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Leather care for *all* Atacama leather owners.

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7.6K views 48 replies 10 participants last post by  Lyri  
#1 · (Edited)
Hello, everyone! I own an S60R with Atacama, and I am now on a mission to find the optimal way to take care of Atacama leather. This guide was designed to help you find what's right for your Atacama. From 24 thousand to 200 thousand miles (and more of course)
As I continue to experiment with the methods listed below, you'll see my opinion of them.

These are my current findings for someone that may not be aware of the variances between coated (typically with polyurethane from what I’ve heard) and a semi-aniline leather (which Atacama is!)

I will link some resources in the future for a deep dive into the different types of leather. But here’s what you need to know !! Especially for cracked/dry Atacama.

Unlike most automotive and other Volvo leather, Atacama doesn’t have a durable, protective coating on the outside to shield it from water, food, and other debris. Atacama is extremely susceptible to water spots and staining. And because of this, traditional cleaning and conditioning systems are usually a big “no-no” on this leather, which is often discovered too late.

Rant Time:
If you’re like me, you want to take care of your car to the absolute best of your abilities. So, I’ll tell you what I’ve done that doesn’t do sh!t and how to severely alter the appearance of your leather for good if it’s damaged. (DO NOT DO THIS)

Upon recommendation of my friends last summer, I succumbed to peer pressure and bit the bullet. I tried an unconventional leather conditioning system called “Leatherique” which uses a sticky, collagen based leather rejuvenator, and watery substance called Prestine Clean to dissolve it.

If you are reading this and have Nordkap blue leather, I would HIGHLY suggest using that system, as Nordkap ages it develops white cracks, and this darkens the cracks to make Nordkap look and feel new.

Remember how Atacama is unprotected and is susceptible to water spots and staining? This is VERY important. Especially as this leather ages with owners that have no clue what they’re doing (including me)
As this leather continues to get more dry over time, ingress and egress wear (getting in and out of the car incorrectly) will accelerate the process of damage to the leather. The difference is, this baseball glove leather is exposed, dry hide. No safety net anymore.

(This is a thread from 2013 that has input from other members at the time)
They discuss the process of how when you see damage on the seat, it’s simply too late, you’re seeing the “separation of lines in the top coat” as one person said.
“Leatherique is getting all the crap out bro!!” Oh, I’m sure it is. But the side effects aren’t pretty.

I decided to cover ALL of my seats in the Leatherique rejuvenator. The one that behaved worst was the driver’s seat.

I didn’t get lucky like @UbikTheCarGuy with previous owners that consistently maintained the leather.
In my case, this lack of conditioning lead to severe cracks in my leather, a direct opening to the hide itself. Observe.
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This was the condition of my leather in 2018, and as an old friend mentioned, “it’s too late and not in good shape.” I am now aware.
You can see all of the white stress “fractures” and cracks from ingress/egress wear (getting in and out incorrectly) and inconsistent conditioning.

When my family received this car, it was astoundingly dry. Almost stiff to sit in, actually. It turns out, semi-aniline and aniline (such as the Ford King Ranch) leather needs to be “fed” and nourished for optimal wear throughout its life. My car received none of the such. And because of this, lived up to its desert derived name.

I’ll show you the photos of my leather during, and post Leatherique treatment.
Remember those little white stress fractures? Pshhhhh, how bad could it be?
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That… is pretty bad.
My friends reassured me “tHat’S just what happens when you condition Atacama bro it’ll come back” and I waited, and waited, still a year, I’m waiting.
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My interior went from a dirty leather, to a clean two tone dark and light orange..
My friends commented “That looks so much better! Doesn’t it?” Yes, compared to the tragedy (by definition) above, it looks better.

The only issue is, exactly like Nordkap, both Gobi and Atacama’s cracks darken negatively upon application of Leatherique, and no, they will never return to "normal" with Atacama. As you’ll see my experiments later, there are exceptions to this rule, but not always.
However, the moisture will evaporate for the potential for the leather return to normal. (Huge thanks to @Exocet for this insight)

Here's another "specimen" believe it or not, @UbikTheCarGuy as mentioned earlier. In his car with Atacama that I would consider in good condition has a darkening as well that is visually unappealing to me (sorry, Xander, it's for the people)
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He doesn't mind that discoloration, and It's probably very soft. As you can see, his passenger seat is in excellent condition, just like my rear seats, and responded well to the Leatherique.

