Dodo Juice - Whoops

Glover · May 12, 2018

Before today I've used a couple of products to clean my cream leather seats; the first one I used was a Leather Master product that we got with some leather chairs. Ok on everything but the dreaded denim stain; it removed a lot of the colour but left a slight blue tinge;. The next one I tried was liquid soap flakes; very cheap, worked well and almost removed the denim stains (just a very faint blue hue as with the Leather Master ). I'd read a lot on this forum and elsewhere about Dodo Juice so thought I'd give it a try to see if it could totally remove the stains. Removed most of the denim stains but probably no more than the other products but as you can see from the photo it also appears to have removed colour! Is this normal? I followed the instructions; tested it in an inconspicuous area (folded down the middle section of the rear seats and tested it on the area hidden when the seats are raised. All seemed ok. So quick squirt on the side of the bolster, used a soft brush to agitate it then removed with a damp cloth and dried with a microfibre. No problems so moved onto the squab and backrest. As the product dripped down the seatback it left a light mark, which I assumed was removing the dirt. So I agitated it and then removed wit the damp cloth. The bucket shows the result. I've still got colour on the seat but it feels different to the other seats; rougher with a 'drag' when I run my hand over it.

Question. As there's colour in the water does this mean the coating on the leather has been stripped exposing the colour (can Dodo Juice strip the coating)? Should I apply sealant and if so which one or do I need to take it to a specialist for possible re-colouring. Needless to say I haven't tried the Dodo Juice on any of the other seats.

Please no posts saying I should have bought black and extolling the relative merits of black interiors against all other colours known to man! I like light, bright, airy interiors so black is not for me.

ColinBarber · May 12, 2018

If you have an SE-L / SE-L Premier with semi-aniline leather then there is only a fine coating which contains some colour, most of the colour is dye within the leather, and can be damaged if you use aggressive products - I'd only recommend water based cleaners.

If it is standard leather the original pigment coating could have been damaged/removed, either previously or the Dodo Juice, in which case it would be worth resealing it to avoid further dye removal.

For either type you may just have removed some incorrectly applied cream/colour restorer that was just filling all the grain effect. By removing it you have a rougher, original, texture.

Glover · May 12, 2018

Thanks Colin. It's an Advance with standard leather.

Is the Dodo Juice sealer the best product to use? I've read in the forums that some companies e.g. Autoglym only sell a conditioner, which apparently is pointless on a coated leather. I've done a quick search and found people recommending Dodo, Meguiars G3800, GTechniq L1, Wolf Chemicals, Dr Leather Dye Block, LTT Auto Leather Protect, Cow Food so more confused than ever!

ColinBarber · May 13, 2018

I don't really have experience to make an informed decision on those choices. Dodo is well regarded so that would probably where I would start.

sorcerer · May 13, 2018

I used Dodo Juice Supernatural Leather Cleaner and Supernatural Leather Sealant on the interior of my 05-plated RX300 and it was brilliant. I fully intend to use the same again on the interior of my 63-plate RX450h Advance sometime in the next month or so and there's no reason to think I'll get anything other than the superb results I had before.

Of course, I haven't used every product available on the market so I can't say it's the best out there, but the results are excellent and if you've got some left, you may as well use it all up before buying anything else to try.

rayaans · May 13, 2018

Use the water drop test. Put a drop of water on the seats and time how long it takes to soak in. If it soaks into the leather in 5 mins, you've removed the coating. Technically, the water drop should still be there 20 mins later unless its really hot in the car of course

However, I should say that the red seats on my IS and RX do bleed, and so did the black ones on the previous RX. However, I only did it once a year and it made no difference in 5 years of ownership. The coating was clearly there so I suspect the colour was coming from the perforations

bluenose1940 · May 14, 2018

On the subject of seats, what is the best way (if there is one of course) to disguise a scratch on a leather seat. I have one that was probably caused by someone getting in the car and they scraped a buckle or suchlike across the seat. It's only very small but when you know it's there.............

Many thanks in advance of any suggestions.

Glover · May 16, 2018

Hi all. Thanks for the replies; sorry I haven't replied, been otherwise engaged doing almost 400 miles in my newly serviced car and averaging 39.2mpg:-) Amazing the difference a bit of warm weather makes to fuel consumption!

I'll try the water test and also get some of the sealant. My seats aren't perforated but I'm reassured by Rayaans comments about them bleeding so will continue with the Dodo Juice cleaner. Incidentally do you apply with a brush (as per instructions) or a cloth?

sorcerer · May 17, 2018

9 hours ago, Glover said:

Incidentally do you apply with a brush (as per instructions) or a cloth?

I used a brush and was really happy with the results.

Glover · May 17, 2018

Thanks John. I'll persevere and get some of the sealant too.

rayaans · May 17, 2018

I just spray on the seats and brush it in, then remove with a damp MF.

Glover · May 17, 2018

Thanks Rayaan. This is my first experience of leather seats so I'm getting used to different products and techniques. Help from the Forum is greatly appreciated.

First_Lexus · June 17, 2018

Have to be honest, I'm not really looking forward to going back to leather seats - I've made a point of avoiding them where I can over the past few years. At least mine will be black. Surprised to see how bad the wear is on the GS I've got this weekend - this is the seat base bolster on the driver's side. It isn't surface dirt as far as I can see - more like a coating is failing. Not great on a 6 month old car with 5k miles...is this poor maintenance or a quality issue? All the other seats are fine by the way - I'm just looking for advice to prevent my new one from going the same way.

rayaans · June 17, 2018

2 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

Have to be honest, I'm not really looking forward to going back to leather seats - I've made a point of avoiding them where I can over the past few years. At least mine will be black. Surprised to see how bad the wear is on the GS I've got this weekend - this is the seat base bolster on the driver's side. It isn't surface dirt as far as I can see - more like a coating is failing. Not great on a 6 month old car with 5k miles...is this poor maintenance or a quality issue? All the other seats are fine by the way - I'm just looking for advice to prevent my new one from going the same way.

Might be coating failure.

Mine has started doing the same thing that Chris had on his car. It certainly wasn't there 1k miles ago as I actively looked for it. But since then, the coating is starting to come off in the exact same place as Chris.

Seems to be a problem with the new leather that Lexus is using. Appears much softer than the one I had in my 3RX but the coating is a lot more fragile as well.

First_Lexus · June 17, 2018

Hmmm, I'm sure this wasn't like this the last time I had this particular car a couple of months ago. Fingers crossed the black isn't affected, although I guess it wouldn't look so obvious on black leather in any case. I'll feed mine with the Swissvax leather care kit that's kept the seats on my MINI looking brand new for the past 14 years...although it has only done 13k careful miles in that time!