Leather and the sun don’t get along so well, so you’ll want to do whatever you can to protect the longevity of your car seats. How to protect leather car seats from the sun? Take a look below.
The best way to protect leather car seats from the sun is to be proactive in your protection. This includes parking your car out of direct sunlight in a parking garage or a shady spot. It also can include putting on car seat covers (at least while exposed to direct sunlight) and taking proper care of your leather car seats. The more precautions you take, the better you will protect your seats from damaging sunlight!
What happens if you leave leather in the sun?
If you know a little about leather, you will most likely know that it’s not a fan of the sun. Sun can prematurely age and wear out leather, no matter how high quality it is. It also can fade its color, which isn’t good in something as hard to replace as a car seat!
If you leave your car parked in the sun regularly, your leather seats will show premature aging and color fading. To protect your car seats, you must be proactive to help protect that sensitive leather!
Does sun damage car leather seats?
As you can probably guess, the answer to this is yes! The sun can cause damage to the seats, not only in fading but to the integrity and quality of the leather seats themselves. They’ll crack, peel, and dry out. This can make using them uncomfortable, not to mention that they’ll ruin your investment!
In some cases, extreme sun and heat can actually melt the leather! It seems strange right? If you’re interested, I’ve written about whether leather burns or melts, which might fascinate you!
Does real leather fade in sunlight?
It’s easy to think that fading leather in the sunlight is just because you’re dealing with low-quality faux leather, but this isn’t the case. Genuine, high-quality leather can and will fade in sunlight if you don’t take steps to prevent it!
Fun Fact: Exposure to the sun can fade your leather in as short a time as 4-6 months.
Can sun-faded leather be restored?
You will need to work on restoring faded leather, but you can do it. You can use conditioner and a recoloring spray. The re-coloring will be important since that won’t just go back to how it was. This may need a professional if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself.
Should seat covers go on leather seats?
This is a personal decision that has a lot of debate. Those who are leather enthusiasts feel that you shouldn’t ever need to cover up leather because that defeats the purpose of having leather! Others feel that you should cover up leather during high-risk situations because it’ll save you from costly repairs in the future.
Does heat ruin leather car seats?
Heat can definitely ruin car seats, though it often surprises many if they’ve got a car with leather seats for the first time. Even if you took the sunlight out of the equation for a moment, the heat of a summer’s day could be enough to damage your leather car seats. To avoid the heat damaging your leather, you’ll want to crack your vehicle windows to keep the heat moving through.
Does window tint protect leather?
Having your car windows tinted can help protect the leather from UV rays. Make sure you know your local laws since window tint isn’t always legal.
Does leather conditioner protect from sun?
Leather conditioner will be one of the best things you can do to help protect your car seats from sun damage. It locks moisture in and helps keep your leather resilient and strong against damage and fading. That being said, it’s not magic. This treatment will help slow down any damage from UV rays, but it won’t stop it entirely. You’ll still need to consider it to protect your leather car seats.
Ways to protect car leather seats in the summer
Summer is the worst season for strong sunlight coupled with heat. If you focus on one time of year to protect your car seats, this is it. One of your simplest options out there is a humble sunshade. Whether you get a colorful or plain one, Wikipedia explains they are great for blocking sun and heat. As far as your car seats, that’s a win-win.
Another easy choice is to put car seat covers on your front seats (at least). You can find many options for styles and materials, and they’re great options for protecting your leather from sun fading. You can even get purpose-designed car seat covers for the summer — we’ll talk about those in a bit.
The last option is an equally obvious one: park out of direct sunlight! Be it in a garage or angling your car so the sun isn’t coming into the vehicle on the seats, it’ll make a difference!
How do you repair sun-damaged leather seats?
Repairing your leather seats after they’ve been damaged is the same as regular caring for leather. You’ll need to vacuum and then clean the seats. Once that’s done, condition the seats with a high-quality conditioner. After that, you’ll need to re-tint, as we mentioned above. Finally, you’ll want to apply a protectant coat on top. While that coat won’t prevent further sun damage, it will greatly help.
TIP: Regularly wash and condition your leather seats during the summer months so you can spot early signs of sun damage before they need to be recolored.
How do I keep my driver’s car seat cool?
If you’re struggling with how to keep that insulating leather seat cool on blistering hot days, you aren’t alone! You can consider a sunshade or a traditional car seat cover like we talked about, but there is something better.
If you look at cooling seat covers, you’ll enter a new world where modern tech helps you beat the heat without having to do anything too complex rather than just putting a cover on your car seats!
The last thing is just to be picky about where you park. This can be challenging, though, since everyone will think along the same lines as you.
Bonus points if you decide to do all of these things — it’ll help you to really enjoy the best experience, even on those hot days!
Learning to protect leather car seats from the sun can be challenging if you’re not used to it, but this guide will help. Take on these tips like parking out of direct sunlight, investing in sunshades and car seat covers, and taking proper care of your car seats. These will help you keep those leather seats buttery soft and perfectly tinted for as long as possible!
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