There are different kinds of leather car seats being offered today. These leather car seats can be categorized in terms of the textures they all come in: perforated and smooth (non-perforated).
In this article, I’m going to focus on perforated leather car seats. I did researched on the reasons why perforated leather seats are a better choice for a car and I’m ready to share with you all I have found.
So are perforated leather seats better? There are a couple of reasons why you would want to consider perforated leather seats as a better alternative and this is because they:
- Reduce Slippage
- Make Leather Seat Temperature Control Easy
- Don’t Cause Excessive Sweats
- Have Luxurious Look and Feel
- Absorb Sound
- Have Good Resell Value
In addition to all the praises I shower on perforated leather seats, I’m also going to shed light on the downsides to perforated leather seats so that you have a clear picture of what you’re going to be working with. But first, what are perforated leather seats?
What Are Perforated Leather Seats?
Perforated leather is basically leather with intentionally made holes in them for decoration or for other functional purposes. The holes created on perforated leather are usually well spaced out with equal intervals.
Perforated leather is very common on the seats and steering wheels of car brands such as Mercedes, Porsche, Ford, etc.
Leather car seats are extremely hard-wearing so the leather materials often used are coated with a layer of protective color to ensure the leather interior meets industry standards for car seat such as abrasion resistance, stain resistance, UV protection among other things.
But what this inadvertently does is remove the leathers’ ability to breath. So a lot of manufacturers have found perforating the leather to be a great way to restore the unique breathable quality of leather while giving it a nice unique texture.
Types Of Perforated Leather
There are about 3 common types of perforated leather available — especially with automobiles in the United States. Below are the different types of leather perforation and the automobile companies that often use them:
| Type of Perforated Leather | Automobile Brand(s) | |
| 1. | The Hampton Perforation | Ford |
| 2. | Euro Perforation | Ford, GM |
| 3. | The Highland Perforation | Chrysler, GM |
Reasons Why Perforated Leather Seats Are The Best — Details
Now, Let’s head on to the reasons why perforated leather seats are better alternatives. These are all of the major advantages to choosing perforated leather seats. Let’s take a quick look at them!
#1 It Reduces Slippage
Smooth leather car seats are known to cause a lot of slippage when driving. This is when you or your passengers have your bottoms skid over the seats when navigating curves or when you simply hit the brakes. This is one thing most people complain about when it come to leather car seats.
This can be really uncomfortable and unsettling especially when you have your kids or pets in the car. Cars with perforated leather seats installments are a lot more fun and comfortable to ride in. This is because perforated leather is less slippery to touch and has not skid to it.
#2 Make Leather Seat Temperature Control Easy
Leather car seats generally have the tendency of becoming really cold and hot during the winter and hot summer seasons. So perforated leather when used offers a great way of allowing the leather car seat to cool down or warm up much faster when needed.
Most car seats today have heating and cooling systems installed to regulate the temperature of the leather car seat. These heating and cooling systems tend to work efficiently with perforated leather as it’s able to dispatch the heat and cold much better.
So whether the cooling system is a fan in the seat or is designed to suck out any sort of warmth in the seat, perforated leather car seats will definitely work better than your regular leather car seats.
#3 No Excessive Sweats
Perforated leather seats breaths much better than smooth leather. A quick drive in a car with regular leather car seats to the supermarket on a summer day can result in a sweat bath especially on the back and bottom and god help you if your clothes are easily stained by sweat!
This can be very uncomfortable. With perforated leather being a lot more breathable, it’s going to drastically reduce or limit perspiration in hot climates even without any fancy car cooling systems installed.
#4 Luxurious Look and Feel
There are different kinds of perforations you’re going to see on leather car seats. Some will have bigger holes, while others will have much smaller holes, slanted holes, wider spacing, embossed, etc.
All these are done to add to the sophistication of leather as a material and to also add a touch of customized luxury and sportiness to the overall car.
Perforated leather car seats offer a clean and adds a modern look to the interior design of a car. Perforated leather seats also have a luxurious feel when touched.
Perforated leather seats are usually made a lot thicker than regular leather car seats to make room for the rich embossing textures often placed on them and also to make it more durable to compensate for the holes that has been created on it.
#5 Absorbs Sound
Perforated leather seats are great for absorbing and dampening the noise from the road. Generally, cars have a combination of things put in place to reduce the level of road noise from the outside of the car such as installing the right tyres, adding vibration dampeners to the car flooring, line cup holders,etc.
