Speaking of Suede Seats

KingCobra2001 · Jul 14, 2005

My 2001 Cobra's grey suede seats are getting pretty grimey. I was told not to shampoo them because the suede becomes 'brittle' and starts falling apart. Is this true? Can anyone recommend a cleaning product for the suede? I have been thinking about finding a local leather cleaner. Any input would be nice.

COBRA90GT · Jul 14, 2005

If you are referring to the suede-like material found in the "middle" sections of the 2001 seats, the material is actually alcantara. Manufacturer URL linked below:

http://www.alcantara.com/

FYI - They recently revamped their website, so the only way to read the cleaning instructions is if you can read Italian. It seems they still have to translate their text into "English," since the site is not fully functional if you choose English as the language. However, if you select "Italian," everything is functional...go figure.

I Googled for alcantara cleaning instructions and came across the following, which should be useful.

As taken from: http://www.materialthings.co.uk/care.htm

ALCANTARA
Cleaning and care
Alcantara is a soft and durable faux suede, easily cleaned using just mild soap and water. To keep your furniture looking new simply wipe over with a damp cloth periodically then give it a soft brushing. Removable covers can be machine washed at 30C. Allow to dry naturally, replace covers and brush over. Under no circumstances should solvents or dry cleaning be used.

Spillage removal for Alcantara and faux suede
Egg, beer, milk, cream, chocolate, ice cream: wipe with mild detergent solution then rinse.
Blood: mild detergent solution, repeated several times if necessary.
Coffee, tea, wine, grass, ketchup, alcohol: wash off with mild detergent solution, if discoloured treat with citric acid solution then rinse well.
Chewing gum: liberally apply with ethyl alcohol and remove.
Fatty foods, ink pens, shoe polish: dab with a clean cloth soaked in ethyl alcohol then treat with mild detergent solution and rinse off.

IIRC, the cleaning instructions on the Alcantara website were very similar, if not identical, to the ones I copied/pasted above...

tom's_03SVT · Jul 14, 2005

woolite and water....

in a spray bottle.

KingCobra2001 · Jul 15, 2005

Thanks!

I've give it a go this weekend. Thanks for the info.

96GTauto · Jul 15, 2005

If you use woolite, mix it about 6 parts water 1 part woolite. Don't spray it all over the seats, just lightly mist them or spray it on a towel and wipe the seats off. You don't want to soak the seats down. Brush it lightly until it's mostly dry and let it air dry the rest of the way. This is the easiest way that I've seen to clean them and it works like a charm. I've cleaned coke and all kinds of crap off my seats and they still look good as new.

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