Strange Leather Problem

[FatBoy]

Back in the summer (that seems a very long time ago ) my Kirkham seats got rather wet whilst driving to Le Mans. However, rather than simply drying out and maybe requiring some leather cream, they have developed a thick crusty "tide mark" half way up the back and across the front of the swabs.
I have been told it isn't recoverable and I now have thick, unsightly marks across both seats.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar with their Kirkham seats.
I've exchanged emails with David and the choice of leather in Poland is, apparently, very limited. A new seat of seat leather is going to cost the best part of $1,000 and I would still need to get them fitted. But I would like to know whether I have some faulty leather, or whether it is a common occurance, or maybe you guys just don't get your cars wet.

Thanks,
Paul

[Jamo]

That's too bad...what kind of cream did you put on them?

I've driven mine through countless rain and snow for the past five years...one time in Northern California for several solid hours of heavy rain. Had the car rained on in parking lots overnight as well. I've always been amazed about how durable it's been. I know of more than a few owners who have had the same experience.

I've never added anything to the leather...just let it dried out. And that's on top in being in 100+ heat that is common here in the summer. Still in extremely nice condition.

I can't imagine anyone asking an mfg. to guarantee leather that has been soaked and had some unknown product applied to it.

[1985 CCX]

Paul

I was soaked many times including going to SAAC33 last summer and never needed to do anything. I treat the seats once a year with Liquid Leather via Gliptone out of England. Can you post photos?

Best of luck,
Jeff

[FatBoy]

Jamo,
The seats were brand new and hadn't had anything applied to them, unknown or otherwise. I have since tried to recover the leather on one of the seats using an off-the-shelf water based leather cleaner, but it has had no effect. The car had only covered a couple of hundred miles before the trip to Le Mans.
At the moment, I'm not suggesting Kirkham do anything, but I would like to know what the cause of the problem is. As both Jeff and you have said, simply getting wet shouldn't be a problem as the leather should recover once dried out.
Here are a couple of pictures of the driver's seat.





It looks like just a salt mark in the pictures, but the leather has taken on a thick, crusty effect and the leather below the mark has a different texture to that above it.

I love my Kirkham and I'm very proud of it, so please understand that this enquiry isn't in any way a finger pointing exercise at KMS.

Thanks,
Paul

[Jamo]

I must've misunderstood your post...my apologies.

God only knows what evil lurks in French {FTF} rain.

Personally, I would've stripped the covers off the frame by now to see what's happening underneth.

[Rick Parker]

Could it be some sort of chemical such as Suntan oil, deodorant or perspiration? Or somthing that may have leeched (?) out of any clothing when they got wet on the trip
Or was there some type of leather dressing originally applied on the seats that bled to the lower part when they got wet?
Go back and look at the outerwear that you had on (if you can recall) see if there are any clues on the jacket etc.

After affects of Chernobyl Rain..........

[FatBoy]

I was wearing a Musto sailing coat due to the slightly damp conditions.



..so there was very little chance of any sweat getting through, and certainly no sun-tan oil.

It is actually the leather at the bottom that has been affected. The leather at the top of the seats is fine. It;s as if the the tanning hasn't fixed in the leather and has been pushed up by the water leaving a tide mark of accummulated "stuff".

[RedBarchetta]

Have you considered just taking off that particular seat cover and taking it to a local leather crafter or someone that knows something about how to work with the material? Might require re-tanning or dye to get it back to where it should be.

Not what you want to hear, but judging from the pics whatever is causing this is deep in the grain of the leather.

-Dean

[RodKnock]

I'm curious if the leather used in the earlier cars like Jamo's is/was manufactured by a different company or the same supplier. Paul has a much newer Kirkham.

Paul, I admire you for driving your car in the rain with no top and also because the power-to-weight ratio makes dry weather driving a challenge.

The sound going through the Chunnul must have been interesting.

[Jamo]

That's a light rain compared to what Buckley, turk and I drove through from Redding to Sacramento a few yew years ago.

Rodknock...yup, mine came from a special breed: 100% Balzak.

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

I'm curious if the leather used in the earlier cars like Jamo's is/was manufactured by a different company or the same supplier. Paul has a much newer Kirkham.

Paul, I admire you for driving your car in the rain with no top and also because the power-to-weight ratio makes dry weather driving a challenge.

The sound going through the Chunnul must have been interesting.

