Interior Treatment

[JustOneMore]

If I do the Natural Dipped interior, it will probably be a good idea to have it treated with a stain repellent. Has anyone had any experience with either a commercial treatment company, or a DIY product?

[tooold2race]

What are you planning on doing inside the car??? I've owned well over a dozen Corvettes since the 1960's as well as a number of other 'exotics' (only 1 with a black interior) and never had an issue keeping them clean. The leather cleans up nicely with a good grade cleaner..... even the white ones back in the '90's. On the other hand, my experience with the 'faux suede' is very limited but that most likely comes from the manufacturer already treated. The biggest issue with the light colors is 'denims' getting the bolsters blue. One wipe with a cleaner and it's perfect. Don't overcomplicate things.... enjoy the car and the ownership experience.

[Gators2020]

What are you planning on doing inside the car??? I've owned well over a dozen Corvettes since the 1960's as well as a number of other 'exotics' (only 1 with a black interior) and never had an issue keeping them clean. The leather cleans up nicely with a good grade cleaner..... even the white ones back in the '90's. On the other hand, my experience with the 'faux suede' is very limited but that most likely comes from the manufacturer already treated. The biggest issue with the light colors is 'denims' getting the bolsters blue. One wipe with a cleaner and it's perfect. Don't overcomplicate things.... enjoy the car and the ownership experience.

There’s some people with young kids who will be in the car. You can’t always count on them treating it like you would.

I’m also interested in some interior treatment options

[John]

GM’s leather, unlike some options on the mega euro-exotics which do offer a non-treated leather, is a treated leather. It has a coating some have described as a “plasticizer,” e.g., a plastic coating. Not to say one can not screw it up, but this is one example of the protective coating at work.

Some use a “magic marker” or equivalent to re-dye their factory stitching from its light gray/white to a yellow of a blue or a red, and when doing that those marker inks to not stain the leather (of course folks smartly remove any overage that got off of the stitching to the leather itself within a few minutes).

At the same time, as a general rule for every material, fabric or leather, the lighter the color, if not maintained properly the more it could get dirty looking. Do you commute in your Corvette, treat is casually, or are you a fastidious soul? Having said the above, IMO if one lives in a Corvette such as in a three week road trip, Sky Cool would not be my chosen color — for as we have seen it is approaching “white.” Yet, we are respectful of our interior and do not have or drink colored sodas, coffee, nor eat food in our Corvettes.

There are tons of products if one were to want to have your interior extra coating protected. Usually however, the ones your dealer will sell you (their same finance manager who is also trying to upsell you on paint sealants, etc) is far from your most cost effective way of adding in such products, especially since applying one is one of the easiest DIY projects.

Any interior protective products you like for your Corvette and similar (names and links would be a superb help)???

[JustOneMore]

Just going by the order guide which says light carpet may take additional care to keep from soiling, so maybe all I need is to treat the carpet with a good stain repellent.

[John]

I have always regardless of quality of carpet mats, e.g, even Lloyds, get out a can of Scotchguard carpet treatment and spray two coats on them.

[meyerweb]

I'm not endorsing this article, but it's an interesting read. Not everyone agrees using a leather conditioner accomplishes anything, though.

https://guidetodetailing.com/car-det...holstery-care/

I had a Miata with an interior pretty close to the new Natural finish and it did show quite a bit of dirt after a few years even though it was coated. My son's college car club had a member who was really into detailing, and suggested this routine:

Liberally apply Lexol, and scrub with a soft bristle brush (soft enough to NOT scratch the leather). Close up the car and park it in the hot sun for an hour or two. Apply more Lexol and scrub with the brush. Wipe off all the Lexol using a clean cloth. Let the leather dry thoroughly.

Then coat with Leatherique leather rejuvenator, following the instructions.

The seats ended up looking like new, except for the area where something scratched the leather deeply enough to strip off the coating and some of the dye. But even that area was spotlessly clean.

The Leatherique is a liquid, not a cream, and if nothing else seemed to offer a little protection from future dirt.

As for the faux suede, I've never done anything but wipe it down with a very damp rag, and it looks fine. I don't have kids eating ice cream cones or anyone drinking coffee in my car, though. Come to think of it, though, my wife got suntan lotion on the passenger seat, and it wiped off of both the leather and suede without much trouble.

Re: Scotchguard, the detailer a number of our club members use says it doesn't really last very long, so you need to re-apply it regularly.

[ZORA 69]

If I do the Natural Dipped interior, it will probably be a good idea to have it treated with a stain repellent. Has anyone had any experience with either a commercial treatment company, or a DIY product?

I would go strickly what GM says in preservation of colors. Be careful what you use. There are sealers but again BE CAREFUL. Leather and plastics are different animals. KEEP CLEAN and NO ARMOR ALL Use a top grade preserver suggested by manufacturers like Rolls Royce that put Connolly leather in their cars.

[meyerweb]

Not sure what Rolls recommends applies to our vettes. I doubt those Connolly hides are coated with plastic.

[John]

I am going to do no more or no less on my C8’s Interior than Zaino # 9 Leather Cleaner followed Zaino # 10 Leather Conditioner.

[JB]

Leatherique is the product used by ferari and rolls owners.

ive purchased this for my corvette recently and its quite impressive.

ive only used the pristine clean out of the two products offered on amazon so far....the pristine clean did such an amazing job I didnt move forward with the other product...called the rejuvenator...

this could be purchased by the manufacturer although shopping at www,detailerdomain.com carries this leather cleaner as well.. detailer domain offers a wide range of products, he is such a gentleman who has great insights and around holidays his company offers discounts. I like the owner Phil as he is such a gentleman giving excellent advice...i always enjoy shopping with him. His shop is local and his expertise and customer vehicles include extraordinary vehicles and his customers trust his staff ...call and ask Phil what he recommends and you will be good to go. I didnt know he carried it at the time I called leatherique directly and they do are one of the longest running leaders in the segment...



this leatherique prostine clean product has worked quite well at cleaning the 134k mile interior of my corvette and in my opinion....wow...looks brand new and very nice and clean.

ive been quite impressed with pristine clean

ymmv

[Phil1098]

Phil as he is such a gentleman giving excellent advice.

Would this be considered taking something out of context?