Leather car seats have their advantages and disadvantages being they look expensive and are great in the winter time. But how about summer in the heat?
Here Is Why Car Seats Are Good And Bad On Leather Car Seats:
Car seats work on leather car seats in the summer when it is hot, helps with fading of the leather, protects against dirt and wear and tear. And is helpful against stains from food and drink.
The disadvantages of using a car seat cover over leather is that having a fabric material can slip, and the fabric dye can run into the leather seats.
Below we will discuss all of these factors so you can decide for yourself if having a seat cover is worth using in your car. Thanks for reading.
Why Car Covers Work On Leather Seats
Heat Of The leather In Summer
If you’ve ever driven anywhere in summer, you’ll have noticed that leather car seats have a tendency to get very hot!
This is because leather absorbs a lot of heat, especially black leather, which can cause the material to become very hot. This is made even worse by the fact that cars trap lots of heat inside them as you drive around under the sun, which makes the interior materials heat up even faster.
Here is a great article we have written on heat on leather car seats.
Seat covers are the best way to counteract this because they provide an extra layer between you and the seat. Hot leather can feel very uncomfortable on your skin, so putting a cover over your car seats helps to smother the heat and make them easier to sit on. Good seat covers are made of a breathable material, so they shouldn’t feel sweaty or slippery when you sit inside a hot car.
Fading Of The Leather Colour
Leather is a strong material, but it is not immune to the effects of general everyday contact, so you might notice the colour of your leather car seats starting to fade.
The natural oils that give leather its colour and its supple feel can also be corrupted by heat and sunlight, so unless your car is consistently shaded, it’s impossible to protect your seats from the sun at all times. Fortunately, seat covers are the perfect solution because they will cover the leather and protect it from contact, heat and light.
If you want to keep your leather looking as good as new, using seat covers is one of the best options because your leather won’t show signs of fading or changing colour.
Even if you don’t want to keep the covers on all of the time, you can still choose to place them over your seats during summer when the sun is out for longest, or leave them on every time you aren’t in the car so that the leather is protected from all angles.
The seat covers should be breathable too, which will help the leather to breathe when the car starts to get hot. If no moisture is absorbed, the natural oils in the leather won’t dry out and the colour will stay exactly as it was when you first bought the car. This will also retain the quality and feel of the leather as well as the colour of it.
Spilling Of Drinks And Food
We’ve all made a trip or two to the local drive-through restaurant in our cars, so it’s inevitable that food and drinks will end in close proximity to the seats once in a while.
However, if you spill anything on leather, you won’t have long at all to start cleaning it off before it causes more serious damage. This is a huge problem with liquids in particular because the molecules can seep into the leather and then cause its natural oils to evaporate.
Food isn’t great for leather either because if you have to scrub the stains out, you risk scratching or cracking the material. Luckily, car seat covers can catch any food or drink spillages and then you can either put them on a gentle machine wash or handwash them yourself.
Your leather seats will be completely clean underneath, allowing you to enjoy the occasional snack in your car without worrying about damaging them.
Wear And Tear Of Leather
Leather seats will go through a lot, especially if you use your car multiple times a day. With so many people getting in and out of the car and wearing clothes that might snag or scratch the seats, you’ll notice some general wear and tear of the leather over time. Any cracks or scratches can quickly start to peel until you’ve got huge holes in your leather seats.
Seat covers will prevent any direct contact between you and the seats, which will protect the leather from being damaged as people sit on them. Fabric seat covers are also very soft, so they won’t cause any damage to the leather underneath either. An additional bonus is that they’ll be very comfortable to sit on too, especially for longer journeys.
Dirt In Leather
Dirt is a common problem in cars because it’s easy for clothes and shoes to get dirty when we’re out and about. Leather is a porous material, which means that dirt can easily seep into it and then start to cause damage to the material from the inside out. If too much dirt is absorbed, leather can start to dry out, crack and peel, which will ruin the look of your seats.
Just like with other damage, seat covers will catch the dirt before it has a chance to get inside the leather. You can wash the seat covers to get rid of dirt and then put them straight back into your car, allowing you to enjoy clean seats no matter how dirty your clothes get. By keeping dirt out of your leather, your seats will appear smoother, suppler and cleaner.
Fabric Is Warmer Than Leather In Winter
Leather is a great looking material, but it can get just as cold as it does hot! In winter, you’ll notice that your leather seats are uncomfortable to sit on because they can get so cold and seem to take a long time to warm up. To avoid this discomfort when sitting on them, you can put fabric covers over the seats and they will be insulated.
Fabric is warmer than leather in winter, so putting covers over your seats can make them feel like completely different seats. You won’t need to bother with heated seats if you’ve got fabric covers because they don’t get as cold as leather and will also warm up faster in response to your body heat.
Why Leather Car Covers Don’t Work Over Leather Seats
Slippage Of The Cover Over The Leather
Seat covers can be fitted onto your seats, but one problem that some people report is that the covers can sometimes slip because of the leather underneath.
Having your seat cover shifting beneath you could be distracting or uncomfortable, so you might have to secure them into a more fixed position. Leather is a naturally slippery material because its surface is so supple, but this can make it more difficult for seat covers to properly settle.
Fabric Dye Runs Through To The Leather
This is not quite as likely to happen, but it’s still something that might make you think twice before buying certain seat covers. The porous nature of leather means that any dyes running through the fabric and onto the leather can be absorbed, which could then compromise the inside of the leather and start to destroy the outside too.
This is more likely to be a problem if you buy very cheap seat covers because they won’t be as well made, so it’s important to consider several options before you choose the covers that you want. If you notice any fabric dyes rubbing off on your skin, it’s likely that they’re rubbing off on your seats too and need to be removed.
Cover Seams Rubbing Against Leather
Sometimes, car seat covers have sharp or hard seams, which causes friction against the leather underneath. This friction can wear away at the integrity of the leather and cause the edges to peel. If the seat covers are actually causing more damage to the leather than would happen if you weren’t using them, you should remove them.
Even if the cover seams don’t cause the leather to start peeling, they can still cause marks and dents to form on the material. You should be able to massage these out of the leather, though it might take some time for them to fully fade and it’s likely that new marks will form once you put the seat covers back on again. Luckily, not all car seat covers have hard seams, so you should be able to purchase a much softer set, which should prevent any rubbing or friction from happening.
Fabric Is Not As Luxurious As Leather
One of the main reasons that people choose cars with leather seats is because leather is a luxurious material that looks good. Fabric seat covers do a lot of good work to protect leather and keep it looking and feeling its best, but they completely hide the seats underneath them, so you won’t be able to fully enjoy your leather seats.
One option is to only put the fabric covers on when you are going for a long drive or when you are expecting that dirt, spillages or other damage might occur. This way, you’ll be able to protect the leather when it is most at risk and then enjoy exposing the seats at other times. You could also keep your seat covers in the car even when you’re not using them so that you can put them back onto the seats at a moment’s notice.