5 Reasons Why You Should Ceramic Coat Your Leather Seats

Proper leather protection and preservation techniques are essential to all leather lovers.

A leather ceramic coating ensures easy maintenance, keeping the leather car seats in pristine shape despite continuous use.

Here are 5 reasons why you have to protect your leather seats with a ceramic coating:

  • Ceramic Coating Protects Against Extreme Heat Exposure
  • Ceramic Coating Eases Maintenance
  • Ceramic Coating Maintains Aesthetic Value
  • Ceramic Coating Provides Lasting Protection
  • Ceramic Coating Improves the Resale Value of Your Car

The rest of this article will explain whether you can use a ceramic coating on leather, along with everything else you need to know about ceramic coating.

I’ll go over how a ceramic coating is applied, its pros and cons, and what surfaces you can use it on.

I’ll also compare it to other coating techniques.

Can You Use Ceramic Coating on Leather Seats?

Currently, there are several designated care and protection techniques and products for leather car interiors.

These methods have both pros and cons depending on the selected method or product. 

Quick Answer

You can use a ceramic coating on leather seats. Leather ceramic coating is a thorough method of protecting and preserving leather surfaces. It protects leather interiors from the effects of direct sun radiation that would otherwise cause aging.

The hydrophobic nature of the ceramic coat on leather helps achieve improved durability while maintaining the aesthetic value of the leather surfaces, be it car seats, steering wheels, dashboards, or doors.

The hydrophobic nature makes sure that water will not stain the seats.

But why does water stain car seats? To learn the reasons, check out my article here.

A ceramic coating is far from the more traditional techniques such as conditioning and waxing.

It’s suitable for leather types like aniline leather, a pure form of untreated leather, which is more sensitive to staining.

Adam’s Leather&Vinyl Interior Ceramic Coating

If you really care about your leather seats, there is no better choice than protecting them with a ceramic coating. This set comes with all you need to make sure that your leather seats will stay spot free and super clean!

Aniline leather and other sensitive types of leather are very difficult to clean, making them the perfect candidate for a ceramic coating.

After the coating is applied, you can clean the leather seats using a soft brush, a microfiber cloth, or other non-abrasive cleaning cloths.

Why You Should Ceramic Coat Your Leather Seats

If you can’t decide whether to use this particular type of protection for your leather interior, the following benefits of ceramic coating should win you over.

They include:

Ceramic Coating Protects Against Extreme Heat Exposure

Applying a ceramic coating to leather surfaces creates a protective layer guarding the leather surface against damage caused by exposure to extreme heat. 

In particular, parking a car in the hot sun for an extended time could lead to the cabin overheating.

This can dry out and ruin your leather seats that don’t have a ceramic coat.

Therefore, the ceramic coating helps protect against drying and fading caused by unavoidable exposure to changing environmental factors.

Ceramic Coating Eases Maintenance

After applying the ceramic coating on leather, the anti-stick properties against dust and dirt make it easier to clean protected surfaces.

Spilling a sugary drink over your leather seats normally spells disaster.

However, it becomes miles easier to wipe off after the ceramic coating has been applied.

The protective layer prevents soaking, and the mess wipes off effortlessly.

Ceramic Coating Maintains Aesthetic Value

After a professional ceramic coating application, the leather surface gets a smooth, glossy appearance that’s rather appealing to the eye.

This pristine state can be maintained over a long period without damage.

Therefore, a ceramic coating helps maintain the original appearance of the leather surface.

Ceramic Coating Provides Lasting Protection

Compared with other traditional techniques like waxing, the ceramic leather coating can last longer before requiring a do-over.

This aspect makes it economical and preferable among leather seat owners. 

Therefore, the long-lasting nature of ceramic coating helps keep the leather in good condition for longer, up to five years.

Ceramic Coating Improves the Resale Value of Your Car

Even after continual use, the ceramic leather coating helps maintain the leather seats’ pristine quality, look, and feel. 

Therefore, the coating helps preserve the resale value of your car in the future.

This means that the next time you would like to put your leather product back into the market, it would likely fetch a fairer market price than if the ceramic coating was absent.

How Do I Protect My Car Leather?

Quick Answer

You can protect your car leather by applying a ceramic coating, waxing, and maintenance techniques like leather conditioning and dressing. These methods help clean and keep leather in pristine condition, even after long-term use. 

Two essential steps to leather care include leather dressing and leather conditioning.

Through conditioning the leather, it’s protected from dehydration that would otherwise lead to surface cracking.

Secondly, dressing the leather is meant to protect surfaces from extreme sunlight or heat that could cause damage to this in-demand hide good.

Combining both dressing and conditioning steps was considered the best practice for leather care, by detailers, in the past.

