Armor All Leather Care Gel
You don't know, what you don't know

Armor All leather care gel remains popular despite the rumors that still gain traction regarding Armor All cracking your dashboard.

Rumors that date back as far as the 70's and still persist today among car owners and car enthusiasts alike.

But just because you hear it, or read it, or see it on the Internet does not make a statement true.

I have yet to personally confirm as to whether using Armor Will will crack your dash or vinyl seats.

But we are not talking about the Armor All original protectant, we are talking about their version of a car leather conditioner in the form of a convenient gel.

Keeping it Super Simple

Armor All Leather Conditioning Gel on Amazon

• Perfect for most people looking for an inexpensive and simple solution
  
• You don't have to overthink leather conditioning due to how modern day car leather is made (it is much easier to take care of than every before)
  

Modern day car leather is easier than ever to clean and maintain. Assuming you don't let it get completely out of hand.

Prevention really is easier than the cure and the same holds true for your car leather.

Even if you have neglected your car leather and you have to perform repeated cleanings with a car leather car leather cleaner you don't have to worry too much.

Virtually ever type of leather found in vehicles of every kind have what is called coated car leather.

The leather has a top coat of a clear protective coating that makes leather more durable, easier to clean, and easier to condition if you decide you want to condition your car leather.

I am of the opinion that keeping your car leather clean is even more important than applying any conditioner to the leather.

Armor All leather Care Gel:
Asking the right questions

Under the best circumstances, keeping up with the hyped-up marketing of the cosmetic car care industry will make your head spin. Endless marketing hype, ambiguous labeling and terminology, and misrepresentation that is widespread in the industry makes for what would feel like a lesson in futility!

If you find yourself even half as frustrated as I am, you now know you are in good company. And with that said, I am here to illuminate you by asking the questions you don't even know to ask.

Will Armor All Crack Your Dash

This depends on who you ask and how much you know about chemistry. I am neither a chemist or a formulator. But I have been required to learn more than most people as a result of being a professional detailer over the past 30 years.

I also don't need to be a chemist or formulator to know that paint thinner is neither good for my skin or my car leather. But this an absurd comparison to most people.

I find that using the absurd to illustrate points can be very effective. And a large part of the point I am attempting to illustrate has to do with the endless marketing hype used by this industry to separate you from your money.

Armor All leather care gel talks makes the same basic claims that virtually every other leather conditioner makes:

Will Armor All Crack Vinyl Upholstery

No. At least not that I could ever prove, nor have I seen anyone else ever prove. But lack of evidence is not the same as evidence that it will.

Meaning there is no evidence to prove that Armor All will crack vinyl upholstery, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that it won't. And the evidence that Armor All won't crack your dash or vinyl upholstery is supported by every car owner that has not only used it in their car for years, but now swears by its beneficial merits!

Does Armor All Really Protect

This depends on what you personally determine to be "protection". Armor All leather care gel certainly changes the appearance and feel of your car leather. This added feel and appearance certainly suggests that something has happened, but to classify this as some form of protection is debatable.

Virtually every company selling a version of car leather care gel, spray, or cream claims to have UV inhibitors that protect your car leather from UV rays from sun exposure.

I have yet to see or read single test to verify this clam. Armor All leather care gel makes this claim as do most all other car leather conditioners.

What I find particularly interesting is that only the car industry makes this claim with their car leather conditioners, while every other industry that makes a leather conditioner makes n clams about having UV inhibitors in their formulations.

This would be a very easy claim to substantiate, and yet no single company has any test or evidence to support this. I have asked many formulators and chemists what ingredient could be added to a product that would actually create a sunscreen effect like the very sunscreen you can put on your body to avoid a sun burn.

The closest I have come to an answer is a formulator that told me the reason sunscreen works on your skin is the ability f your skin to absorb the sunscreen. But coated or finished car leather has an actual clear coating on it that would prevent any car leather conditioner absorbing into the car leather itself.

Armor All leather Care Gel
More marketing hype

Does Armor All really use marketing hype?

Once again; this largely depends on who you ask and how you define marketing hype. I have found that many people don't even know when they are being "sold" through marketing hype.

As noted above, Armor All leather care gel uses the same bait and switch tactics that most other products use to sell you their car leather care products.

make the standard claims about protection and UV inhibitors, while doing nothing to actually educate you in the process. Every company does this...well, almost every company.

This fall under what I call

"Distinction without a difference"

The Armor All leather care gel is distinct in a few ways:

• The name itself is different than any other manufacturer
• They call theirs a gel, rather than a cream, spray, or liquid

But there seems to be little to zero actual difference from this product to the next. Same claims, subtle differences in user experience or results, but virtually no real difference.

But I accept that I am a tough audience. But my experience enables you to get better understanding and better results in your part of the world.

In Closing

You really don't have to overthink things here.

Conditioning your car leather is as simple and basic as it can get due to modern day car leathers.

If you want to condition your car leather after cleaning it, then you have found a very simple and perfect solution.

I just highly recommend that you always clean your car leather first, before applying conditioner. Don't think that repeated applications of condition over dirty leather is a good long term strategy.

I wish you and your leather many happy days of health moving forward!

Sincerely,

Darren Priest

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