So it’s basically a combination of little things that come together to ensure the car interior is as quiet as it can get to ensure a safe and sound drive. A car with perforated seat installation is going to also help cancel a substantial amount of road noise from little shocks and bumps.
#6 Good Resell Value
Leather as a material, perforated or smooth leather, will always markup the overall price of a vehicle by a significant amount. Many people may see this a huge disadvantage to getting real leather car seats.
However, on the positive side, getting a leather interior will offer you the chance for a nice price markup upon resell than cloth car seats. When it comes to perforated leather seats to be more precise, you must first of all, over the years, if not months, do a good job of taking very good care of it before your car can have a good resale value.
So if you’re able to take very good care of the perforated car seats without clogging its hole, or allowing water to penetrate into the seat cushions, then you’re going to get a nice price tag on your car when you’re ready to resell.
The Downside To Perforated Leather Seats
To be very honest, it’s not all bliss when it comes to perforated leather seats. There are a couple of drawbacks and it’s only fair I throw some light on that as well.
Maintenance:
The first challenge when it comes to perforated leather seats is it’s maintenance. Perforated leather seats are not the easiest of car seats to maintain.
Leather car seats in general are hard-wearing and so require constant cleaning with a good leather cleaner like leather wipes or leather cleaners and conditioners to keep it functional.
However, with perforated leather seats, it’s quite difficult to clean it. Due to the holes created on perforated leather seats, it tends to trap dirt within it and will require a lot of effort to keep it clean and conditioned.
It’s also a challenge to clean and maintain perforated leather car seats because you wouldn’t want to get too much cleaning product into its holes.
Sensitive To Moisture:
Another disadvantage when it comes to Perforated leather seats is that they’re sensitive to moisture of any kind. This is because if you have perforated leather on your car seats, liquid stains can easily cause the edges of the perforations to swell or sometimes shrink in a very awkward way.
The worst part is the liquid stains can also penetrate into the seat cushions disrupt it and can also lead to the leather getting ugly watermark stains, developing mold, and if the car seat has heating or cooling systems installed, this can possibly mess up the electronic setup.
Easily Wrinkles:
Depending on how you look at this, perforated leather seats are more likely to develop wrinkles than smooth leather. This is because it’s almost as if the perforations on the leather cuts the structural integrity of the leather into half.
This is not to say smooth textured leather seats won’t wrinkle. It’s normal to find wrinkles on leather and in most cases it won’t be a sign of any impending destruction to your car seat. It will simply signal the leather taking on the wear it’s put through.
How To Clean & Maintain Perforated Leather Seats
Perforated leather seats can be cleaned just like the way you would clean a regular car seat. The only difference is that you have to be a lot more careful with the liquids you use during your cleaning.
Basically, with perforated leather seats, no liquid cleaning substance should be sprayed or loaded directly on the seats. You’re to always dispense a small amount of leather cleaner onto a microfiber cloth or brush and then wipe or scrub the leather carefully.
You’re also to remove any cleaning foam or cleaning residue with a slightly moistened (with water) cloth. If you’re able to follow these rules, your perforated leather seat will be safe and will remain clean, healthy, and very beautiful for a long time to come.
Do’s And Don’t of Cleaning Perforated Leather Seats
The Do’s
- Always vacuum your perforated leather seats thoroughly first before applying your cleaning products. This will ensure dirt, sand, and loose grime doesn’t rub in or scratch your car seats as you clean.
- Make sure you get leather cleaners or conditioners that are non-sticky and have natural ingredients.
- Spot-test your leather cleaner on a hidden area of your perforated leather seat to ensure you’re okay with the outcome.
- Always start slow and less aggressive and build up to a more aggressive cleaning only if necessary.
- Work only small sections of the seat at a time to avoid discoloration. This is because cleaning perforated leather takes a bit more time.
- Use microfiber cloths for all perforated leather seat cleaning because they are soft and won’t scratch your seats.
- Clean regularly but condition occasionally. Clean your perforated leather seats at least once a month and condition 3-4 times a year.
The Don’ts
- Always use the best quality cleaners and conditioners.
- Don’t apply or spray any cleaner directly on perforated leather seats.
- Don’t use conditioners that contain petroleum or waxes as it can build-up and dull your leather car seats’ finish.
- Don’t use hard bristles for deep cleaning perforated leather seats. Use soft-sable toothbrush or a specially-made leather cleaning brush.
- Don’t over clean or over-condition