Preferably, these two techniques should be done twice annually for best care and results.

Meguiar’s Leather Care Kit

Prepare your leather seats with this leather care kit from Meguiar’s. Cleaning and dressing leather seats has never been easier!

Waxing is a non-drip, non-greasy technique of leather revitalization and restoration.

It involves applying leather cleaner wax products, like turtle wax, on car leather, gently scrubbing with a soft brush, and wiping off the seat with a microfiber pad to clean the leather.

This method would require frequent application, with a weekly maintenance regimen for proper care.

Finally, the ceramic coating method refers to applying leather and vinyl coating products, like Ceramic pro, that adheres to the hard leather surface to form a protective coat.

This technique lasts longer and protects against UV damage and heat, dirt adhesion, and gives the leather a shiny glow, restoring aesthetic value.

Typically, this method is most cost-effective because the first ceramic coating could go up to five years before requiring a re-do.

Protecting leather is very important to keep it in pristine condition and to keep it safe from water spots. If you want to learn more about why water is damaging to leather, check out my article here.

Ceramic Coating vs. Other Protective Coatings for Leather Seats

The following table shows how ceramic coating leather car seats stacks up against traditional waxing and conditioning:

ProductPriceProtective PropertiesCommentProtection Grade
Ceramic CoatingC(highly expensive)Long-lasting coat
Self-cleaning
Anti-ageing/ shrinkage
UV protection
Hydrophobic
Though expensive due to the upfront cost of detailing, ceramic coating is a more economical long-term technique as a ceramic coating could last up to 5 years un-damaged.A
WaxingA(relatively affordable)UV ProtectionHeat resistantWater-resistantCheaper upfront but more expensive in the long run as you would have to wax surfaces at least 4 times annually.B
Leather dressing and conditioning(relatively affordable)Protection against UVA & UV BProtection against drying, aging, crackingHeat protectionCheap up-front.Requires weekly application routine that is demanding and expensive in the long term.C

As you can see, ceramic coating your leather interior is the best option by far if you want your protective coating to last. 

It has the highest upfront cost, even if you do it yourself, but it provides excellent protection against spills, UV radiation, shrinkage, and everything else that can damage the surface.

On the other hand, waxing or dressing/conditioning your seats are much cheaper, and you can do it yourself fairly easily.

However, you need to wax your seats 4 times annually because the coating thins out over time. So, conditioning is even worse — you must do it every week.

Although leather conditioner is cheap, the fact that you have to apply them so often means you’ll run out of it very quickly.

The only thing regular conditioning has going for it is that your leather seats will always feel soft to the touch — they’ll never dry or crack, even in winter.

Plus, they don’t really protect your seats as well as a ceramic coating can.

If you’re tired of applying wax and conditioning your seats all the time, you should give ceramic coating a shot!

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How to Apply Ceramic Coating to Leather Seats

Ceramic coating is a modern technique of detailing that finds its use across various materials, including glass, plastic, leather, and metal surfaces.

It’s usually for protective purposes against drying, dirt, cracking, shrinkage, and overall degradation due to inevitable environmental changes over time.

Quick Answer

The ceramic coating process starts with the initial surface preparation before applying the selected ceramic coating liquid polymer. First, clean the leather surface with a soft brush and a surface cleaner to eliminate dust and dirt. Afterward, apply the ceramic coat as per the instructions.

Using a utility towel, wipe the surface dry and clean, ensuring there aren’t any dirt particles on leather surfaces.

Avoid cleaners with high alcohol content as this could dehydrate the leather surface and make it look dull.

Maybe your seats are very dirty and need to be cleaning thoroughly. If this is the case, check out my guide on how to do it here.

Pour a tiny amount of nano-coating and gently apply it to the car’s leather interior in a uniform fashion on the entire surface, using a microfiber applicator.

This YouTube video can give you a pretty good idea of how it’s done:

Generally speaking, ceramic cures and dries up faster in humid environments compared to dry conditions.

Some ceramic coats contain UV tracers that help you identify if you applied the coat over the entire surface.

This is because it’s incredibly easy and expected that you miss a spot on your leather seats.

After confirming that you’ve spread the nano coat evenly and thoroughly, allow the coating to cure to perfection.

Normally, this would take several minutes, depending on prevailing weather conditions.

What Surfaces Can You Ceramic Coat?

Quick Answer

On average, a rusty car can be restored depending on the level of rust; that is, if the rust hasn’t affected the car’s structural integrity, you can restore the car and use it for a long period.

