Baby wipes for leather?

micks_address

Hi Folks,

Question in wiping down leather interior - friend says he uses baby wipes when he cleans his car - non scented ones.. i guess it works out much cheaper than branded leather cleaning wipes but are there any downsides?

You'd have to imagine products that are safe enough for use on skin are safe for leather?

Cheers,
Mick

Curran

I'd need to double check but I believe that the wipes contain certain additives that the chemicals used in the manufacturing process of leather, don't react well with.

Curran

OK, so a brief bit of research into this for you....

Leather is not skin - skin is a living organ, whereas leather just uses the collagen fibre scaffold of skin left behind after the animal dies. They are dissimilar as the proteins have been chemically modified.
Therefore the thinking that baby wipes being gentle for babies skin, and thus safe for leather, is unfortunately flawed. It's best to use specific cleaners that take in to account the chemical modifications that have been incorporated. I believe baby wipes contain Alkaline additives to neutralise urine and over time degrade the leather.
With frequent usage the specific leather cleaners contain the necessary aditives to keep the leather soft and subtle. Available in both spray on (deeper cleaning) & wipes (maintenance cleaning); a wipe in this case is merely a medium that has been impregnated with a liquid, and so it can be deployed as needed.

micks_address

Curran wrote: »

OK, so a brief bit of research into this for you....

Leather is not skin - skin is a living organ, whereas leather just uses the collagen fibre scaffold of skin left behind after the animal dies. They are dissimilar as the proteins have been chemically modified.
Therefore the thinking that baby wipes being gentle for babies skin, and thus safe for leather, is unfortunately flawed. It's best to use specific cleaners that take in to account the chemical modifications that have been incorporated. I believe baby wipes contain Alkaline additives to neutralise urine and over time degrade the leather.
With frequent usage the specific leather cleaners contain the necessary aditives to keep the leather soft and subtle. Available in both spray on (deeper cleaning) & wipes (maintenance cleaning); a wipe in this case is merely a medium that has been impregnated with a liquid, and so it can be deployed as needed.

ok but if you use the 'pure nothing added but water' wipes?

Curran

Why not use a microfiber cloth and just water in that case?

micks_address

i suppose im trying to justify the cost of specialised wipes myself...

what do people generally recommend?

MetzgerMeister

Here's what should be used for leather cleaning along with either a microfibre cloth or a leather brush:

- A dedicated leather cleaner

- 10:1 APC mix

- Water

micks_address

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Here's what should be used for leather cleaning along with either a microfibre cloth or a leather brush:

- A dedicated leather cleaner

- 10:1 APC mix

- Water

For a new car that I just want to give once a week wipe to?

MetzgerMeister

It's up to you which of those you want to use but the leather cleaner would be a strong APC mix, maybe 5:1 and would be used for cleaning ingrained dirt out of the leather.

So let's say the leather has been fully cleaned and a conditioning cream has been applied - the 10:1 APC mix with a microfibre cloth would be fine once a week.

micks_address

Curran wrote: »

I'd need to double check but I believe that the wipes contain certain additives that the chemicals used in the manufacturing process of leather, don't react well with.

Hi curran,

i dropped you a pm re ordering some bits from detailing shed. I'm actually in Lusk.. so if possibly would call to you?

Cheers,
Mick

*Kol*

Leather wipes are not that dear. Halfords had a three for two offer recently. I am still wiping!! I even did the sofa (twice)

micks_address

*Kol* wrote: »

Leather wipes are not that dear. Halfords had a three for two offer recently. I am still wiping!! I even did the sofa (twice)

They are not as cheap as baby wipes all the same

*Kol*

micks_address wrote: »

They are not as cheap as baby wipes all the same

True!! But I wouldn't wipe a baby with a leather wipe and vice versa.

micks_address

Yeah but in fairness... a product that is designed to wipe a baby's bottom should be pretty safe... especially the 'pure non scented water' ones...

i have my box of dr leather wipes but they are a lot more expensive

biko

Warm soapy water (not much soap) and a microfibre cloth should do the trick.
I have leather wipes but only because I got them cheap as part of a larger deal.

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

It's up to you which of those you want to use but the leather cleaner would be a strong APC mix, maybe 5:1 and would be used for cleaning ingrained dirt out of the leather.

So let's say the leather has been fully cleaned and a conditioning cream has been applied - the 10:1 APC mix with a microfibre cloth would be fine once a week.

^^ THat

micks_address wrote: »

Yeah but in fairness... a product that is designed to wipe a baby's bottom should be pretty safe... especially the 'pure non scented water' ones...

i have my box of dr leather wipes but they are a lot more expensive

^^ That once a month or so.

It has got me by for a long time and no complaints.

Ded_Zebra

For very dirty leather an interior APC diluted to an appropriate concentration and a soft scrub brush is my go to.

For regular cleaning, as in whenever you're hovering the floor etc, a bit of APC mixture and a microfibre.:)

At the moment I'm using Wolfs Chemicals Insider that I stole from 166man. Very effective on leather and smells nice too

ianobrien

Also, if you know anybody who looks after equine tack, they'll have saddle soap. Boy does that clean and lubricate leather!

bmstuff

ianobrien wrote: »

Also, if you know anybody who looks after equine tack, they'll have saddle soap. Boy does that clean and lubricate leather!

Too strong for car leather
This is a different leather finish from a saddle. Yes sure it cleans, like any detergent, problem is to make sure you are not destroying protective coats and leather fibre.

Baby wipes are dangerous too as they contain an agent that is meant to destroy pee but when used on a car seat it destroys the protective coat of the leather seat plus it darkens the leather.

See for yourself here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFqBZ8wpNCk

*Kol*

Baby wipes seem to be like WD40. They can clean anything. So much so that I would wonder if they are suitable for use on a baby!! I used some to clean my barbecue last week.