As I continue to experiment with the methods listed below, you’ll see my opinion of them.
These are my current findings for someone that may not be aware of the variances between coated (typically with polyurethane from what I’ve heard) and a semi-aniline leather (which Atacama is!)
I will link some resources in the future for a deep dive into the different types of leather. But here’s what you need to know !! Especially for cracked/dry Atacama.
Unlike most automotive and other Volvo leather, Atacama doesn’t have a durable, protective coating on the outside to shield it from water, food, and other debris. Atacama is extremely susceptible to water spots and staining. And because of this, traditional cleaning and conditioning systems are usually a big “no-no” on this leather, which is often discovered too late.
Rant Time:
If you’re like me, you want to take care of your car to the absolute best of your abilities. So, I’ll tell you what I’ve done that doesn’t do sh!t and how to severely alter the appearance of your leather for good if it’s damaged. (DO NOT DO THIS)
Upon recommendation of my friends last summer, I succumbed to peer pressure and bit the bullet. I tried an unconventional leather conditioning system called “Leatherique” which uses a sticky, collagen based leather rejuvenator, and watery substance called Prestine Clean to dissolve it.
If you are reading this and have Nordkap blue leather, I would HIGHLY suggest using that system, as Nordkap ages it develops white cracks, and this darkens the cracks to make Nordkap look and feel new.
Words from the wise, don’t use that sh!t on Atacama. If your Atacama is showing white cracks, don’t even waste your time. (this is my current opinion of course)
The risk is simply too high, and here is the exact reasoning as to why.
Remember how Atacama is unprotected and is susceptible to water spots and staining? This is VERY important. Especially as this leather ages with owners that have no clue what they’re doing (including me)
As this leather continues to get more dry over time, ingress and egress wear (getting in and out of the car incorrectly) will accelerate the process of damage to the leather. The difference is, this baseball glove leather is exposed, dry hide. No safety net anymore.
(This is a thread from 2013 that has input from other members at the time)
They discuss the process of how when you see damage on the seat, it’s simply too late, you’re seeing the “separation of lines in the top coat” as one person said.
“Leatherique is getting all the crap out bro!!” Oh, I’m sure it is. But the side effects aren’t pretty.
As the absolute moron that I am taking other peoples advice at face value (never again), I decided to cover ALL of my seats in the Leatherique rejuvenator. The one that behaved worst was the driver’s seat.
I didn’t get lucky like @UbikTheCarGuy with previous owners that consistently maintained the leather.
In my case, this lack of conditioning lead to severe cracks in my leather, a direct opening to the hide itself. Observe.
This was the condition of my leather in 2018, and as an old friend mentioned, “it’s too late and not in good shape.” I am now aware.
You can see all of the white stress “fractures” and cracks from ingress/egress wear (getting in and out incorrectly) and inconsistent conditioning.
When my family received this car, it was astoundingly dry. Almost stiff to sit in, actually. It turns out, semi-aniline and aniline (such as the Ford King Ranch) leather needs to be “fed” and nourished for optimal wear throughout its life. My car received none of the such. And because of this, lived up to its desert derived name.
I’ll show you the photos of my leather during, and post Leatherique treatment.
Remember those little white stress fractures? Pshhhhh, how bad could it be?
That… is pretty bad.
My friends reassured me “tHat’S just what happens when you condition Atacama bro it’ll come back” and I waited, and waited, still a year, I’m waiting.
My interior went from a dirty leather, to a clean two tone dark and light orange..
My friends commented “That looks so much better! Doesn’t it?” Yes, compared to the tragedy (by definition) above, it looks better.
The only issue is, exactly like Nordkap, both Gobi and Atacama’s cracks darken negatively upon application of Leatherique, and no, they will never return to “normal” with Atacama. As you’ll see my experiments later, there are exceptions to this rule, but not always.
However, the moisture will evaporate for the potential for the leather return to normal. (Huge thanks to @Exocet for this insight)
Here’s another “specimen” believe it or not, @UbikTheCarGuy as mentioned earlier. In his car with Atacama that I would consider in good condition has a darkening as well that is visually unappealing to me (sorry, Xander, it’s for the people)
He doesn’t mind that discoloration, and It’s probably very soft. As you can see, his passenger seat is in excellent condition, just like my rear seats, and responded well to the Leatherique.
Interestingly on the topic of tan and white leather, as mentioned by @acetylbroline in a few posts below, even with normal “coated” leather, the cracks in the lighter white sections of their car’s cool 917C sport leather actually got worse (from my understanding.) Your results may vary.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I would in a small test spot.
