How do I treat dried out leather?
 

I have a 2011 Toyota Camry which I bought in 2013. When I purchased it, the leather had been neglected and was drying out and the problem is only getting worse. I haven't known what to do to fix the problem, and I'm finally getting around to posting about this.


The leather seems to have developed "scales" that are flaking off. The problem appears on the driver's headrest as well as the top of the driver's seat.


Here are my questions:

1.What step(s) should I take to fix this?

2. What product(s) should I use?

Thanks in advance,


Jonathan


Headrest Closeup:
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...psk2zrfdrr.jpg


Headrest 2:
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...psn1xantk7.jpg



Top of Seat (Hard to see):
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...pse93mfrln.jpg

The issue may be the cars interior getting too hot from being parked in the sun and drying out. Leather is like skin and needs to have moisture or it will flake. To maintain leather interior, some owners weekly wipe a damp cloth over it.

Leather repair can be complicated because of how it was treated and dyed.

Is the car still under warranty?

Leatherique gets good reviews
Griots Leather Rejuvenator
Spinneybeck Leather Maintenance Kit

Thanks for the reply. I asked the maintenance supervisor at Toyota while it was still under factory warranty, and he said just put leather conditioner on it. But I wondered if there was more to it than that. I do have an extended warranty to 100k mi, but I doubt that would cover the leather. :(

I've ordered some Leatherique, so hopefully that will help. If not, I'll check out the other products. Thanks again.
Jonathan

Might read the owners manual on any upkeep on these types of seats.

Were the seats in this condition when you purchased the car?

If no upkeep is listed and seats were OK upon purchase might talk to dealer about replacing under warranty.

I can't find anything in the owners manual about what to do for leather seats. Unfortunately, I don't recall whether it was like this when I purchased it or not. I purchased it as a Certified Pre-Owned from a Toyota dealership but can't recall about the seats. I found an old photo of my car and while I can't see the headrest clearly, I don't think it looks like it does now.

I'll probably give some leather conditioner a try so that I can say I did that, but if that doesn't do anything, I will take your suggestion and complain to the dealer. Thanks!

Been using Lexol brand so far it never let me down in cleaning and conditioning my leather stuff.

Wash them with saddlesoap. Dirt will break leather down in a heartbeat.
Then, use a non-oily conditioner. Stay with the leather experts: Lexol or Feibings!!

Treat it using Obenauf's Leather Oil. You can order it from Amazon.

Obenauf's leather oil is good coz its organic, but may be expensive.

I've had very good results with Neatsfoot Oil on dried out, stiff leather. Apply it liberally, and let it sit if you can for a day or even 2. Then wipe off anything that doesn't soak in. You can repeat this several times. It's not a quick fix, but if the leather is really dried out, this will help enrich it back to a soft condition. In between use a good leather conditioner. In high heat, low humidity leather can dry out quickly. Then it doesn't take long for it to start cracking and flaking. On some leather it can darken it, so try it on an area that isn't too noticeable to see if it changes the color of the leather.