hand for added control while scrubbing car leather

Car Leather Cleaning Brushes

Some people prefer using traditional scrub brushes, so I’m including what I consider the best set for this purpose. This set can handle all types of leather textures and effectively tackle varying levels of dirt and grime.

Scrub Brush Set on Amazon

• My current favorite brush cleaning set (If I am going to reach for brushes to clean car leather versus the Scrub Ninja)
  
• Not just to clean leather car seats, but all interior shampooing and cleaning
  
• One brush is made for super gentle cleaning with the horse hair scrub brush
• The other brush is perfect for deep cleaning with stiffer synthetic bristles

Darren's Tips: You can start with the super gentle horse hair scrub brush to clean the leather car seat. Use it and check your results. Many of you will find that the gentle horse hair bristles are not stiff enough to do a thorough cleaning on your car leather.

At that point you can switch to the stiffer synthetic scrub brush and go in gentle at first to verify your results, and then apply more pressure as needed based on the results you are getting.

The stiffer brush will also prove ideal in cleaning and scrubbing the more durable materials in your car when cleaning and shampooing. (floor mats, door panels, door threshold plates, etc.)

What If?

What is you remain skeptical and don't want the risk?

You prefer to use a product that is labeled and dedicated to car leather.

Then I also have an answer for you.

Chemical Guys Car Leather Cleaning and Conditioning Kit on Amazon

• The perfect kit for any car owner looking to keep things super simple
• Everything need to clean leather car seats based on what the industry teaches
• The perfect kit for new cars when you are not attempting to clean years of dirt off your car leather

Car Leather Cleaning Cloths

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths on Amazon

• I use microfiber cloths for every detailing task including cleaning car leather.
  
• The softest, safest, most absorbent, and lint free detailing and cleaning cloth.
• Throw away your baby diapers or terry cloth towels (micro-fiber cloths are what I consider the 9th wonder of the world!).
• You can spend much more on microfiber cloths, but you do not have to overthink these cloths at this moment.
  

How to Clean Leather Car Seat Summary

In closing I will add that when it comes to car leather cleaning, there is lots of bad information that is outdated and simply gets repeated from one website/blog to another.

DIY Network: This link will teach you so many things wrong, I am unsure where to start.

If you have made it to the end of this page, you now have more information than most professional detailers who are just starting out.

I hope the information on this page will help you in your car leather care moving forward.

If you have car leather upholstery that you know is excessively dirty, and you want to see what I use for excessively dirty car upholstery regardless of material, you can go to: heavy duty car leather cleaning

Sincerely,

Darren Priest