Interestingly on the topic of tan and white leather, as mentioned by @acetylbroline in a few posts below, even with normal “coated” leather, the cracks in the lighter white sections of their car’s cool 917C sport leather actually got worse (from my understanding.) Your results may vary.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I would in a small test spot.

Many will argue I’m just having a pity party that I didn’t do a test spot, and yes! This was my fault. Don’t repeat my mistakes if you remotely care about the look.

Solutions | Preventative Maintenance
If your Atacama is still in decently good shape, please, condition it if possible. It'll help deeply in the long run.
Please look below at some options.
I wouldn't personally choose Leatherique, even on "good leather." The color change does still occur.

So! I got to asking, what other methods are there to potentially revitalize this wonderful leather? It may be too late for mine now, but not yours.

The easy way out is dye, f#%k that. That’ll be another thread talking about how to ruin a V70R’s entire interior permanently. Ironically, I might be going down this road myself (with a filler, and dye) to fix the discoloration I caused earlier.
What's the best route? Take care of your leather - and never go down this road to begin with... Preventative maintenance is what I had to learn.


I went to Bring a Trailer and found what I was finally looking for, if ONLY I would’ve tried this first. I looked at photos of my absolute favorite Atacama I’ve seen to date. This car sold in 2021 for 37.5 thousand because of such an interior (great history, and mileage at 24k of course)
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I asked “what in the world did he do to keep the Atacama looking like that?”
Of course, lack of use in anything will lead to minimal wear
So, I dug through the auction messages.

The seller, “jlaa” posted this.
“So that you are aware and for the benefit of the next owner of this awesome turbo-brick, I just want to point out the process I used with Griot’s Leather Rejuvenator with Atacama Leather.

Atacama, for those of us who know, is some kind of ridonkulus-grade-xxxtra-bovine leather put in by Volvo that is UNprotected. Almost all automotive leathers sold are protected leathers (and you can test this by spilling a few drops of water on the leather — a protected leather will have those drops of water sitting on the surface.)

Atacama is at UNprotected, but it is also absurdly soft to the touch and the smell that emanates from these hides of leather make Connolly leather, which is used by the Brits in all cars Anglo, smell like vingear. Atacama is THAT fragrant. Imagine jamming an entire hide of cow up your nose, and you come close to the exquisite experience that Atacama lends….. it basically bathes your olfactory nerves in cow.

So given that Atacama is UNprotected, I have always, twice a year, worked nearly half a bottle of rejuventaor into all the leather surfaces with my bare hands and then swirl it all around to work the product into the leather pores with a soft brush ….. and let it sit for one to two weeks.

Let it sit. The Leather will absorb it all. It will drink it all up. I promise. In the meantime your spouse or significant other will compliment you on how well you have moisturized your hands. :)

At the end of two weeks, you can quickly buff everything out with a microfiber towel, and then you are all set for a while. I do not know if this works with protected leather ….. I can certainly say this technique does not work for mid-90s Mercedes nor mid-90s Porsche leather …… but it certainly worked for Volvo Atacama UNprotected leather.”

I am yet to try this process, but it is fascinating. Someone quick to dismiss this may say “bRO tHat’S lEatheriQue bRO !!”

No, I don’t believe it is.

The difference between the two is the usage of a water based cleaner/conditioner, whatever the hell “Prestine Clean” claims to be. Anyways, the important step to recognize above is the lack of water in the process. There is no dampened microfiber, simply let the leather absorb it, and buff to a dry finish. It’s what I may have been searching for the entire time !! Griot’s official instructions also support this.

My friend @skywolf owns a Volvo V90 with Napa leather, and he shared some interesting tips with me I didn’t know :)

“The thing with Atacama, and I’m learning this from my V90, since it’s a similar type, is really to avoid water damage. When water sits on normal automotive leather, like in a P2XC, it doesn’t do anything because the surface is actually coated. This is why it’s so durable, Napa and Atacama do not have such coatings. Water will cause them to shrivel and stain, So the key is to clean without using too much water and quickly patting down moisture.” Thanks a ton, Brian!

Interestingly enough, he does use Leatherique to maintain his nappa leather in his V90. It is in excellent condition, and he has a very careful procedure. When using "Prestine Clean" he is very methodical in small sections. (Think dividing the lower cushion into seven sections)
Minimizing the time the water spends on each section, he'll put the Prestine Clean on to dissolve the rejuvenator, and quickly wipe it off. He only moves on to the next section after it's dry, because it'll shrivel and wrinkle if there's a lot of residual moisture.
In his XC70's, he can leave the Prestine Clean on for much longer, it won't cause harm, because the leather is coated.

