Help! Blue Jean Stain On Grey Leather

[inchulk]

My '06 Lexus rx330 has a grey leather interior. I just noticed that some of the colour from my blue jeans has stained the driver's seat! :cries:

Does anyone know of an effective way to:

1. Get out these types of stains (I've already tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as suggested elsewhere on this site - didn't work)

2. Prevent this from happening again

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[cduluk]

It can be removed by gently rubbing the area with a cotton towel dampened with a dilution of 6 parts water for every 1 part woolite. As for preventing it from happening again, there isn't much you can do. The leather is coated with a dye that gives it that beautiful color. In time, UV rays, wear and friction, this layer of dye (like paint) begins to wear away and gets 'tacky'. Fibers from pants etc begin to stick to this exposed area.

Leather conditioners won't do much, and leather cleaners will only make it worse. You can 'touch up' the area by using stuff from magicmender (google them) they have repair kits- you can apply a thin layer of dye to the affected area which will offer extra protection and ensure the factory die won't be totally removed. i've used the magicmender stuff on my Rx300 leather and it works great.

[inchulk]

It can be removed by gently rubbing the area with a cotton towel dampened with a dilution of 6 parts water for every 1 part woolite. As for preventing it from happening again, there isn't much you can do. The leather is coated with a dye that gives it that beautiful color. In time, UV rays, wear and friction, this layer of dye (like paint) begins to wear away and gets 'tacky'. Fibers from pants etc begin to stick to this exposed area.

Leather conditioners won't do much, and leather cleaners will only make it worse. You can 'touch up' the area by using stuff from magicmender (google them) they have repair kits- you can apply a thin layer of dye to the affected area which will offer extra protection and ensure the factory die won't be totally removed. i've used the magicmender stuff on my Rx300 leather and it works great.

Thanks for the advice! I'll give this a try and let you know how it turns out. I'm going to pick up some Lexol cleaner and conditioner as well to treat the seat after the cleaning.

[BillyShaft]

My '06 Lexus rx330 has a grey leather interior. I just noticed that some of the colour from my blue jeans has stained the driver's seat! :cries:

Does anyone know of an effective way to:

1. Get out these types of stains (I've already tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as suggested elsewhere on this site - didn't work)

2. Prevent this from happening again

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

eww...that sucks. Please let us know how that woolite solution works for you.

Good Luck!

[inchulk]

My '06 Lexus rx330 has a grey leather interior. I just noticed that some of the colour from my blue jeans has stained the driver's seat! :cries:

Does anyone know of an effective way to:

1. Get out these types of stains (I've already tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as suggested elsewhere on this site - didn't work)

2. Prevent this from happening again

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

eww...that sucks. Please let us know how that woolite solution works for you.

Good Luck!

Sucks indeed! After reading a few other message boards, I'm going to refrain from using the Lexol 'cleaner' - it appears that Woolite with water is a safer approach to cleaning leather than any chemical leather cleaners out there. So I'm going to try the woolite + water, followed by Lexol conditioner. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[inchulk]

It can be removed by gently rubbing the area with a cotton towel dampened with a dilution of 6 parts water for every 1 part woolite. As for preventing it from happening again, there isn't much you can do. The leather is coated with a dye that gives it that beautiful color. In time, UV rays, wear and friction, this layer of dye (like paint) begins to wear away and gets 'tacky'. Fibers from pants etc begin to stick to this exposed area.

Leather conditioners won't do much, and leather cleaners will only make it worse. You can 'touch up' the area by using stuff from magicmender (google them) they have repair kits- you can apply a thin layer of dye to the affected area which will offer extra protection and ensure the factory die won't be totally removed. i've used the magicmender stuff on my Rx300 leather and it works great.

Thanks again cduluk. In case the woolite doesn't work, I might have to touch it up with magicmender as suggested. I went to a Lexus dealer and had them check my trim code (interior color code) - it's "LA11" (my interior is light grey). I checked on magicmender's website and their light grey for the '06 RX330 has a trim code of "V-70L". I'm not sure if you have a grey interior, but if so, would you happen to know if V-70L matches the Lexus LA11 trim?

[inchulk]

Well, I tried everything I've seen on the message boards:

1. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

2. Woolite + water

3. Armor All Orange wipes

4. Lexol pH Cleaner and Lexol Conditioner

NOTHING worked. I think it just depends on the stain. The Lexus dealership said that some come out, and some don't. The detailers I went to for advice said that they either don't come out, or they have to use a degreaser, which not only takes it out, but will severely damage the leather.

