Conditioning leather seats

[kpopbonn]

I recently bought a 2002 SLE out of Florida. car was in Florida for 13 years. While the seats are in excellent shape (no rips or tears etc) the leather is a little stiff and hard and not soft and supple (please no jokes here). In doing some research on conditioning leather seats I learned that sun and heat tend to dry the seats out and leave them a little brittle. I bought some Lexol Leather Conditioner today at AutoZone and put the first coat on the seats tonight. I will condition the seats as much as possible over the next several months. Anybody have any other suggestions about conditioning the seats. I realize they will not be Cadillac soft but shouldn't they be easy on the rear when sitting on them?

[1oldman]

No expert here, but, you bought the best there is in my opinion. You might way to put cellophane over the seats immediately after applying the Lexol so it won't dry out so fast. There are more members that can tell you much more that I, but I keep my leather seats pliable that way. - BC

[00Beast]

You gotta clean them first. There's 13 years of sand, sweat, etc in them. Cleaning them also opens up the grain in the leather (as much as it can on coated leather), which helps it absorb the conditioner. Go back to where you got the conditioner, and get the cleaner, then follow the instructions. A few treatments should have them much softer and more supple.

[DJC906]

I used a cheap 20 "buffer" from autozone with a microfiber cover, along with some lexol leather cleaner and then a couple coats with the Lexol leather conditioner and mine are extremely soft now.

[kpopbonn]

all right its back to autozone this morning for some leather cleaner. I have a buffer that I can use to work some leather cleaning magic and then reapply the conditioner. I read that the leather conditioner does its best work when the leather is warm and temperatures above 80 degrees in the car, I will continue to apply as needed thru the winter months.

Thanks for all your help.

[nos4blood70]

As Edward mentioned, they need to be clean first before the absorb the conditioner. Means you should be generous with the use of elbow grease.

[kpopbonn]

Can I get elbow grease at AutoZone?

[nos4blood70]

I wouldn't trust the elbow grease from Autozone…