Protecting Suede Seats?
The inserts are not real suede on all GM vehicles and nearly all other manufacturers. The material is a man made microsuede, it contains no leather what so ever. You can just clean it as you would clean any other car seat cover with upholstery cleaner or a soft brush and soapy water. On the other hand the leather inserts on the seat can be cleaned with a mild dishsoap detergent and water, this removes the oils and enzymes that are excreted from your skin and eat away at leather, after that use armorall leather moisturizer or whatever product you desire for leather care. I have been in the car interior business for over 8 years and this is what I was taught from my uncle who has been in the custom car interior business for over 30 years
Use distilled water and like mentioned above a mild dish soap and just use a small amount of soap . When its dry brush with a soft brush to get the texture back . There is also microsuede/ultrasuede/alcantara specific cleaning solutions on the market if u choose to go that route .
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Dallas, TX
Although I don't know of suede being available in any year Camaro, generally stuff for automotive use already has a protective coating of Scotchguard on it. You could try spraying some of that on it, but only if you are willing to risk it. I have no idea what it would do to synthetic suede.
My owners manual for my GXP suggests to only clean the suede/microsuede/alcantara/whatever inserts on my seats with a small amount of mild soap and water.
I find it best to just use a very diluted (watered down) soapy solution (using either dish soap or the same car soap I'd use on the exterior) on the leather. It cleans it, moisturizes it, and keeps it from getting really shiny.
In general, using Armor All leather cleaner and stuff even on leather kinda sucks. It makes the leather really shiny, which is generally not what you want. It really brings out the flaws and cracks in the seats. If you're going to use this stuff, stick with Armor All, and don't use other brands though.
A lot of the other brands of leather protectant and cleaner and such contain some really greasy gross stuff you want to stay away from. You get it on the color-matched vinyl used on the door panels, back of the seats, etc. and it really makes a gross greasy mess which will really bring attention to what is leather and what is vinyl on your seats. I used a cheap kind on my leather and vinyl computer chair that contained something like Tetracyclaline or some weird chemical they advertised on the bottle (starting with the letter T) and it just mad a complete mess of the vinyl. It also smelled terrible.
My owners manual for my GXP suggests to only clean the suede/microsuede/alcantara/whatever inserts on my seats with a small amount of mild soap and water.
I find it best to just use a very diluted (watered down) soapy solution (using either dish soap or the same car soap I'd use on the exterior) on the leather. It cleans it, moisturizes it, and keeps it from getting really shiny.
In general, using Armor All leather cleaner and stuff even on leather kinda sucks. It makes the leather really shiny, which is generally not what you want. It really brings out the flaws and cracks in the seats. If you're going to use this stuff, stick with Armor All, and don't use other brands though.
A lot of the other brands of leather protectant and cleaner and such contain some really greasy gross stuff you want to stay away from. You get it on the color-matched vinyl used on the door panels, back of the seats, etc. and it really makes a gross greasy mess which will really bring attention to what is leather and what is vinyl on your seats. I used a cheap kind on my leather and vinyl computer chair that contained something like Tetracyclaline or some weird chemical they advertised on the bottle (starting with the letter T) and it just mad a complete mess of the vinyl. It also smelled terrible.
...to add to that , you should never use ANYTHING that has silicone on leather or vinyl or the plastics . It actually accellerates the wear and aging .
you can also use a diluted mix ( like 80/20 ) of distilled water and IPA ( alocohol ) to clean microsuede . Use as little as it takes to clean and dont saturate it . Same with soapy water . Put either in a spray bottle and mist on a little as it takes . It works very well and will not harm the fabric . And again brush with a soft brush when dry .
you can also use a diluted mix ( like 80/20 ) of distilled water and IPA ( alocohol ) to clean microsuede . Use as little as it takes to clean and dont saturate it . Same with soapy water . Put either in a spray bottle and mist on a little as it takes . It works very well and will not harm the fabric . And again brush with a soft brush when dry .
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Staging Lane
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 51
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Nice, i will try the above
Like i said its in my Trailblazer SS, im sure its not "real suede" but its pretty decent for GM.
My mom has this stuff she swears is god when it comes to clothing (its like scotch guard). It says its safe to use on natural or synthetic suede and leather, of course im hesitant to put any kind of crap on the interior of my car without knowing the effects - http://www.scalisemarine.com/DCS19.htm, (the one of the left) - http://www.dcs19.com/index.php
What do you guys think about zainos leather care product? http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...oduct_Count=16
Like i said its in my Trailblazer SS, im sure its not "real suede" but its pretty decent for GM.
My mom has this stuff she swears is god when it comes to clothing (its like scotch guard). It says its safe to use on natural or synthetic suede and leather, of course im hesitant to put any kind of crap on the interior of my car without knowing the effects - http://www.scalisemarine.com/DCS19.htm, (the one of the left) - http://www.dcs19.com/index.php
What do you guys think about zainos leather care product? http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...oduct_Count=16
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Verdad Gallardo TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Dallas, TX
Have you read the brochure or window sticker for your T-blazer SS? I swear, it would be extremely unlikely for the suede to not have some coating on it already for repelling liquids and stains. I'd look at my Grand Prix GXP stuff, but don't want to spend the time hunting it down.
I was under the impression you had aftermarket seat covers, and who knows what coatings they'd put.
Here's an example I can share... All GM cars come with leather that has a UV protective coating on the leather. It's intended for being in the sun. When you get custom seats made out of a unique leather, or you get cheap ones without asking questions, there's no telling what they use.
Some high dollar hot rods you'll see at car shows use exotic materials sometimes. Sometimes even untreated/unsealed leather which will stain like crazy (literally about like how putting ketchup on a live cow would stain the cow's fur/skin). But you have factory GM materials, so I think it is HIGHLY likely that your car is already well prepared for a little bit of stain repelling and UV filtering, etc.
Scotchguard wouldn't be a bad idea. See if Autozone sells some specifically for automotive use perhaps. But unless you are already having issues, just clean with a very diluted amount of car wash soap and pat dry with a towel.
I had potato chip grease on my suede from a roadtrip involving a tupperware lid removal disaster and the grease marks came right off my factory suede inserts with some diluted soap and patting dry.
I was under the impression you had aftermarket seat covers, and who knows what coatings they'd put.
Here's an example I can share... All GM cars come with leather that has a UV protective coating on the leather. It's intended for being in the sun. When you get custom seats made out of a unique leather, or you get cheap ones without asking questions, there's no telling what they use.
Some high dollar hot rods you'll see at car shows use exotic materials sometimes. Sometimes even untreated/unsealed leather which will stain like crazy (literally about like how putting ketchup on a live cow would stain the cow's fur/skin). But you have factory GM materials, so I think it is HIGHLY likely that your car is already well prepared for a little bit of stain repelling and UV filtering, etc.
Scotchguard wouldn't be a bad idea. See if Autozone sells some specifically for automotive use perhaps. But unless you are already having issues, just clean with a very diluted amount of car wash soap and pat dry with a towel.
I had potato chip grease on my suede from a roadtrip involving a tupperware lid removal disaster and the grease marks came right off my factory suede inserts with some diluted soap and patting dry.