You can ceramic coat any leather surface in your car, such as:

  • Seats. Protecting your seats from accidental spills and other surface damage is the main reason why you want to ceramic coat your interior.
  • Door Panels. Leather door panels are very delicate and can get scratched easily by zippers and shoes.
  • Dashboard. Premium vehicles have delicate leather dashboards. They’re always exposed to the sun’s harmful UV radiation. A ceramic coat can help protect it.
  • Steering wheel. A leather steering wheel sees the most wear of any part, so protecting it makes sense. However, depending on the finish of your ceramic coat, it may feel slippery, so be careful.
  • Shift cover and handbrake. The shift cover and handbrake also wear out as you drive the car. Protecting them can minimize the damage from wear.

Car Exterior Metal Surfaces

Nano-coating of metal surfaces sets an additional oxide layer on the metal surface.

Adam’s Leather&Vinyl Interior Ceramic Coating

If you want to protect your car’s interior the best way possible, this Interior Ceramic Coating Kit is a 100% match with you!

This aspect helps improve surface properties including, protection from corrosion, heat, friction, and insulation.

The application of Silicon Carbide nano-ceramic coat helps increase thermo-mechanical properties of the metal, protecting it from extreme heat conditions.

Therefore, ceramic coating car-metal exterior gives the car exterior desirable qualities.

These include self-cleansing, heat and corrosion protection, reducing paint damage, and improving the overall outlook of the car exterior with a glossy appearance. 

Car Dashboard Surface, Car Leather Door Interiors, Rubber Tires

The dashboards of cars are particularly susceptible to high heat due to the concentration of light and heat by glass car windscreens.

This aspect leads to heating of the dashboard, causing cracking and drying, damaging a car’s interior. 

However, applying a ceramic coating to the dashboard and plastic/ leather door interiors helps protect the surface against dirt, water, extreme heat, and UV damage. 

Detailing car rubber surfaces, such as car wheels with a ceramic coat, helps restore wear on tires.

This is made possible by the nano-coat’s plasticizers, which refills corroded polymers on the rubber tire surface.

Therefore, nano coat offers perfect restoration on worn car rubber tires and restores the wheel’s black color.

What Are the Cons of Ceramic Coating Your Leather Seats?

The cons of ceramic coating your leather seats include:

  • A professional ceramic coating can be very expensive.
  • A ceramic coating can’t protect against deep scratches.
  • The ceramic coating can be difficult to apply.

This implication doesn’t mean that once you get the ceramic coat application done on your car’s interiors, you won’t have to make visits to the car wash.

Some of the disadvantages of ceramic coating are presented below:

A Professional Ceramic Coating Can Be Very Expensive

It is costly compared to other traditional care techniques such as waxing, despite its longevity upon application.

This aspect means that the initial upfront cost of ceramic coating is higher than alternative methods.

Having a professional detailing service do it for you is even more expensive than doing it yourself.

A Ceramic Coating Can’t Protect Against Deep Scratches

Abrasive or sharp objects can easily damage your leather interior.

Of course, you won’t go out of your way to damage your ceramic coated seats, but even the tiny metal pins on your jeans are more than enough to leave large scuffs and scratches.

And if you or someone cleaning your car uses an abrasive cleaner like baking soda, it can leave microscopic scratches all over your car seats.

The Ceramic Coating Is Difficult to Apply

In some cases, a detailer may misapply the ceramic coating.

The same application technique is frequently used as a one-size-fits-all solution for all leather-based care procedures. 

A ceramic coating can only do so much when your leather interior is already damaged or when an inexperienced detailer applies it incorrectly.

Key Takeaways

  • Ceramic coating is suitable for cleaning and maintaining car leather surfaces.
  • The coating protects leather surfaces against extreme heat conditions, harsh UV, dirt adhesion and helps maintain the original leather appearance.
  • Ceramic coating finds its use on various surfaces, including leather, plastic, metals, and rubber.
  • The technique is long-lasting and worth it for most people.

Sources

Mobile Turtle Fleet & Auto Detailing: Ceramic Coating vs. Waxing: Which One Should You Choose for Your Fleer?

AutoSmart Retail: Top 6 Causes of Car Leather Tear

First Detailing Studio: Ceramic Coating for Plastics and Rubber Surfaces

Intech Open: Ceramics Coated Metallic Materials: Methods, Properties, and Applications

Vive Auto Detailing: Ceramic Coating: What is it? Benefits? Disadvantages?

Forbes: How to Clean and Care for Leather Furniture.

Ceramic Pro: How to Protect Car Interior Leather

https://shinycarproject.com/is-ceramic-coating-bad-for-your-car-all-the-reasons/

https://shinycarproject.com/here-is-when-to-put-ceramic-coating-on-a-car/

Jan-Lucas Ganssauge
Jan-Lucas Ganssauge