Though I will say, I did try to do this during my original Leatherique application last year, but the longest I left it on was maybe two minutes, no one discussed what Brian recently told me. (mentioned above)

On the flip side:
This instantly made me think (specifically for my damaged Atacama) DUH, no wonder the Leatherique effectively ruined my seats. For one, the rejuvenator may be water based, and without a doubt that Prestine Clean is. The collagen may nourish the leather and provide an oily “tackiness” but that’s WHY. At this point, I can't confirm if Leatherique rejuvinator is water based and stained the surface, or if the oil permanently darkened the fibers, though because of this, the driver's seat is “ruined.”

It’s time I address this concern. Did the Leatherique nourish and make my seats far more soft, and more enjoyable to sit in? Absolutely. If you’re only after maximum softness and suppleness, proceed with Leatherique. But, be advised about the color change :) I wouldn’t have personally gone down this road if I would’ve known earlier.

And one more option I’ve heard of, but haven’t cared much about, I’ll investigate it to see if It works too. Leather conditioner from Lexol. As they’ve become a super corporate mega entity in the leather care industry, they seem to have 2 in 1’s galore, but I haven’t found a true leather conditioner from them yet for this application.
If you’ve used Lexol on Atacama with good results, will you please share your experience for others?

And finally, the last path I have yet to follow for Atacama.
Let’s consider automotive leather as a spectrum. Most coated leathers, as mentioned above, we’ll put as easy to maintain.
In the middle, Atacama leather, which is unique as a semi-aniline leather.
And the worst, aniline leather, which is what Ford “King Ranch” leather is. I did research into what owners were using and found something from Pinnacle Wax in their black label collection. It’s called “Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner” and the matching hide-soft conditioner as well. Formulated with mink oil and lanolin, nourishes the highly susceptible leather of a king ranch gently and properly with "the oils it needs".

Leatherique’s instructions themselves give the tip of “petroleum based products will lead to the premature rotting of leather fibers.” And on these bottles, “this cleaner and conditioner forgo less expensive petroleum based ingredients and use mink oil and lanolin, and even our cleaner provides the initial conditioning step” as just mentioned.

The problem? This product was recently discontinued, which goes against what the websites say as “out of stock.” I emailed them for this answer. Update on September 10th, 2024. The product is back in stock everywhere. The email from Pinnacle Support told me it was discontinued, this was incorrect. Perhaps a new formulation?

I had to source it. I found a lovely website called carzilla.ca in Canada. I personally picked up two bottles of each, thinking of it as a saving grace. Better to have it than not.
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So, where does this leave us?
I will say to currently take my alternatives with a grain of salt, I will be using the alternatives mentioned above an experimenting with both undamaged and damaged Atacama.

Leatherique does work great if your leather is in good shape, it will provide the nourishment to the leather fibers. My rear seats are in great shape because of this, but still, slightly discolored.

Perhaps the remaining darkness embedded deeper in the cracks of the driver’s seat is leftover rejuvenator, as I cleaned it without a leather brush. This theory can be supported with the results of the passenger seat (possibly.)

Here was that section before, and during Leatherique.

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This I am still stumped by but looking for answers.

My leading theory is that these cracks were enormous as you can see, which either made it easier for the Prestine Clean to remove/dissolve the rejuvenator and for the water to evaporate faster, or this section was unbelievably dry, ended up absorbing it entirely, and did end up coming back to a slightly darkened but actually quite nice look. Take a look.
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You can see ^ the damage below still amplified and heavily darkened.


An interesting option I found is actually from FCP Euro, the official Volvo Leather Care Kit. I probably won’t attempt this on my car. I will on my P3 Volvo XC60 (with coated leather)
It’s apparently the only products recommended by Volvo for their leather “upholstery” as the ad says, and no one talks about it (from what I’ve seen)
For amusement, I’ll very remotely consider giving it a try in a VERY small test spot on the non-damaged rear seats to hopefully give another alternative. If it damages them, stick it to the man.


A Reddit user also gave the insight “It works great if your leather isn’t damaged.” So, likely off the table for my solutions proposed above.


Let’s get to the bottom of this, for all Atacama owners once and for all. Any and all input is appreciated, even a healthy debate, this is for WE, the Atacama people LOL.

Thanks for reading.
 
#2 ·
I've used Leatherique on tan colored leather in other cars. Yes, any cracks will get dark and the seat will look worse initially. Eventually, it dries out enough to hide the cracks once again.
 