BTW, I think it was my black winter jacket that stained the seat.

My only option now is to dye the seat in that area with Magic Mender. I need to confirm with them if Lexus' trim color LA11 matches their V-70L light gray...but their email function on their website doesn't work! And they don't supply a number. ARRRGGGGHHH!!!

[smooth1]

wait, before you go that far, can you post a pic of it? Depending on how bad the stain is I have a couple of other options you may want to try first.

1) You have to trust me here, and if you don't then maybe find a peice of leather that isn't significant to you, and make a small blue or black pen mark on it and test me.( I have done this before. I'm telling you this from expereince.) But,,,,,,try hairspray on it. Preferrably the cheap Aquanet stuff. Spray the towel your going to use, not directly on the leather itself. Then rub on the spot with it. Be quick about it, and keep respraying the towel to keep it moist. Then after the stain is gone, use some milder cleaner like some warm soapy water to get the hair spray residue off the leather. Then recondition the leather with oil based conditioner. I don't know whats in the hair spray or why it works, but I have removed blue ink pen marks on leather from someone leaving a pen in thier pocket and sitting in thier car, and once I even fixed an exploded papermate pen disaster off light beige leather. If you really looked at the spot hard, you could sort of see the outline some, but if you never knew about the accident, you would never know it was there.

[inchulk]

wait, before you go that far, can you post a pic of it? Depending on how bad the stain is I have a couple of other options you may want to try first.

1) You have to trust me here, and if you don't then maybe find a peice of leather that isn't significant to you, and make a small blue or black pen mark on it and test me.( I have done this before. I'm telling you this from expereince.) But,,,,,,try hairspray on it. Preferrably the cheap Aquanet stuff. Spray the towel your going to use, not directly on the leather itself. Then rub on the spot with it. Be quick about it, and keep respraying the towel to keep it moist. Then after the stain is gone, use some milder cleaner like some warm soapy water to get the hair spray residue off the leather. Then recondition the leather with oil based conditioner. I don't know whats in the hair spray or why it works, but I have removed blue ink pen marks on leather from someone leaving a pen in thier pocket and sitting in thier car, and once I even fixed an exploded papermate pen disaster off light beige leather. If you really looked at the spot hard, you could sort of see the outline some, but if you never knew about the accident, you would never know it was there.

Thanks! I heard that hairspray can be really damaging to leather though?? You said you had a couple of suggestions...is there another approach I can try? I've attached pics...thanks again for giving me hope!! :)

[inchulk]

wait, before you go that far, can you post a pic of it? Depending on how bad the stain is I have a couple of other options you may want to try first.

1) You have to trust me here, and if you don't then maybe find a peice of leather that isn't significant to you, and make a small blue or black pen mark on it and test me.( I have done this before. I'm telling you this from expereince.) But,,,,,,try hairspray on it. Preferrably the cheap Aquanet stuff. Spray the towel your going to use, not directly on the leather itself. Then rub on the spot with it. Be quick about it, and keep respraying the towel to keep it moist. Then after the stain is gone, use some milder cleaner like some warm soapy water to get the hair spray residue off the leather. Then recondition the leather with oil based conditioner. I don't know whats in the hair spray or why it works, but I have removed blue ink pen marks on leather from someone leaving a pen in thier pocket and sitting in thier car, and once I even fixed an exploded papermate pen disaster off light beige leather. If you really looked at the spot hard, you could sort of see the outline some, but if you never knew about the accident, you would never know it was there.

Thanks! I heard that hairspray can be really damaging to leather though?? You said you had a couple of suggestions...is there another approach I can try? I've attached pics...thanks again for giving me hope!! :)

Also, is there any harm to just using the color dye (like magic mender) and NOT cleaning the stain? If the color matches, I'm thinking this is probably the safest approach without risking harm to the leather no?

Thanks!

[cduluk]

That's not transfer from clothing- the leather's gray layer has just worn away showing the darker leather underneath. Your only solution is to re-dye the whole area.

I "would" suggest doing the magic mender stuff yourself, but it's such a large area, it probably wont come out right.

Take it to your lexus dealer and ask them (very nicely) if they can have their upholsterer "look at it". Lexus hires their own guys to come in and recondition cars before they sell as CPO's. They'll have all the materials to make that look 100% brand new and last much longer than anything you could do with magicmender + they have experience with this car.

