I have just bought a used Honda Accord with leather seating. I'm not necessarily a car enthusiast, but I would be interested in knowing the minimum I should do to keep the interior in good condition. I have looked at this post where it mentions cleaning the leather. Is this just with normal soap and water, or is there a particular cleaner I need to use? Also I have heard people mention using leather moisturizer and I was wondering if that is necessary and (if so) how often it should be applied. Mainly I am just interested in any general information necessary for someone who has never had to care for leather seats before. I know there is quite a bit of information on this online, but I am more interested to get true advice and not a sales pitch. Thank you for any advice you can give.
1 Answer
The two things you mentioned will help keep your leather looking good for a long time. I had leather seats and never did any maintenance and they began to dry and crack after several years. So the leather moisturizer is a very good idea.You can get several flavors of this from auto parts places. I have no data on which ones are better. Without this you will start to get cracking and once that happens the leather is already dry and it's very hard to bring back. So I would recommend you do this before you start to notice the cracking.
Cleaning the leather will help avoid grinding dirt and debris (small stones, salt and pepper if you eat in the car, etc) from scarring the leather. The small particles act like sandpaper and score the finish. Keeping them clean prevent this. Any automotive leather cleaner should be fine for this.
Hope that helps!