#5 ·
Good to know! I will change this in my post above (done!)
I haven’t tried this first hand yet on our Gobi or tan cars and that does make a lot more sense.
Thank you so much, man.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Now THAT is sound advice too. Everyone has their priorities! Lol, it’s certainly a picky leather and I saw it as a lovely challenge
 
#6 ·
Not R leather so may not comparable, but this is how mine looked in the midst of a Leatherique treatment. They definitely ended up more supple. The cracks in the light-coloured "arena" regions, which had been hard to see, got more noticeable during the process as shown in the picture, even moreso after completing the process, and have remained very prominent even a few months later. At some point may just get them redyed because the colour isn't as special as Atacama and I hate how they look all cracked up.

That's of course to say nothing of that stitching, which perished many moons ago.

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#7 ·
Not R leather so may not comparable, but this is how mine looked in the midst of a Leatherique treatment. They definitely ended up more supple. The cracks in the light-coloured "arena" regions, which had been hard to see, got more noticeable during the process as shown in the picture, even moreso after completing the process, and have remained very prominent even a few months later. At some point may just get them redyed because the colour isn't as special as Atacama and I hate how they look all cracked up.

That's of course to say nothing of that stitching, which perished many moons ago.

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Hey! Thanks for your input @acetylbroline! What a cool looking leather, I totally see what you’re saying. It seems that different cars respond differently. I appreciate you sharing that!
 
#9 ·
It’s a lovely interior, but that’s interesting!
I didn’t mention this above, but the primary reason I hate dye likely depends on the type of dye.
I owned a 2004 V70R with an Atacama interior that had been sanded, and covered with Leatherique dye which was stretchy, and plasticky.
My current 2007 S60R with unpainted Atacama is phenomenal, it’s soft, warm, and cushy. My V70R had no such qualities.
And the wear was absolutely awful.
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I will never miss that interior
 
#11 · (Edited)
Hey, thanks @DTra1n! I appreciate you being here, it’ll be interesting to experiment.
I saw you cleaned up your leather compared to when you found it, and it looked better. What did you end up using?
 
#12 · (Edited)
@ZZZZZZZ I'm sure you remember my old wagon.
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That was two years after @neonshaun "repainted" the interior and it looked, and felt, so bad. It was essentially interior fraud, and an awful, awful experience. To anyone considering Leatherique dye, don't.
It turns soft, supple leather into plastic.
It looked so good when It was fresh - after experiencing in person, It's a joke.
For reference -
(https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/.../threads/sold-04-v70r-silver-atacama-auto-with-84k-miles-ca-sf-bay-area.600165/)
Poor Shaun wasted so much of his time just to ruin the leather (imho) a short time later. Now, that V70R has ten owners. It's a shell of a V70R in my eyes, and it didn't bother the person I sold it to, but I hated it. It truly was the epitome of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
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Pulling from my photo albums of the past, this was the interior before sanding/repainting.
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That wasn't good enough for Shaun, and what I stated above is simply my opinion. It is surprising he took that path considering that really isn't that bad ^
Like me, perhaps with some of the Griot's rejuvenator he would've been off to the races.
 
#13 ·
In my experience with atacama you have three options as I see it. You can use quality filler and dye to repair it. Sanding is the worst thing you can do as it removes the texture and ends up looking like Joan River's face.

Second, you can have it professionally done. There's a couple of folks that have had good results with Fibernew(?).

Third, buy new leather and have it reupholstered. I bought a bunch of "ginger" hides from Muirhead leather in Scotland (volvo oem). The texture isn't identical, but the color formula is.

Nothing in a bottle is gonna get you where you want to be.
 
#14 ·
Very good to know. Thanks, marty! I had seen Gregson’s V70R on Shifting Lanes done by Fibrenew and it looked pretty great.
It’s good to know there’s different processes for dye. I may end up taking one of these routes myself someday, or see if someone has Atacama skins in hiding they’d be willing to part ways with. I don’t imagine that would be cheap Lol
 
#16 ·
I had some decent results using Leather Honey cleaner followed by their conditioner. It didn’t darken the leather as some had claimed.

Applied at night. These are photos from the next morning after application.

