Leather Renovation

At Auto Curators, we offer a full range of in-house detailing services from our Hampshire based car detailing studio. But, we also work closely with a trusted list of third-party service providers, all carefully vetted by us, for you! One such professional we’re delighted to have in our address book is Mark Slade of Benchmark Leather. Mark has been in the business of leather renovation for 25 years.

Mark initially served a 7-year apprenticeship at Connolly Leather in Wimbledon and has since founded Benchmark Leather. He has worked on the QE2, aircraft and many sports, luxury and classic cars.

Working with Mark Slade an expert in leather renovation.

Like us, Mark is based in Hampshire, although he mainly delivers leather renovation services as a mobile expert.

Mark undertakes leather cleaning, colour renovation and panel replacements. His service is unique because he can match any colour on-site rather than sending interior leather pieces away to another company for colour-matching.

You can view a range of the work Mark has carried out at our Hampshire car detailing studio HERE. But for this article, we thought we’d ask two questions that our clients frequently ask us themselves on leather interiors.

1: What’s the #1 thing that people should know if they are buying a car with a leather interior?

The most important thing is that they know what they are paying for. Too many cars these days are a mixture of leather and faux leather. The two products can look the same, but they are very different in wearability and longevity.

2: How can people protect their leather interiors to stop them falling into disrepair?

Gentle cleaning with natural soap and a leather guard helps stop the colour transfer from clothing; this is a big problem for very light interiors. People often buy feed creams and conditioners, but in my opinion, these are a waste of time and money. They cannot penetrate the leather finishes and topcoats that automotive leather has.