Leather on door shrunk? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

BoxsterLewis · 05-13-2008, 05:44 AM

To my surprise i noticed the leather on my door near the window on the top part shrunk severely exposing the mesh behind the leather, this happend to anyone and there doesnt seem like a way to fix it? I heard armor all can damage interiors..

EPIQTodd · 05-13-2008, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoxsterLewis

To my surprise i noticed the leather on my door near the window on the top part shrunk severely exposing the mesh behind the leather, this happend to anyone and there doesnt seem like a way to fix it? I heard armor all can damage interiors..

This is the disadvantage with all leather interiors. It's not ArmorAll, it's the combination of moisture and sun, and not full rainfall, just general humidity and high humidity, combined with the severe shrinking capability of the sun. I think you could go to an upholstery shop and have them see if they can stretch it back out and refit it, but I'm not sure it can be done. I have a friend with a 911 and he's having the same problem.

05-13-2008, 06:36 AM

I think the 3 best things you can do to protect your leather interior are:

1) Use a high quality leather conditioner (like the products at www.colorplus.com)

2) Buy an $8 sun shade from Wal*Mart

3) Park in such a way to avoid direct sunlight (#2 can help with this).

I have the full leather interior, and it looks as good (or better) as the day I drove away from the dealership.

BoxsterLewis · 05-13-2008, 07:05 AM

Yah i always take care of my leather but i just got the car a month ago. A sunshade wouldnt protect this area where it shrunk, its just weird that in that one spot it shriveled up like that, anyone know of a fix?
EPIQ did it happen to more than one spot on your friends? He hasnt fixed it?

05-13-2008, 07:16 AM

BL, can you post some pictures?

Also contact Joanne at colorplus.com. E-mail the pictures to her too. She can recommend an action plan too.

BoxsterLewis · 05-13-2008, 07:27 AM

Yes i will try to get a picture of it up soon, thanks for your help bmussati.

EPIQTodd · 05-13-2008, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoxsterLewis

Yah i always take care of my leather but i just got the car a month ago. A sunshade wouldnt protect this area where it shrunk, its just weird that in that one spot it shriveled up like that, anyone know of a fix?
EPIQ did it happen to more than one spot on your friends? He hasnt fixed it?

It's right at the top of the passenger door, and he just noticed it recently and hasn't fixed it yet.

Burg Boxster · 05-13-2008, 01:56 PM

Without seeing a picture to understand better what happened...... right now the leather replete of moisture. If you want to try and save it you'll need to "feed" the heck out of it. First thing I would do is get some good leather deep conditioner on the area pronto. Instead of the usual apply and buff off excess in 5 minutes...... apply it heavily and let it soak in. Then keep reapplying daily for at least a week. You'll be surprised at how much it will soak up and how soft the leather will get again. Once it's reconditioned a bit (softened up) you might be able to get it stretched back in to place. Good luck