Many will argue I’m just having a pity party that I didn’t do a test spot, and yes! This was my fault. Don’t repeat my mistakes if you remotely care about the look.
Solutions | Preventative Maintenance
If your Atacama is still in decently good shape, please, condition it if possible. It’ll help deeply in the long run.
Please look below at some options.
I wouldn’t personally choose Leatherique, even on “good leather.” The color change does still occur.
So! I got to asking, what other methods are there to potentially revitalize this wonderful leather? It may be too late for mine now, but not yours.
The easy way out is dye, f#%k that. That’ll be another thread talking about how to ruin a V70R’s entire interior permanently. Ironically, I might be going down this road myself (with a filler, and dye) to fix the discoloration I caused earlier.
What’s the best route? Take care of your leather – and never go down this road to begin with… Preventative maintenance is what I had to learn.
I went to Bring a Trailer and found what I was finally looking for, if ONLY I would’ve tried this first. I looked at photos of my absolute favorite Atacama I’ve seen to date. This car sold in 2021 for 37.5 thousand because of such an interior (great history, and mileage at 24k of course)
Bid for the chance to own a 24k-Mile 2006 Volvo V70R at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #43,481.
bringatrailer.com
I asked “what in the world did he do to keep the Atacama looking like that?”
Of course, lack of use in anything will lead to minimal wear
So, I dug through the auction messages.
The seller, “jlaa” posted this.
“So that you are aware and for the benefit of the next owner of this awesome turbo-brick, I just want to point out the process I used with Griot’s Leather Rejuvenator with Atacama Leather.
Atacama, for those of us who know, is some kind of ridonkulus-grade-xxxtra-bovine leather put in by Volvo that is UNprotected. Almost all automotive leathers sold are protected leathers (and you can test this by spilling a few drops of water on the leather — a protected leather will have those drops of water sitting on the surface.)
Atacama is at UNprotected, but it is also absurdly soft to the touch and the smell that emanates from these hides of leather make Connolly leather, which is used by the Brits in all cars Anglo, smell like vingear. Atacama is THAT fragrant. Imagine jamming an entire hide of cow up your nose, and you come close to the exquisite experience that Atacama lends….. it basically bathes your olfactory nerves in cow.
So given that Atacama is UNprotected, I have always, twice a year, worked nearly half a bottle of rejuventaor into all the leather surfaces with my bare hands and then swirl it all around to work the product into the leather pores with a soft brush ….. and let it sit for one to two weeks.
Let it sit. The Leather will absorb it all. It will drink it all up. I promise. In the meantime your spouse or significant other will compliment you on how well you have moisturized your hands.
At the end of two weeks, you can quickly buff everything out with a microfiber towel, and then you are all set for a while. I do not know if this works with protected leather ….. I can certainly say this technique does not work for mid-90s Mercedes nor mid-90s Porsche leather …… but it certainly worked for Volvo Atacama UNprotected leather.”
I am yet to try this process, but it is fascinating. Someone quick to dismiss this may say “bRO tHat’S lEatheriQue bRO !!”
No, I don’t believe it is.
The difference between the two is the usage of a water based cleaner/conditioner, whatever the hell “Prestine Clean” claims to be. Anyways, the important step to recognize above is the lack of water in the process. There is no dampened microfiber, simply let the leather absorb it, and buff to a dry finish. It’s what I may have been searching for the entire time !! Griot’s official instructions also support this.
My friend @skywolf owns a Volvo V90 with Napa leather, and he shared some interesting tips with me I didn’t know
“The thing with Atacama, and I’m learning this from my V90, since it’s a similar type, is really to avoid water damage. When water sits on normal automotive leather, like in a P2XC, it doesn’t do anything because the surface is actually coated. This is why it’s so durable, Napa and Atacama do not have such coatings. Water will cause them to shrivel and stain, So the key is to clean without using too much water and quickly patting down moisture.” Thanks a ton, Brian!
Interestingly enough, he does use Leatherique to maintain his nappa leather in his V90. It is in excellent condition, and he has a very careful procedure. When using “Prestine Clean” he is very methodical in small sections. (Think dividing the lower cushion into seven sections)
Minimizing the time the water spends on each section, he’ll put the Prestine Clean on to dissolve the rejuvenator, and quickly wipe it off. He only moves on to the next section after it’s dry, because it’ll shrivel and wrinkle if there’s a lot of residual moisture.
