If you or your car’s first owner splashed some extra cash for a leather-trimmed interior you’ll know just how hard-wearing and durable the material is. It’s soft and luxurious to sit I’m, but up to the wear-and-tear of everyday life.
However, while leather is tough, it’s not impenetrable and sooner or later small nicks and signs of wear will make them visible. If your leather seats degrade enough you’ll be looking at a hefty repair bill to put them right, which means it makes sense to ensure that your seat are looked after, and any small problems are remedied.
RELATED: Car upholstery cleaners that really work
We’ve found both restorers and full kits to ensure that any slightly worn leather is fixed before you need to call in the upholsters. It’s also worth noticing that a couple of the kits will even help restore vinyl seats, perfect for owners of older cars.
What are the leather repair options:
Leather restorer – These products are packed with natural oils and will help restore lost lustre, prevent damage and help fix markings and small damage to the hide.
Leather repair kits – The final resort before calling in the professionals, these seats should be good for cleaning medium-sized damage to your seats, including nasty gashes and tears. Time consuming they may be, but they’ll save you a lot of cash if you let any damage go untreated.
The best leather car seat restorers
The best leather car seat restorer
The best leather restorer for Connolly leather
The best leather car seat repair kits
The best leather car seat repair kit
The best leather repair kit for steering wheels
It’s a fairly hefty six-stage process but the results will see the colour restored, scratches and nicks covered up and a long-lasting coating of protection applied too. It comes with a degreaser, alcohol-based cleaner, leather binder and a self-seal colourant. This kit is designed for black leather steering wheels.
Best value leather repair kit
Rrp: £25.95
Rrp: £25.95
The best leather repair last resort
What you need to know about car leather repair
The signs of damaged leather seats
There are many ways leather seats can become damaged and need repairing. From simple wearing and discolouration to nasty tears and rips in the seats, leather has a lot of ways in which it can become damaged.
The bolsters (the bit of the seat that holds you in place) are often the first areas to show wear as constant entry and exit of people into the seats rubs the leather over time. The other area to show signs of wear quicker is the steering wheel. It’s a high contact point and all the oils in your skin can over time weaken the fibres in the leather.
Can I restore and repair leather car seats myself?
This depends on how damaged the leather is. Small nicks, signs of wear and stains can all be easily tackled with one of the above kits and a little free time. Any bigger damage is worth leaving to the experts in case you make it worse.
What happens if the leather is too far gone?
If your leather looks mummified and has the structural integrity of a flaky sausage roll all is not lost. If you’re desperate to keep your interior looking original you can pay a lot for an upholsterer to restore your leather, a four-figure bill most of the time.
If not a good selection of seat covers are available. From leather options to fabric seat covers we’ve found the best examples. There are even heated covers available for an added touch of warmth during the winter months.
Sign up to the Parkers Newsletter to keep up to date with more of the latest reviews, news, and recommendations from the Parkers team.
Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website, we never allow this to influence product selections – read why you should trust us
