Somehow or another our son got grease all over his clothing on a ferry. He sat in his new car with leather seats and now has grease all over the back of the seat. What is the best thing to remove the grease off the leather? Thank you.
Maureen Rotolo
This may sound silly or strange, but Clorox cleanup works great. My boyfriend works with grease all day, and has a truck with leather interior. I was cleaning the vehicle and the Clorox cleanup took all the grease off and made it look almost brand new. Depending on the color, try a small area first. We have a gray interior, and it did not harm the color at all. (12/03/2005)
Hi there. I used to hang out with a bunch of guys in a car club. The guy's place where everyone seemed to congregate told me he actually used Dawn dish liquid to get grease out of the clothing, etc. I do have a container of that special goop for removing automotive grease, but I like Dawn better. Plus, Dawn has these cool scents out nowadays. My husband's hooked on the Apple scent.
I would first read the owner's manual to find out whether the leather used on the seats is washable or not--it should be, or a lot of other guys will be in the same boat as you. What kind of leather is it? Soft like suede leather they've been using on jackets ("bomber" jackets), or harder, shiny leather?
As when washing anything new, I would do a spot test in an inconspicuous area. If it looks or feels fine to you, then proceed. I would not place it in the washer machine unless the leather covering the seat comes off and has a tag with machine washing instructions. Even then, I would still pre-treat the stain by dabbing at it with a solution of Dawn and water.
THAT is the thrifty way to do it. The more expensive way is to buy those special cleaners at like Advance Auto Parts or Autozone and follow their instructions--make sure that they are ok for leather. Any method you use may result in a loss of color, of course.
Last course of action would be to either find some washable leather covers for your car that slip on over the old or choose a different seat cover.
Seriously, though, I cleaned my husband's SUV that has leather seats that were smooth and Armour All has these wipes you can use. I don't know whether there was grease on them other than dirty hands, but they looked nicer. Yes, I would have trusted a couple of drops of Dawn in a bucket of water to these leather seats, but they were hard, smooth leather.
Good luck! (12/03/2005)
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