Ferrari Connolly Leather Treatment

Mink oil, then a shoe-shine product made by URAD.

I've experimented some "Leatherique" equivalent (French made) on an old Chesterfield and although the result is spectacular, I will not use this on the Ferrari as the patina is lost, and I like it with its old patina.

 

That's not clear on your photo, but here is a link: https://www.urad.com/produit/tout-en-un/Urad_cr%C3%A8me_pour_cuir?countryid=1

I initially found this Italian product in a US store, once it was depleted I went to my local cobbler who just sold me the same product with a different label (Henson instead of URAD). So should be pretty generic.

 

Connolly Hide Food. When necessary, Connolly Leather Cleaner first, Hide Food after.

 

It's hard to find real neats foot oil, if you look at the thin prints, most are actually rapesee oil. In the long run the smell of these oils gets so-so. So be warned, most of these oils are now poor.

But yes, mink oil or neats foot oil are the best for suppleness.

 

I'm in the leather upholstery business. All the products you guys are recommending are for pure aniline hides, which are not used in car interiors. Leathers in automobiles are either finished hides or semi-anilines (top-coated) and require very simple cleaning and conditioning products. Cleaners can be as simple as soap and water, and then a basic water-based leather conditioner is all you need. These are all pigmented hides.

BTW, leather "Odors" are created during the tanning process, you are not going to replicate them applying any consumer product to the hides.

 

Go to the Detail & Showroom section and do a search. Also you can search in this section. This has been discussed multiple times in both sections. Not trying to dismiss your question but there is a lot of info on this subject. I personally use Leatherique (sp?).

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/best-leather-conditioner-cleaner.554861/

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/anyone-use-chemical-guys-leather-scent.648480/

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/leather-cleaners-lexol-vs-leatherique.420881/

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/best-leather-conditioner.407710/#post-142292107

These are just a few of the probably 100s of threads on the subject.

 

As far as cleaning is required, the most efficient and gentle product I've used are baby pre-moistened wipe: these are cheap, and always ready whenever the kids make a mess in the middle of a road trip. The result is not better than what I would achieve with sponge and warm water, but I can (or even better : they can) just fix it on the spot, so I have no reason to rant for the rest of the trip (priceless). I will never forget when my niece had made some drawings with a blue roller pen on my brother's brand new Jaguar cream interior: the wipes saved our day.

For regular care these vintage leathers do have to be treated as such: not like modern leather, and not even like they were supposed to be taken care-of 40 years ago.

When I got the car the leather was so dry that I used SAPO products (a grease made of petrol jelly fish oils & bee wax which I normally use on our horse saddles!). After one week there was barely any residue left. My point is that after 40+ years, these dried leather can swallow whatever oil you throw at them as the old coating is not as waterproof as a brand new "plastic" coating.

As far as odour is concerned, some oils do have a very nice "natural" scent. Mink oil is the most subtle (to me), some products do contain a touch of bitter almond oil, etc. So one can choose whatever product that will give the car its "proper" scent.

One of my hide (surrounding of the front seat) was replaced by the previous owner. They obviously recycled a grey seat and applied a new (acrylic) coating. One can easily see that underside the leather retains it original pigments. Also on all the other elements one can "see through" the coating. So these hide were treated with a better process than an opaque top-coat as seen on most modern leathers. whether or not to keep this transparency and patina is a mater of personal taste, so here again, one has to find the proper product that will match these "transparent" top-coat.

So pre-moistened wipe, mink oil and all-in-one shoe-shine for me : this may seem nonsense, but at the end of the day the rationale in owning a Ferrari is what it is, and taking care of the car is part of the fun...

 

I hope you know that "Neatsfoot oil" ("Huile de pied de boeuf") is usually mainly reserved for raw leathers that have mainly a life in exteriors, and not for automotive seats leather; furthermore, it also has the reputation (deserved or not?) to damage and sometimes destroy the threads that tie the hides...so should you decide to use it, be warned and do it sparingly, and at your own risk...

Rgds

 

If you are based in France (as I am), bear in mind that we don't have real neatsfoot oil any-more. what they are selling us as "Huile de pied de boeuf" is actually sunflower oil (or worse rapeseed oil) plus a generous amount of brown tint. Depending on the oil extraction process, the resulting acidity can be different than the real neatsfoot oil. The same goes for raw leather products such as the SAPO I mentioned earlier: their oil does contain the afore mentioned sunflower oil and their grease does contain petroleum product...

So let's not blame neatsfoot oil based on the crappy product we have here.

 

Let's be very clear about this: I do not give any advice, as I don't have any horse in this race.
I have two 328s, and their leather has been very satisfied with "Leatherique" for the last 15 years, and the results, although a bit long to achieve, have really been outstanding.
Will I advise Leatherique? No. Will I discourage "Huile de Pied de Boeuf" for you? No.
But I won't NEVER use it on my cars: the real "Huile de Pied de Boeuf" (not the substitute) did indeed eat the threads, and there are quite a number accounts of that.
But YOU take your own risks. It's your car(s) and your leather, not mine. Your choice, not mine.

That being said, I'm from a family of "artisans"; serious people know that there is NO miracle cure in one swoop, and no miracle products; it takes time to achieve a real good and durable finish: if the leather is brittle and dry, it will take five or six years to fully cure. Anything less means something is wrong, and will come bite you back in the end.

Rgds

 

Being in the leather industry for over twenty years, gentlemen - you don't have to make this complicated. The real key to leather longevity is cleaning - not the stuff you put on afterwards. Wipe it down every time you wash the car, especially where your hands touch (steering wheel, gearshift, door pulls). Keep the dirt and oils from your body off the leather and you're 90% of the way to keeping it immaculate. Most people do their leather interiors as an afterthought, once or twice a year. While that is better than nothing, its not enough.

Follow the cleaning with a conditioner designed for coated or pigmented leathers, not pure anilines. These are simple products and fast to use. No oil products, no soaking products - no all-in-one product. You have to clean first, then follow with the conditioner. In between a full conditioning, simply wipe down with a damp cloth, that's all there is to it.

Aniline leathers are a different story, but you don't have pure anilines in your vehicles, they can't tolerate the UV rays so they are not used.

 

Sponge and soapy water? Where is the fun then

Working on the interior is very rewarding and not such a mess as the engine compartment: I dismantled my dashboard in order to have the one-piece leather "straight and flat". That's a lot of work but with a bit of patience the dashboard is still original (I could not save the instrument cluster though).

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I also love to fix the stitching (proper English?) of my Renault(s) with my bulletproof Singer sewing machine. (Did not go so far on the Ferrari).

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So maybe the car does not require much upholstery care, but this is a place where one can fix a few things without second thoughts. So why not?

If we just want to focus on simple care, the large leather panel on the dashboard must be protected from the sun whenever the car is parked outside on a sunny day. On such a huge leather area, you can easily experience a 3cm shrinkage. Some 400 do have vinyl here, not sure if this was from the factory but this was a nice "upgrade".