In his XC70’s, he can leave the Prestine Clean on for much longer, it won’t cause harm, because the leather is coated.
Though I will say, I did try to do this during my original Leatherique application last year, but the longest I left it on was maybe two minutes, no one discussed what Brian recently told me. (mentioned above)
On the flip side:
This instantly made me think (specifically for my damaged Atacama) DUH, no wonder the Leatherique effectively ruined my seats. For one, the rejuvenator may be water based, and without a doubt that Prestine Clean is. The collagen may nourish the leather and provide an oily “tackiness” but that’s WHY. At this point, I can’t confirm if Leatherique rejuvinator is water based and stained the surface, or if the oil permanently darkened the fibers, though because of this, the driver’s seat is “ruined.”
It’s time I address this concern. Did the Leatherique nourish and make my seats far more soft, and more enjoyable to sit in? Absolutely. If you’re only after maximum softness and suppleness, proceed with Leatherique. But, be advised about the color change I wouldn’t have personally gone down this road if I would’ve known earlier.
And one more option I’ve heard of, but haven’t cared much about, I’ll investigate it to see if It works too. Leather conditioner from Lexol. As they’ve become a super corporate mega entity in the leather care industry, they seem to have 2 in 1’s galore, but I haven’t found a true leather conditioner from them yet for this application.
If you’ve used Lexol on Atacama with good results, will you please share your experience for others?
And finally, the last path I have yet to follow for Atacama.
Let’s consider automotive leather as a spectrum. Most coated leathers, as mentioned above, we’ll put as easy to maintain.
In the middle, Atacama leather, which is unique as a semi-aniline leather.
And the worst, aniline leather, which is what Ford “King Ranch” leather is. I did research into what owners were using and found something from Pinnacle Wax in their black label collection. It’s called “Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner” and the matching hide-soft conditioner as well. Formulated with mink oil and lanolin, nourishes the highly susceptible leather of a king ranch gently and properly with “the oils it needs”.
Leatherique’s instructions themselves give the tip of “petroleum based products will lead to the premature rotting of leather fibers.” And on these bottles, “this cleaner and conditioner forgo less expensive petroleum based ingredients and use mink oil and lanolin, and even our cleaner provides the initial conditioning step” as just mentioned.
The problem? This product was recently discontinued, which goes against what the websites say as “out of stock.” I emailed them for this answer. Update on September 10th, 2024. The product is back in stock everywhere. The email from Pinnacle Support told me it was discontinued, this was incorrect. Perhaps a new formulation?
I had to source it. I found a lovely website called carzilla.ca in Canada. I personally picked up two bottles of each, thinking of it as a saving grace. Better to have it than not.
So, where does this leave us?
I will say to currently take my alternatives with a grain of salt, I will be using the alternatives mentioned above an experimenting with both undamaged and damaged Atacama.
Leatherique does work great if your leather is in good shape, it will provide the nourishment to the leather fibers. My rear seats are in great shape because of this, but still, slightly discolored.
Perhaps the remaining darkness embedded deeper in the cracks of the driver’s seat is leftover rejuvenator, as I cleaned it without a leather brush. This theory can be supported with the results of the passenger seat (possibly.)
Here was that section before, and during Leatherique.
This I am still stumped by but looking for answers.
My leading theory is that these cracks were enormous as you can see, which either made it easier for the Prestine Clean to remove/dissolve the rejuvenator and for the water to evaporate faster, or this section was unbelievably dry, ended up absorbing it entirely, and did end up coming back to a slightly darkened but actually quite nice look. Take a look.
You can see ^ the damage below still amplified and heavily darkened.
An interesting option I found is actually from FCP Euro, the official Volvo Leather Care Kit. I probably won’t attempt this on my car. I will on my P3 Volvo XC60 (with coated leather)
It’s apparently the only products recommended by Volvo for their leather “upholstery” as the ad says, and no one talks about it (from what I’ve seen)
For amusement, I’ll very remotely consider giving it a try in a VERY small test spot on the non-damaged rear seats to hopefully give another alternative. If it damages them, stick it to the man.
Volvo Leather Care Kit – Genuine Volvo 31375177
www.fcpeuro.com
A Reddit user also gave the insight “It works great if your leather isn’t damaged.” So, likely off the table for my solutions proposed above.
Let’s get to the bottom of this, for all Atacama owners once and for all. Any and all input is appreciated, even a healthy debate, this is for WE, the Atacama people LOL.
Thanks for reading.