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#17 · (Edited)
Thank you,@DTra1n! You're the best.
That looks really good! I personally see a tiny bit of darkening on the driver's seat, was that there beforehand?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Hi guys! I wanted to add one more option for anyone with coated leather, just to reiterate, I don't think this option is safe on Atacama, but, it could work great for Gobi/Nordkap/other Volvo leather. This is the Geist 3+ kit, for cars older than 3 years. They also have the 3 minus kit, which is for cars that are brand new (under 3 years old)
I don't own a Volvo that is brand new, so, I couldn't tell you what Volvo recommends. I should ask my dealer, lol.
The owner of Geist is actually Ram (formerly with Colorlock) he went to go "do his own thing" for whatever reason. Though, I've heard good things about the products.
As I've learned from the book "Atomic Habits" by James Clear, if you can reduce the "friction" behind doing a task, you'll be more likely to do it, and that's a GREAT 3 part system (I have heard)
It's in the goal of "consistent maintenance"

And to update what my personal process is going to be moving forward, I'll be documenting the Griot's Leather Rejuvenator mentioned above (letting it sit for one to two weeks)
I'm in a rare position to be able to do this because my S60R is the "toy" in our family, it doesn't need to move.
I'll also try my Hide Soft products from Pinnacle.
Expect updates soon :)
 
#19 ·
Updates everyone, updates!
Okay... this isn't that big of a deal.
1) I was wrong... Hide Soft Leather Cleaner is back?
I originally wrote that this product was discontinued. I checked my email, and apparently I was on a "remind me when this product is back in stock" lists on Autogeek (a great website shown to me by an old friend)
So, if this product works well, It may be a great option, ESPECIALLY if you need a light cleaner. (We'll see from my independent testing)
Though, it does look like the conditioner is still out of stock... not good, maybe that's what the email from Pinnacle Support was in reference to. ^
Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner

2) I'm personally going to be trying the Griot's Leather Rejuvenator on my car, and if this works, I see no reason to change it.
If it does, I'll be "loading up on this product" so I don't get caught in a "discontinued/changed formulation" position that won't work in the future.
Also, if you happen to buy parts from FCP Euro, they sell it! Griot's website sells it, but with a minimum 12 dollar shipping cost unless you buy a lot of it. That ain't cool. FCP offers free shipping, and you can bundle it in with your other parts!
 
#20 ·
Hey guys! No more walls of text and info. It has begun.
I finally put Griot’s leather rejuvenator on a test spot. It didn’t darken as much as it did with Leatherique. Now we wait.
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Although, the ingredients say “made from petroleum distillates” and that concerns me.
I do not want to accidentally make the leather fibers rot…
Though, the bottle says that it conditions far better than lanolin based products? I have no idea yet…
 
#21 · (Edited)
Hey guys! Thought I'd give a little update.
The color of the test spot has darkened ever so slightly, but as I've learned with Leatherique, it will lighten up in time.
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But... looking at those photos above, I am starting to reconsider using Leatherique again on the rear seats. Just keep conditioning them.
The color really did return to normal in almost all areas. The front seats are where I need to be careful. But for the rears, Leatherique may be just fine.
I'm still going to be waiting a week to observe the results of the Griot's Leather Rejuvenator.
 
#24 · (Edited)
@rockstarjake79 Wanted to pitch in on this topic. Griot's Rejuvenator is not available to us folks in Europe, so that option is off the table, though I will be trying out the Leather Supplement from Autosmart that we both discussed previously that the TitaniumS60R on instagram uses for his atacama, though his is in great condition and doesn't look worm, so the same may not apply to our interiors.
Also, my friend in Germany suggested Colourlock leather care kit for both Nordkap and Atacama, as he has had extensive experience in owning R's with both worn Nordkap and Atacama interiors that he's restored. I've yet to verify what sort of results you'd be looking at, but I am willing to make the S60R interior into a sacrificial lamb if it comes to that. I'll be sure to take photos or videos and send you my research. :)

Edit: There is also a useful site for those crazy germans (they've got a thing for everything) called Pure aniline leather - Rein-Anilin | LCK Lederpflege from the German Leather Care instutute or whatever it's called. These are the products they suggest for Aniline leathers specificly and they've even worked it down to a point for the specific car brands. The brand that they suggest for Aniline leather and Volvo is Keralux.

This is my friend's Atacama in the VR that he's supposedly used Colourlock on, by the way.
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#26 · (Edited)
The Volvo Nordkap restoration kit for Nordkap interiors and then there’s an Atacama kit for the Orange interiors.





I’ll personally be ordering Leatherique from US for both the facelift and prefacelift Nordkap interiors. Apply leatherique to both interiors, then for both my Atacama interiors I’ll try the Colourlock restoration kit I linked, as well as the Keralux products that I talked about. Keralux makes high quality care products specificly for different types of leather and is grabbing up awards and recommendations in Europe.

