[James-335dx]

I used leather wipes on mine too but after a while it eventually started taking the colour out of the leather. Wheel was shiny and sticky so decided to get it recovered at Royals and it's nice and new and matt again

[TaranF32]

I bought my car when it was about 3 years old so had a lightly shiny wheel. I used isopropyl alcohol for a deep clean (wouldn't use it frequently), I now maintain it with Autoglym Leather cleaner and AutoFinesse Hide as a moisturiser. It's not OEM matte but it's done 60k miles and still leaves a nice matt finish

[sensible]

Originally Posted by TaranF32

I bought my car when it was about 3 years old so had a lightly shiny wheel. I used isopropyl alcohol for a deep clean (wouldn't use it frequently), I now maintain it with Autoglym Leather cleaner and AutoFinesse Hide as a moisturiser. It's not OEM matte but it's done 60k miles and still leaves a nice matt finish

I am not convinced that a cars leather actually needs any sort of balm or moisturiser. On my last BMW M-Sport wheel I used a Maguires leather moisturiser after cleaning it and found that it made it worse, leaving it sticky and attracting more dirt. I am sure this accelerated my wheel becoming shiny.

We also have a leather sofa. When we bought it we paid for the leather care kit which consists only of a cleaner. We were told that painted leather does not need any sort of moisturiser as it will simply sit on the surface and attract dirt. I suspect this is the case with cars too.....unless anyone knows different.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by sensible

I am not convinced that a cars leather actually needs any sort of balm or moisturiser. On my last BMW M-Sport wheel I used a Maguires leather moisturiser after cleaning it and found that it made it worse, leaving it sticky and attracting more dirt. I am sure this accelerated my wheel becoming shiny.

We also have a leather sofa. When we bought it we paid for the leather care kit which consists only of a cleaner. We were told that painted leather does not need any sort of moisturiser as it will simply sit on the surface and attract dirt. I suspect this is the case with cars too.....unless anyone knows different.

Yes, back in the day when automotive leather was aniline then yes you would need to "feed" the leather to keep it supple but todays leather is coated/pigmented and creams do nothing other than attract dirt and add shine as you say.

[Bianchi Dave]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Yes, back in the day when automotive leather was aniline then yes you would need to "feed" the leather to keep it supple but todays leather is coated/pigmented and creams do nothing other than attract dirt and add shine as you say.

Yup, the BMW Dakota seat leather is coated, so any balms/creams/conditioners do nothing, just lie on the surface and make it shiny!

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by Bianchi Dave

Yup, the BMW Dakota seat leather is coated, so any balms/creams/conditioners do nothing, just lie on the surface and make it shiny!

Same for the better BMW leathers as well, the only one I've had in a BMW that is perhaps semi aniline is the individual merino leather but I think that's still pigmented just a much softer waxy fine finish to it, Dakota is more like patterned vinyl.