Looking at a car with white leather interior. Majority of it is the front and rear seats, with small pockets on the door panels. I'm trying to look away from the normal internet drama and find real world answers.
Does anyone have tips/tricks/products for keeping it clean? Will carry my wife and kids 9 and 13, on a daily basis. We live in the south and will get the windows tinted, but I'm curious if white might also be cooler than black leather.
What brand car? Lexus has a very light beige, and it turns blue from denim. Lexus has no solutions or suggestions other than "don't wear denim" and there does not seem to be a way to clean it without damaging it.
dps214
SuperDork
3/19/23 11:16 p.m.
I exclusively own white ("gray" technically but they're very slightly off white in reality) leather interior vehicles at the moment (vw and porsche). It's definitely less scalding in the summer months then black leather. I've had good luck basically just doing my best to be sure I'm clean when I get in, and cleaning any dirt that does appear. Just normal leather cleaner, nothing special. But I'm single with no kids so it's fairly easy to make sure nothing too dirty gets into the car. I'm not sure I'd expect it to hold up to kids very well. For that matter I didn't necessarily want white in the daily driver just for the cleaning concerns, but it was what was readily available and I do like the way it looks and the summer "cooling" is nice.
I work in the aftermarket automotive seating business, and tell people all day long, "I know you think you want to custom-order white/creme/light beige/ghost grey leather, and I'm happy to if you really want to, but just to let you know, it stains easily, even from denim jeans, and will be much more difficult to keep looking good than all the options we stock in mid-to-darker shades."
Also, most light leather is essentially paint/pigment on top of leather, so it doesn't hold up as well to aggressive cleaning as medium to darker shades.
For a special occasional-weekend or special-event vehicle? Sure! For a daily/family vehicle? I'd strongly recommend a grey, black, brown, or darker shade if you want leather, and if you don't want scalding seats, get cloth instead of leather.
Also, in regards to cleaning products, don't use leather conditioner on leatherette/vinyl, it will cause it to age/crack prematurely. Do use leather conditioner on genuine leather, rather than a general 'interior' product. Avoid Armor-All! If you want the best stuff, Griot's is awesome. Turtle Wax has great bang-for-the-buck cleaning products, and for synthetic upholstery materials a wipe down with a little dab of dish soap diluted in water is always a great affordable bet!
I've always wondered about the Teslas that have white (or nearly white) interiors. My non-scientific polling indicates that a lot of Teslas have that interior. How does their white hold up?
My 2001 Audi S4 had a light grey interior that was gorgeous but was stained light blue from jeans almost immediately.