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"Once the summer vacation season kicks off, we receive a lot of calls from car owners wondering what can be done about the damage to their leather and vinyl seats,” says Michael Wilson, CEO of Fibrenew. "Kids and adults unsuccessfully trying to juggle food, drinks and toys on the road can cause damage to car seats, but oftentimes the worst problems are caused by car owners who don’t know the best ways to clean up a mess and repair a problem.” Here are some tips:
- Food or drink stain
-- Don’t use window/mirror cleaner, because it contains alcohol that will dissolve and destroy the surface coating on your leather.
-- Do use a damp towel to wipe up the mess and a dry one to finish the job. Fully finished leather is pretty much water resistant, so a little spill isn’t going to hurt as long as you clean it up quickly, before it soaks through.
- Ink
-- Don’t use dish soap or hair spray to remove the marks. The degreasing agents in dish soap can permanently de-gloss and damage the top coating on the leather surface. Hair spray, another commonly recommended remedy, has alcohol in it and will ruin the surface coating on your leather.
-- Do use a soft sponge and specialized leather cleaner. Buy it at most leather furniture retailers.
- Nail polish
-- Don’t use nail polish remover because it will take all of the color out of your leather and leave a bleached spot bigger than the nail polish spot.
-- Do, once again, use a soft sponge and leather cleaner. However, you will most likely have to call a professional for help to get rid of this stain.
- Animal scratches and picks
-- Don’t touch up the spots with shoe polish or markers because it makes an ugly, sticky mess.
-- Do try to reduce the visibility of the problem by snipping off the cotton interior strands that often get pulled out when leather gets picked. Do use a hair dryer and massage minor scratches with leather cleaner to try to rub it out. Call a professional to fix larger scratches and holes - this is not a DIY kind of job.
-- 919 Marketing
