HZ60

It's Scuba Blue. I have a PC and a flex and have been detailing my own cars and some for freinds and neighbors for 5 years. So yes, I'm all ready to do this the right way. I've read that "self healing clear coats", the early versions anyway, are a biatch to polish. I was just asking if the self healing technology has improved since the earlier products were introduced and looking for some pointers from anyone who has worked with this type of paint before.

I know this is an Audi forum and I'll probably get some sh*t but here are a few pics of my '02 ///M Roadster after I did a full detail. I'll post some of the Q after I get it done.

detailersdomain

what polishes do you currently have?

HZ60

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...&postcount=288

HZ60

Forgot one, the S54 all cleaned up. This is my "garage queen" w/ 29k original miles.

detailersdomain

you have all the right products to use on your car if you need more cut you may want to use Menzerna FG400 followed by SF4000.

Uber yellow with the FG400 followed by Uber Green adn the SF4000.

if you were to need more cut over the uber yellow you can go with a microfiber cutting pad.

HZ60

Sounds good,

Thanks!

Vegas-roadster

I recently bought a low mileage blue 2011 TT whose light gray seats had light gray alcantara inserts in the wear areas. Having had difficulties with keeping alcantara clean in the past (particularly with a very light color), I decided to immediately replace the inserts with leather. My dealer recommended an independent leather seat tech they use who I hired to replace the alcantara. He showed me samples used by various European manufacturers whose hides are sold by the largest west coast provider of replacement auto leathers. There were no blues in the Audi samples he had so I selected a medium blue used by BMW that had a slight metallic sheen. I was pleased with the finished product.

Now 3 months later, I detailed the interior for the first time. I have had leather seats on everything from Maseratis to Hyundais in a variety of colors for 25 years. I used Lexol leather cleaner and Connolly Hide Food on all of these seats without incident during those 25 years. The Lexol was recommended to me by a leather expert and Connolly was the product recommended by Rolls Royce and Jaguar for their leather seats.

I was surprised to see some blue on my cloth from the blue leather when using both the cleaner and conditioner. It’s not a lot but it is definitely there. I thought that maybe it was just new residue, but a second cleaning/conditioning cycle had the same level of blue transfer to the cloth. I don’t see any area on the leather that has diminished color or sheen.

I called the seat tech and he first tried to blame it on my wearing denim. However, I told him I never wear denim. He then said that the only cleaner he ever uses and recommends is Simple Green, and that he never uses nor recommends the use of any conditioner, that any cleaning/conditioning is harmful to leather (Don’t know why he did not say that when I told him I was switching to leather to make it easier to clean my seats). He contacted the leather provider and said they told him that some color transfer is “normal” for blue leather (I’ve never had blue before, but I doubt this). They also told him that they recommend only using Byron’s cleaner and conditioner. Byron’s is only sold by a few internet companies but I bought some, used it, and had the same issue. I have not tried Simple Green but expect the same result there too. I do not get any transfer just using a water-dampened cloth.

Any thoughts?

detailersdomain

wow I have never heard of anything like that. can you send me a photo.

can you call and ask if the leather is coated?

Vegas-roadster

which is what gives it a semi-gloss sheen the the catalog called "metalic". Not a computer techie for posting photos, but all you would see is some light blue color on a white cotton cloth. It's not sturating the cloth with blue color. It's like you would see dirt distributed on a cloth after cleaning a slightly dirty seat, except it is blue.

Personally, I believe the installer got some bad skin from his supplier and he does not want to re-invest the labor to fix it. Since he told me up front that he never recommends using any conditioner, I can't force him to fix the problem.

detailersdomain

I'm not sure how I can assist you if there was defect in a product I gave to a customer I would fix the problem.

If you are okay with dye coming off the seats I'm going to guess you will have to live with the problem.

That being said I believe he should fix the problem or work something out with you.

How strange would it be if Audi had a problem with their car and said sorry we have a problem it was from the supplier we don't feel like fixing it.

Just saying.