Either brave or stupid. I have Goodyear "Billboards" fitted and they are superb in the wet and instill great confidence.

I went across to France on a ferry, but I have used the "chunnel" on numerous occasions. However, I think you have misunderstood how the channel tunnel works. You can't drive through it unfortunately, you can only get through on a train. Either as a car passenger, where you drive onto the train or as a foot passenger on the EuroStar. The EuroStar can take you direct from London to destinations on the continent, including Paris.

There is certainly something different with the leather on my car. Whether it is isolated to my car or representative of all later cars, I couldn't yet say.

Paul

[kayakjack]

Paul,

Many people have their favorite leather treatments. Leatherique works for me. I use their cleaner and rejuvinator oil. An application of this stuff might make a difference. They sell mail order and the website says they ship international.

http://www.leatherique.com/

Jack

[Jamo]

Paul, just wondering how you can say there is something different about te leather in your car. How do you know that? Have you compared it to any other Kirkhams?

I understand that you're not trying to say that Kirkham is somehow responsible for your problem...just wondering what you're basing that comment on.

See, I've seen a whole bunch of Kirkhams over the years...old ones and new ones. I sure couldn't tell if the leather's any different. The grains have all looked the same, and they all seem to withstand weather swimmingly [pardon me pun] even though no mfg would ever warrant leather seats for rain use (or carpet or electrics for that matter).

Wish you well. Again, as I said (first, I might add ), I would've pulled the skins off quite some some time ago based on how long it's been since the last time my beloved Audi laid waste.

[cscobra]

It almost looks as if two different hides were pieced together on each seatback, although I can't imagine anyone actually doing that. A mystery, to be sure.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by FatBoy

I went across to France on a ferry, but I have used the "chunnel" on numerous occasions. However, I think you have misunderstood how the channel tunnel works. You can't drive through it unfortunately, you can only get through on a train. Either as a car passenger, where you drive onto the train or as a foot passenger on the EuroStar. The EuroStar can take you direct from London to destinations on the continent, including Paris.Paul

Paul, as you can tell, I'm not the world's greatest traveler. My mistake.

Sorry about the seats. Around here, there aren't too many Cobra owners taking their Cobras out when the humidity factor is high. Certainly not me.

This is probably a good reminder to condition my seats since my car left the Kirkham shop over a year ago.

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by Jamo

Paul, just wondering how you can say there is something different about te leather in your car. How do you know that? Have you compared it to any other Kirkhams?

I understand that you're not trying to say that Kirkham is somehow responsible for your problem...just wondering what you're basing that comment on.

I'm basing it on what you and others have said in as much as your seats haven't been affected by getting wet and mine have.
These were brand new seats that got wet, as simple as that. Your seats dried out fine, mine didn't. Therefore, I'm making an assumption that something is different, but I have no idea what.
I'm not making accusations, I'm just really puzzled about what has happened to my seats. I've not seen anything like it before and neither has anyone I've shown them to.
I haven't pulled the covers off because I don't want to make more of a mess than they already are and I have no experience of trimming seats I'm afraid.


Paul

[Rick Parker]

Could it be salt spray that was adhered to your sailing coat (if it was actually used while sailing) that beacame washed off as the rain drenched the coat while driving and then pooled along the area where your back pressed against the seat?? Trying to think outside the box....

[Maricopa]

Wow, I mean it's a seat with some black leather on it. Any competent upholstery shop should be able to either repair or replace the panel. Can't imagine it costing anywhere near 1K.

If not there's always one of these.

[patrickt]

The pictures showed a crease that ran along the middle of the leather seat where the water had puckered the leather. In this type of situation there are two things we could do, one is sand the crease out and with some fillers and dye make the seat new again, this is where a leather professional comes in to play, or replacement of the section that is creased, that's where an upholstery shop comes in. In these type of situations there aren't any leather conditioners or cleaners in the world that will remove a creased or puckered leather, what happens is the actual structure of the fibers in the leather have been altered and what you see is what you have.

Source: How to Remove Stains in Leather Seats http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Rem...ats&id=1283445

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

Could it be salt spray that was adhered to your sailing coat (if it was actually used while sailing) that beacame washed off as the rain drenched the coat while driving and then pooled along the area where your back pressed against the seat?? Trying to think outside the box....

Not salt from my coat, I'm afraid, but it was worth a thought.