What Is Cracked Leather?
Cracked Leather Rear Seat Right
Cracked leather is where the surface coating has deteriorated and the surface coating has cracked on the natural lines on the leather, once this starts to happen if the leather is left it will start to crack causing more damage.
Cracked Leather Rear Sear Right Repaired
This can happen through using the wrong products to care for the leather, or a lack of care.
With leather that has heavy cracking, first of all, this needs a leather prep process to be carried out, this will help soften the leather. This can be done with the leather prep as in most cases what is causing the leather to crack is the paint has lost all its goodness and dried out and then cracking is appearing, this is all caused due to the leather not being protected correctly and at regular intervals or the use of incorrect products.
Once the surface has been prepared you may need to apply a fibre binder to the surface to fix any areas that have very rough areas where the fibres of the leather are sticking up, when this is dry you can lightly sand with a 320 grit sandpaper. You then apply the heavy filler to all areas that are cracked, when dry carry out any sanding that is required, then start to apply paint and sealers to finish off, once fully cured and dried apply protection cream, this can then be cleaned and protected as normal every three months.
This picture shows you the heavy filler applied to this classic jaguar car seat.
Filler Applied To Cracked Leather
The heavy filler that was applied was sanded smooth to ensure a perfect finish was achieved.
Cracked Leather Rear Seat Left
Cracked Leather Rear Seat Left Repaired
Most car seats are made from pigmented leather, some Daimlers were made from aniline leather giving a more luxurious feel and touch to the driving experience.
Crosslinkers that some companies use cause problems with the leather coating, it may make it harder wearing, but it also makes the leather coating dry out and crack very easily as you can see from this picture.
Cracked Leather Caused By Cross linkers
Steering wheels can also suffer from cracking, steering wheels in most cases are made from ultra-thin split leather then dyed, then coated with pigments to colour. Steering wheels are a more delicate material to repair and requires great care to restore them.
Cracking Leather Steering Wheel