Cleaning SofTex leather

Hello everyone,

so I had a small spill on driver seat on my leather seats. So I sprayed on a little car guys super cleaner on a microfiber and wiped off the spill. After I did that I started thinking whether that was the right decision to use car guys. They said on there site it’s a water based cleaner and it’s safe for leather but I don’t know how that compares to the SofTex leather. I noticed the little squares in the leather are a little worn towards the edge of the seat but I believe that is from me sliding in and out of my seat

I appreciate the input.

 

Just to clarify softex is not leather

 

that is true. It is a synthetic leather according to Toyota from my understanding

 

Pleather

 

Did you read the manual, Toyota says cleaners are not recommended on softex

 

I have been using Mothers VLR on the whole seat. I've heard good things about 303 Leather as well, picked up a bottle, haven't tried it yet. Both are intended for vinyl and leather.

I'd stay away from stuff like Lexol that is intended for real uncoated leather. Which it is great for, but that's not what we have in our trucks.

 

So the leather in Tacoma’s is pleather? Does that include the Limiteds?

 

I use 303 on all the plastics/leather seats in the interior, its great!

 

I found a Toyota dealerships stating to only use water based leather / vinyl cleaners. Which meguiars and car guys are water based cleaners without the harsh chemicals

 

It is very hard to find a definitive answer to this, I did several searches and did not come up with any definitive answer on whether the "Leather Trimmed" seats (only option you get for the Tacoma) is actual leather or the new Softex "leather" specifically designed by Toyota. Toyota states they use both, and as Toyota does not call out "Softex" from what I can see on any of my documentation, brochure, or manual.

However if you search for Softex it also gives you a mixed message, Toyota both separates Softex from Leather in their definition of the two and at the same time interchanges the words regularly in their documentation.

Toyota has been caught before calling "Softex" Leather and had to answer to the ACCC about it. So "leather trimmed" might use real leather in the bottom and back and Softex on the sides OR it could all be Softex.... if you find a definitive answer let me know!

 

It's leather, people. All contact surface is a real leather, everything else including head rests is a leatherette.
Has been covered here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/leather-seat-issues.646677/page-3

 

At the dealer currently, Titus-will Toyota, all Tacoma’s are Softex except Limited which is leather.

 

Haaa, do you really think it is real leather? leatherette, Naugahyde, etc. it's all plastic. Call it what you want, but it ain't leather.

 

Yes, I know it's a real leather. It is clearly stated on Monroney sticker. Also look at the picture I posted and a response from the Toyota corporate that the other member posted, if that's not enough then I don't know what is. Honestly I don't need to prove anything to anyone, think what you guys want as long as it makes you feel good. Oh, and the earth is flat too!

 

Oh I'm sure it is real "leatherette". There is no question there. The official description on the Toyota website is "leather-trimmed". That means there is one small section that is real leather and the rest is plastic. Real plastic if that makes a difference to you, but the days of leather seats are long past. They are passing the fake stuff off with amazing success.

 

All contact surfaces are real leather, which are two major sections per seat. In fact let me make it clearer, all stamped (small squares) parts are leather, the rest is leatherette or whatever else fancy name they have for it.

 

It doesn't matter if it's "real" leather or not. Almost all vehicle leather is bonded leather with a layer of polyurethane stamped on top to give it texture. You should clean and treat your seats as if they were plastic, not leather.

If you have Napa leather, you would treat that differently, but as far as I know, no toyotas come with, or even have the option for napa leather.

 

Dream on. I mean it makes perfect sense that they would state it as such. If what you are saying is true, it would state "leather seating surfaces". What you are saying was true a few years ago, but real leather is harder and harder to find. Even Mercedes and BMW are in on the synthetic game.

 

Same with Lexus, now. You have to special order if you want true/real leather. Otherwise it's Nuluxe.

 

That other post, the one linked here, clearly states it is Softex "Leather". The post I added from about ACCC also went into detail on Toyota getting into trouble in Australia over using the word "Leather" to describe Softex.

I am not sure what the confusion is, I must be missing something.