Premature wear showing on seat back

[BillM]

Just doing a good cleaning on my 08 with cashmere leather and noticed a definite wear mark on the rear of the drivers seat in the area were my belt probably touches. I've had my car
since Nov 07 and 12,000 miles. I wear only smooth leather dress belts, none of which are new, and am really surprised to see this mark. I looks dark like its dirty but wouldn't clean with leather cleaner or mild soap. The seam down the middle is especially bad. I use the lumbar support and seat heater regularly. Any one else seeing this ? I'll be taking it back to the shop in a few days to address some ongoing issues and bring this to their attention. The car has spent over 2 months in the shop already. I dread driving into the service area.

[voodoodr]

ugh...

I have cashmere and feel for you. I hope you can fuind the basis (and a solution). Pic Bill?

[WhtDmnd04CTS]

i actually had the same problem with my 04, that's why this time i decided to go with black interior. sorry i don't have any advice, i could never find anything that would actually take it out of my past car.

[Cadillac Tony]

It's not wear, just dye that has transferred from your belt to the seat. All leather products except very expensive Aniline furniture has a dye applied to it, which means both your belt and the seats. Whatever you do, don't scrub too hard, as too much friction will take the dye off and expose the actual leather underneath (which is much darker than Cashmere).

Most GM Dealers' parts department carry a "GM Leather and Vinyl Cleaner" that is pretty good at removing ink and transferred dye from seats. It's sold as a concentrate that you dilute and gently rub on the seat. Give that a shot.

[BillM]

Originally Posted by Cadillac Tony

It's not wear, just dye that has transferred from your belt to the seat. All leather products except very expensive Aniline furniture has a dye applied to it, which means both your belt and the seats. Whatever you do, don't scrub too hard, as too much friction will take the dye off and expose the actual leather underneath (which is much darker than Cashmere).

Most GM Dealers' parts department carry a "GM Leather and Vinyl Cleaner" that is pretty good at removing ink and transferred dye from seats. It's sold as a concentrate that you dilute and gently rub on the seat. Give that a shot.

Thanks for the input Tony. That was my first thought when I saw the dark area in the seat. Even though none of my belts are new and have spent plenty of time rubbing on the black leather seat in my other car. I tried my Turtle Wax leather cleaner and it didn't really do anything to remove. Thats what led me to believe its actually a wear mark. My Meguires leather cleaner is a cream, and I've already seen what that does to the perforated leather !
I hope you are right about the GM cleaner!!!!.... i've not been impressed with the quality of this car so far, and having inferior leather would just continue this experience with my first GM product.

[GMJim]

Bill, It's not the leather. I have a few darker spots from were my vinyl lunch box sits on the passenger seat.
Sometimes I think me & cahmere was about as smart as wearing white clothes to a spaghetti eating contest.

[928S]

Discussed in other threads, but perhaps worth repeating here . . . the so-called "leather seating surfaces" in the CTS look like, feel like, and require only the same minimal maintenance as adjacent vinyl surfaces because they are, in fact, vinyl too - thin, durable, moisture-proof, pigmented vinyl (a.k.a. plastic) laminated to a thicker leather substrate. That's why the CTS Qwners Manual recommends the exact same care (soft cloth dampened with water or mild detergent solution) for both "leather" and other vinyl surfaces. Other than a pleasant aroma, there's no reason to use a leather care product.

[Loveldos]

My 2008 CTS has the Cashmere Leather (and my 2003 CTS had a similar color, which still looked and smelled new when I sold the car). I am rather fanatical about cleaning my cars, and for the CTS seats I have only used the Meguiar's Leather Wipes (in a pop-up dispenser) that have a slightly oily substance, and the label says they clean and preserve leather. I've also used them on my old convertible, which has White Leather seats (but the dirtier areas I cleaned first using Saddle Soap).