Basically, I have my torn Nordkap drivers seat that I have replacement skins for and the S60R Atacama interior is going on for sale, so I may as well experiment on it a little to see what works best for my V70R interior.

The Keralux set:

 
#28 ·
Also, for those concerned… I spoke to a detailing/interior expert shop and they told me the leather is not a full analine leather, so I wanted to set the record straight. Here’s what Bridge of Weir themselves had to say.

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@Lyri, my man! Thank you so much for continuing to get information for this thread. I sincerely appreciate that.
That's honestly fascinating to see that Bridge of Weir themselves would've said "yeah, a drop of mild dish soap should do the trick" as an actual solution.

I'm the type of person who would analyze every detail to the moon and go "in the United States, we have DAWN, and dawn likely has additives that prevent water spotting, so I imagine this wouldn't be good for the leather"
Sure wish they would've had something to say regarding the conditioning. But, it seems like you've said, when your leather is in very good or excellent shape it's actually quite easy to maintain. It's the neglect/lack of ANY conditioning that causes the leather to become "too far gone" and with those white, dry stress fractures.
A former friend warned me during the purchase of my own car at the time that my leather wasn't in the best shape. He was definitely correct.

Thank you for helping with this!
 
#40 ·
Well, that's the right question to ask.
Of course, some of the most amazing Atacama I've seen was from that car on Bring A Trailer, and the owner recommended it. What I am not sure about is if the formulation had changed over time to include petroleum distillates, and if they do harm the leather. I can always send an email to their support and ask, but, I haven't done comprehensive research on it.
Forgive me, I am a student and working with the limited free time that I have.
 
#42 · (Edited)
Okay! This is another potential option that I may be open to trying.
It's from Geist actually. It's for "semi aniline and aniline leather" and I wouldn't be opposed to trying it.
Ah, sure do love this phase of testing. Let's try stuff and see what happens! :ROFLMAO:
I contacted Geist a while back and they recommended I use their product "aniline stain remover" to get rid of as much discoloration as I could, but I never did that and don't plan to. I'll stick with the natural solutions

I'm so excited to finally be learning more about this.
 
#43 ·
According to the guys I spoke at the interior detailing shop that work on a lot of McLarens, Mercs and expensive cars that come with full analine interiors - the Atacama looks to be semi analine and has a thin dye coating, but not the waterproof coating. It’s what makes the leather so pleasant and eye catching, oozes the odor, you can get away with using these products if your interior is in great shape, but interiors with cracks and damage will absorb the chemicals.

Long story short, you want to stick to neutral pH, natural care products. No petroleum, no water base products.
Also, seriously, this is the answer.
but interiors with cracks and damage will absorb the chemicals.
Once those cracks are formed, you have to be very gentle at that point. Colorlock might just be our next best bet.
 
#45 · (Edited)
So, my atacama interior is actually in good shape, clean and taken care of, some "patina" no deep cracking. There are several products in the Colourlock range, and would probably go with the mild cleaner, then protector and finally the shield. Any input would be appreciated. Here is the site I would probably purchase from. Colourlock | Leather & Alcantara Cleaning Tools | Obsessed Garage

Guy
 
#46 ·
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I suppose you could say I’ve been stocking up and prepping for this, but lets put the rumours to rest in the coming up week or two.

Spoke to a local interior leather specialist who is on the verge of retiring and loves passing down wisdom to whoever is keen enough to listen.

I suspect I might have to film a video for this, as there is plenty of aspects to cover. As far as Leatherique goes, I will be doing one of my donor Nordkap seats in it and the other one I’ll do with the Keralux products. The Atacama is definitely going to be treated with Keralux, although the specialist did give thumbs up and say that by all means the Volvo care products do look to be professionally made and stand up to german standards (water base, natural products)
 
#47 · (Edited)
As usual in my fashion, I got impatient and got started, so I'll sort the pictures and walk you through the process and logic before I make a video format of it down the road.

So, the following pictures you'll see are before and after of my Atacama interior (the one that's going up for sale and is in bad shape.) and here's a few tricks I picked up from the specialist teaching me.

Passenger side seat of the bad pair of Atacamas.
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Cracks won't disappear, thats obvious, but the leather is plump, soft and it did shrink a bit, hiding some of the cracks. The rest is just using dye compound to close up the stretches.

That's the first 40 minute round of bottom section of a seat, anyhow. Will keep you updated.