cleaning leather on camera

I have a few 1Ds mark 111 cameras. One of them has a dried out area on the hand grip area from body heat and salt from

my right hand caused by those plus 100 degrees weather days.

 

How do I clean the leather and make it look sort of like new. Some sort of leather cleaner thats natural? I don't want the

leather to fade after a few weeks. I want to sell the camera with confidence, however it looks weird with a kind of a dried

out look and some whitish look from the salt is showing. You guys get the idea, Regenavate the leather rejuvenate,

restore, refresh? The camera has so few shutter clicks, but the camera looks like crap. Just 15,000 clicks and the

shutter is god for 300,000 clicks. 15,000 clicks is a total of about 25 to 28 weddings at the most.

 

Thanks folks. bob

<p>I don't think there is any "real" leather on this camera.<br>

It's all synthetics, so far as I know. The trouble with the "vinyl restoratives" of the sort made for dashboards is that they don't last long. <br>

Sometimes a solvent like alcohol or naphtha will remove the whitish "salts" from the surface, but try it out on a spot that doesn't show first. A simple toothbrush may help too.</p>

<p>I think the last real leather coatings were from the East Bloc where they may not have been able to afford the synthetics. Always had a sort of 'tannery' smell to them too. ;)</p>

What I use for instances like yours is ,what I use on my leather car seats and Etc,I have both Black and Tan leather and I use a leather

cleaner ,first and then the leather treatment afterwards , u can get it at Walmart both for under ten bucks ,DuPont makes one an 3m does

also, my steering wheel is solid leather and laced, on a old BMW and nice I clean and treat it and ten rest of the leather , it looks brand

new ,and I have been doing the same with my camera straps and harness equip that is leather !it's a cheap fix and holds up a pretty

lengthy time .

I always use a leather cleaner and then a leather protection wax and this keeps everything i use it for looking and feeling brand new.

Saves lots of money and looks great for very little effort.

<p>Unless you recovered it, you don't have leather on your camera body....it is synthetic leatherette (think plastic). Soap, detergent, perhaps a weak solution of isopropyl alcohol gently rubbed with a microfibre cloth.</p>

<p>Armor All: <a href="http://www.armorall.com/">http://www.armorall.com/</a></p>

Great answers...

 

Thanks folks. I started with the soap and water, used a Q-tip and it worked well. Then Alcohol. I will let it

dry a bit and see it a tiny bit of armorall may be needed tomorrow.

 

Really great answers. I knew people will come and rescue me!

<p>Leather usually only needs a little oil to get it back to form, not sure about leatherette...</p>

Hi folks, this is probably my final update, however continue to post with more ideas for our fellow Canon

photographers. Notice I didn't say anything about Nikon! I couldn't resist! Don't use these tips on your

Nikons, because the "Shutters," on the Nikons will stop working! Yes I enjoy messing with Nikon and the

shutters will be just fine - I think! he he he

 

OK, it's about 2:30 AM California time. I couldn't sleep wondering if the all of your tips worked. IT WORKED!

Beyond expectations actually. It's really perfect.

 

Thank you folks - bob

<p>I've had good luck with hand sanitizer on a rag. Make sure the rag is damp with sanitizer and rub and rub and rub. After a few minutes the area you scrubbed will be clean. It also works on cameras with sticky surfaces, removing the sticky surface.</p>

<p>A toothbrush works well to remove white oxidation on camera and lens rubber.</p>

<p>Canon service personnel refer to the plastic grip substance as 'leather' although it isn't. Your local service centre would also be able to peel off the 'leather' patch and attach a new one.</p>

I won't go into great details here. However I pretty much used everyones ideas. This included Q-tips and

the toothbrushes. I first started with just a small spot on the material and messed around with all of your

ideas. The final results were pretty good; I can't really say which one worked best, because they all

pretty much worked. My fear was that the material would be too shiny. After a few hours of playing

around then letting the camera rest for several hours it looks new!

 

Because of messing around with everyone's ideas I've come to the conclusion that all of them worked

great.

 

Again, many many thanks. I knew this Canon forum would save me!

 

Ed, I thought about ordering from Canon however the processes that everyone offered work so well. Your

idea is worth remembering for fellow readers.

I just sold the camera and the buyer couldn't be happier! Thanks again folks!