My guess is they won't charge you, but if they do, well it wont be that much. This would be one of those simple, inexpensive things Lexus can do to keep a happy customer.

[inchulk]

That's not transfer from clothing- the leather's gray layer has just worn away showing the darker leather underneath. Your only solution is to re-dye the whole area.

I "would" suggest doing the magic mender stuff yourself, but it's such a large area, it probably wont come out right.

Take it to your lexus dealer and ask them (very nicely) if they can have their upholsterer "look at it". Lexus hires their own guys to come in and recondition cars before they sell as CPO's. They'll have all the materials to make that look 100% brand new and last much longer than anything you could do with magicmender + they have experience with this car.

My guess is they won't charge you, but if they do, well it wont be that much. This would be one of those simple, inexpensive things Lexus can do to keep a happy customer.

Thanks! In the meantime, I picked up an Obus Form seat cushion that sits on top of the seat (black) - I hope that doesn't stain the seat! Shouldn't...

How can you tell that that's not a stain?

Thanks again.

[cduluk]

Just experience... I'm meticulous about my car's interior and i've seen this before.

When my car was given to me pre-owned it had a similar area of the lumbar part of the seat (same area you're showing me) a darker color. The dealer told me it was caused by the previous owner's belt. It acts like an abrasive, slowly rubbing the dyed layer of the leather off until the raw leather is shown beneath.

How you can really tell:

Make a mental note how dark the infected area is right now. Rub the area with water for a few minutes. If the infected area gets even DARKER, then the dye is worn off. If there is no difference in color, it's probably just fabric transfer. But i can already tell by looking at it, and based on your results using cleaners, it's not just a stain.

If you have a small airbrush (used for painting delicate artwork such as flames on cars etc) you can get the magic mender stuff and spray a fine mist on that area, sort of blending it in with the surrounding areas- but it's probably not worth the cost of materials.

Just take it to the dealer. They shouldn't give you a problem about something so simple. If they do, just ask if they can repair it under their "good will" warranty. But i doubt they'd even take it to that level...

[jgr7]

I've been using Blue Magic Leather Cream Conditioner spray to clean the side of the seats in my 08 RX. I get the Blue from the jeans my wife wears, (her car). I just spray some on a rag and rub. The rag turns light blue so I know it is the jeans.

Jeff

[cduluk]

Excessive use of cleaners and conditioners can make things worse. They can degrade the stitches and also degrade the surface of the leather dye making the surface MORE susceptible.

Once or twice a year is good for a cleaning and conditioning.

[Andi2005]

My '06 Lexus rx330 has a grey leather interior. I just noticed that some of the colour from my blue jeans has stained the driver's seat! :cries:

Does anyone know of an effective way to:

1. Get out these types of stains (I've already tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as suggested elsewhere on this site - didn't work)

2. Prevent this from happening again

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You need a solvent to remove the stain, not a solution. Have you tried mineral spirits? Be careful as it's highly flammable.

[cduluk]

My '06 Lexus rx330 has a grey leather interior. I just noticed that some of the colour from my blue jeans has stained the driver's seat! :cries:

Does anyone know of an effective way to:

1. Get out these types of stains (I've already tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as suggested elsewhere on this site - didn't work)

2. Prevent this from happening again

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You need a solvent to remove the stain, not a solution. Have you tried mineral spirits? Be careful as it's highly flammable.

I would have to advise against this on dyed leather... There isn't any solution, solvent, miracle water that will make that go away. The dye is worn away and needs to be added back.

[inchulk]

My '06 Lexus rx330 has a grey leather interior. I just noticed that some of the colour from my blue jeans has stained the driver's seat! :cries:

Does anyone know of an effective way to:

1. Get out these types of stains (I've already tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as suggested elsewhere on this site - didn't work)

2. Prevent this from happening again

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You need a solvent to remove the stain, not a solution. Have you tried mineral spirits? Be careful as it's highly flammable.

I would have to advise against this on dyed leather... There isn't any solution, solvent, miracle water that will make that go away. The dye is worn away and needs to be added back.

Thanks - I'm going to dye it - I'm just waiting for a response from my local Lexus dealership to see if they'll cover this.

[cduluk]

If your dealer refuses, try another dealer. It's a simple thing, they have a guy on site pretty much daily that does leather work for them. He gets paid by the day, not the job- so it isn't anything to Lexus...

I can't imagine your dealer saying no to a 10 minute job... They basically do the same thing you'd do with magic mender except their materials are professional and will be covered by lexus.