DIY: Stretched From Over Use? Make It Tight Again!

[Harry Da Hamster]

DIY: Stretched From Over Use? Make It Tight Again!

Is it stretched down there from over use? Constant pounding, in and out, and now it’s all flappy? Hard and crusty from random dirty men coming in and out? Make it taut, clean, and supple again with a few simple steps!

Warning: NOT female anatomy related!

Tools needed:
Clothing steamer
Leather cleaner
Leather conditioner
Clean towels (cotton or microfiber)
Interior upholstery brush

I just bought a new used M3 and the vehicle was not well maintained. Leather seats were covered in a thick coating of oil, dirt, and bodily fluids.

FIRST STEP: Vacuum all loose dirt and debris from surface. Use an interior upholstery brush to brush all sand and debris from cracks and crevices. Wipe leather surface with a good cleaner to remove a bulk of the dirt and oil. I would recommend Leatherique Pristine Clean, or Optimum Power Clean if its really dirty, and Mothers Upholstery Brush

Unfortunately i don't have before pics but my seats were horrible. The black had a shade of brown. And they were shiney due to body oils that were embedded.

Here's pics after the initial cleaning (No longer brown but you can still see some shine):







Much cleaner but still a little shiney.

STEP TWO: Heat up the clothing steamer and steam the leather seats. Focus on the heavily stretched areas and the shiney areas. Heat the stretched areas but don't keep the heat in one particular area for a long period of time. Keep the steam head moving. Keep a towel handy to wipe up excess water while steaming. And lightly massage stretched areas. After its been thoroughly heated, wipe up the water and let it cool. Repeat process a couple times to shrink the leather. Steaming the shiney areas will open the pores for next step.

STEP THREE: Use the Leatherique process to clean and condition the seats. This process involves conditioning the seats first with Leatherique Rejuvinator then cleaning after with Leatherique Pristine Clean. Theory on this is for the Rejuvinator to soak into the pores first to liquify the ground in dirt and oils, then wipe away with Pristine Clean. While the seats are still warm, apply Rejuvinator and let sit. Apply steam again to help it soak into the leather. Move to next seat and start with step one again while Rejuvinator soaks in. After all seats and leather surfaces have completes the three steps, clean thoroughly with Leatherique Pristine Clean.

Seats now should be a nice matte color, free of any brown. And leather should be soft and supple and taut. My seats were heavily abused so i will need to repeat this process again at a later time but the difference is noticable. I don't expect my seats to be like new again since they were abused for 6 years, but there's a huge improvement before and after. Pics don't do justice. Try this also on your steering wheel. You're always holding onto the steering wheel so this area gets dirty quick.

Here's the after pictures:

[Brian0473]

Thanks for the write-up! I don't need this yet but someday I might.

[aus]

Great write up. Some people personal habits/hygiene are just disgusting.