Originally Posted by
Jroyalty7
Any tips to share? ;)
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
I originally worded my questions somewhere to the tune of "What habits can I get into to make sure these seats look better than any other 2013 car’s seats 100k miles from now?"
Techs' answers, 1 being most important tip:
ALCANTARA:
Alcantara's only weakness is abrasion. 5+ years down the alcantara will begin to show wear by having some of it's 'furriness' pressed smooth. It will not crack like leather and will not tear like conventional cloth seats unless you really abuse it. Some of the flattened nap can be restored using a suede brush and some other techniques but wear is still permanent.
You can minimize or avoid this wear by:
1. Install seat covers so you don't actually wear the seats. If you understandably don't want to install the equivalent of an italian family's plastic furniture covers over an interior you enjoy so much, put down a towel or some microfibers before a long roadtrip.
2. Not driving your Audi naked, they specifically advised against skin-to-alcantara contact as causing a lot of friction and wearing smooth.
3. Put a large microfiber down or some other towel that will lock into position with the alcantara surface and won't slide around before a long roadtrip or commute. Allowing you to move freely and do your commute/roadtrip repositioning/stretches guilt free.
4. Do not use greasy leather products on alcantara or any products except alcantara cleaner. A quick wipe down with a damn cloth works well too.
5. Don't spill shit on your seats or let kids near them.
LEATHER:
Leather’s weakness is cracking. It will not tear, scuff, or rip unless something sharp gets to it. Due to it’s stiffness leather also transfers a lot of weight of the passenger to the threads holding the panels together and therefore their main point of failure is seams coming undone. Repairing a seam is much cheaper than replacing a worn out panel, but a worn panel is less catastrophic than an open seam. Leather does stretch overtime when warm and properly moisturized either by conditioners or by perspiration from a passengers. Stretching is an advantage as its better than tearing, but stretching can also lead to saggy panels.
You can minimize or avoid this wear by:
1. KEEP YOUR LEATHER MOISTURIZED. Once it’s dry it is more likely to crease. Once it’s creased in a spot, it's creased for good and it is much more likely to crack. Once it’s cracked, it’s cracked for good and will split much more easily. Leather is more durable of a material and wears in longer stages but damage done is still irreversible. You can greatly help avoid cracking by keeping your leather in stage 1 of wear(mild creasing only) if you just keep the leather moisturized. Conditioning also helps leather retain it’s elasticity to fight sagging.
2. Avoid extended periods of use without letting the leather rest. News to me, but you should avoid wearing leather shoes all day for 3 consecutive days for the same reason. If you let your shoes/leather rest and return to it's natural shape after stretching/use you will greatly improve it's life. Shoe trees do wonder too apparently but I do not believe Audi offers those for our cars.
3. Clean leather regularly to remove contaminants. Like any skin, leather absorbs substances/sweat/etc.
4. Try to protect them from the sun if possible. UV and heat dries leather out faster. Again, condition your seats.
5. Don't spill shit on your seats or let kids near them.
SEATS IN GENERAL:
DO NOT SIT ON THE BOLSTER AS YOU ARE GETTING INTO YOUR CAR. Regardless of surface material, automotive seats all consist foam sections covered in leather/cloth/alcantara, supported by a metal frame. The foam panels/bolsters have channels cut into them to affix them to the metal frame. Sitting on bolsters overtime will cause the frame to ‘cut’ the channel deeper and deeper through the foam until the metal cuts completely through the foam exposing the metal frame to the driver’s cheek only separated by seat cover. Not comfortable.
INTERIORS IN GENERAL:
Do not use Armor-All or any other petroleum based interior products on petroleum based plastic/rubber interior parts. Sure they look great for a few days but they react with each other and lead to premature fading/greying.
In their experience both alcantara seats and good leather seats can last upwards of 5 years with minimal signs of wear if you look after them. Condition your leather. Alcantara might indeed be near maintenance-free but you still have leather portions to worry about conditioning. Hope this was helpful.
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