The Leather In Your King Ranch
The leather in your Ford King Ranch is not typical of most leathers used in vehicles.
From 2001-2008 the Ford King Ranch trucks came with Castano leather.
In 2009, Ford switched to Chaparral leather.
Both are aniline leathers. Aniline leather is a type of leather dyed exclusively with soluble dyes without covering the surface with a topcoat paint or insoluble pigments. The resulting product retains the hide’s natural surface with the ‘grain’, i.e. visible pores, scars etc. of the complete original animal’s skin structure.
King Ranch leather doesn’t have a protective coating on the surface, like the leather upholstery found in 99.9% of vehicles on the road. The fact that the leather isn’t coated makes it more susceptible to UV-induced cracking and fading, stains caused by accidental spills, abrasion caused by getting in and out of the vehicle, etc. The key to keeping King Ranch leather looking and feeling new is to clean it properly, and feed it the essential oils it needs to retain its soft, supple texture and flexibility.
What Do You Clean & Condition It With?
The King Ranch Saddle Shop Leather Conditioner is recommended to cleaning and conditioning the leather in your Ford King Ranch.
According to the King Ranch Saddle Shop:
| Conditioning Instructions: Clean off surface dust and dirt with damp cloth or brush. Surface may darken due to dampness. Allow leather to dry completely and return to its original color. Shake bottle of conditioner thoroughly before using. Test the conditioner on a non-visible part of the upholstery. Squirt on a dry cloth and rub in until conditioner disappears into the leather. Let conditioner dry and wipe off film with a dry, clean cloth. Note: Leather may darken when conditioner is applied. If you have problems with your vehicle, please call Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. |
2013 brought a host of exciting new car care products, with the latest evolution of the Pinnacle line taking the center stage – Black Label Collection.
Black Label represents a collection of coatings, polishes, and leather care products that represent the best technology that surface care has to offer. The two products featured in this article are Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner and Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner.
Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner is a pH-balanced leather shampoo designed to deep clean leather and vinyl surfaces. Formulated with mink oil and lanolin, Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner forgoes inexpensive petroleum ingredients and instead relies on advanced chemistry. Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner deep cleans leather surfaces without removing the natural oils.
Pinnacle Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner restores, conditions, and protects new and old leather surfaces. Formulated with mink oil and lanolin, Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner forgoes inexpensive petroleum ingredients and instead relies on advanced chemistry. Designed to restore leather’s natural oils, Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner protects against cracking and fading while reducing damage caused by abrasion. Natural leather scent restores the “new car smell.”
What Dirty King Ranch Leather Looks Like
Step 1: Cleaning the King Ranch Leather
While cleaning King Ranch leather, you want to avoid aggressive rubbing or scrubbing. If you get aggressive with it, you will create an unwanted texture that will not look or feel right.
Use a soft white microfiber applicator. Apply a small amount of Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner directly onto the microfiber applicator and gently patted the surface. Take your time.
As the cleaner is absorbed into the leather, it will look splotchy at first. This is perfectly normal.
Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner gently removes dirt, soil, and body oil without drying out or discoloring the leather. Hide-Soft Leather Cleaner actually contains a special blend of mink oil, so you’re already starting the essential conditioning process.
This is what the applicator looked like after one small section:
Step 2: Conditioning the King Ranch Leather
Once the leather is clean, it’s time to condition it with Black Label Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner. For this you can use your hand because it is much quicker than “dabbing” the conditioner on the leather, and you can gently massage the conditioner into the King Ranch leather without worrying about creating an uneven texture.
Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner is formulated using a complex blend of mink oil and lanolin. These two essential products feed and condition the leather, helping restore its soft, supple texture and rich brown color.
Apply the conditioner liberally! As you apply the conditioner, the leather will quickly absorb it. Again, if the leather looks splotchy at first, this is perfectly normal.
Don’t forget the stitching!
Apply the conditioner extra heavy on all the seams and stitching. Since Hide-Soft Leather Conditioner doesn’t contain any petroleum ingredients, it won’t cause the stitching to dry out or fray.
During Conditioning…
As you condition the King Ranch leather, it will get dark and have a splotchy appearance in some spots. This is normal.
One really cool thing about cleaning and conditioning King Ranch leather is that scratches and scuff marks are easily removed. If there’s a part of the seat where your belt or phone clip may have scratched the seat, simply apply the conditioner a little heavier in that spot and spend some extra time massaging it.
Step 3: Sit Back & Relax
It will take several hours for the King Ranch leather to return to an even consistency. If you have a fan available, you can place that inside the vehicle. or simply check the forecast and put the windows down.
This is what the King Ranch leather seats looked like about 2 hours after the conditioning step:
Finished!
After about 6-hours with the windows down and air circulating through the truck, this is how it turned out:
Remember how bad the armrest was?
Before:
After:
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