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Can anyone tell me why my leather seats have a white film on them????

31K views 91 replies 22 participants last post by  LadyRam 
#1 ·
Hey folks,

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light as to why my leather seats have a white film on them.

I have a 2011 Dodge Ram Longhorn with only 1900 kms. I opened my truck the other day and noticed that the entire interior appears to have a white film on the seats. I wiped it off with my hand but it came back...

Can anyone tell me if they have experienced the same issue or is it possible that the leather is drying out????

My truck is in my garage that is heated and has not been driven this winter. Am I missing something here.

Thanks,

Ed
 
#5 ·
Yeah I thought about that, I went to the Dealer and they the one guy said that he thought it was mold????

I went to another dealer and they just gave me some leather conditioner that smells like cherry. I put some of that on a section of the seat and I am going to have a look in the morning. The truck is not even a year old so I dont think I should be having this issue.

Thanks for the input though it is appreciated.
 
#6 ·
It depends on how much humidity is in your cab if it's sitting in a warm garage, mold/mildew is a possibility I hadn't thought of. There are many factors that can cause these things, and it being a new vehicle may have no effect on what is causing it. Have you run the heater/cooling system to smell for anything out of the ordinary?
 
#9 ·
Ok thanks will do. The dealership gave me some stuff to put on the interior with a sponge so I have tried that and will see what happens.

I appreciate all the domments and ideas. It is just frustrating due to the fact that this is a brand new truck and the brown leather is literally turning white......

Thanks again...

Ed
 
#12 ·
Same Thing

Hey,

I had/have the same thing on my 2011 Dodge. I assumed it was some type of conditioner/wax that they applied to the interior of the truck to proctect the inside? Its almost like fine wax powder. I have cleaned the truck a few times now<I have 7K) on the truck now. It seems to have gone away. I almost thought it may have came into the truck when they sprayed the paint protection.

Not sure if that helps, but I did have the same stuff or similar anyway..


Cheers
 
#13 ·
Well I have applied the Leather conditioner that was supplied to me by the dealer and to my surprise the white chalky look came back after I applied the first coat...

I only did half of the truck and I took pictures to show exactly how it looks and was able to forward those pics off to the District Manager. I was told that they spoke to some people that have advised that this is the first time someone has ever brought this to thier attention...

Long story short I have to take my truck into the dealership today and have the Service Manager have a look at it and take some pictures. They are saying that this is not a factory or workmanship error however they want to have a deeper look into this.

I tried to post pics on the forum however ever time I tried it stated that I didn't have enough cookies??? Can anyone help me out with that one,,, I would like to show you what it looks like so you can see for yourself...

Hey CoaXil - I'm glad that worked out for you however one question, have you been having any problems with your Tork Converter????

Ill let you know how this works out guys...
 
#14 ·
It's probably just the naturals oils and/or the leather treatment that was applied prior to you buying it, such as a stain resistor. Just use a good leather treatment every so often and see if that helps. I also am curious on this thread as I have leather, have had it for over a year and haven't seen this issue yet.
 
#17 ·
Well went to the dealer today and they have no idea what is happening. They have take pictures and have forwarded them to Dodge Canada for review.

They couldn't believe what was happening. They thought it may be moisture howver vehicle is kept in a controlled environment.

So they stated that they are going to have this analyzed and get back to me. Some leather conditioner was applied and while standing there they observed the leather turning white yet again...

I have to be honest even though I am having this problem I havent driven my truck since December and I am sooo glad that I bought this vehilce. Nothing like that feeling driving down the road. Dodge forum members will know what I am talking about....

Hope to get this resolved soon, it appears that if it cannot be treated then an entire interior will be re installed.... I did down load a picture to the members gallery however I was unable to put it on this thread.
 
#19 ·
Hmmm. I seen that somewhere before???? Dang I cannot remember. Of yeah. When you have something laying on the ground like leather it absorbs all the moisture in the ground. Kinda like dry sweep. or a pair of boots that have been wet and dried and sweated threw several times. You can condition it over and over and the white residue always comes back.
Makes me wonder if that set of seat covers were in the bottom of a cardboard box sittinging in some damp warehouse and the box had gotten wet or something and the box started to mold. And the seat covers absorbed all the moisture like a old boot or goatskin glove! Just a thought.
 
#20 ·
Well I am really hoping that they can rectify this problem... I still love my truck but they really need to fix this issue... SO I will let you know how it goes.

I don't know how long this process takes but the dealer I am dealing with is looking after me. I believe they want to try and condition the seats however I have already tried and they watched it turn back to the white colour today?
 
#21 ·
If you're willing to try it, you could put a dessicatant in the cab while it's in the garage and see if drying out the cab improves anything. By now I'm willing to help you try anything as it's extremely bizzare, but I'm glad to head the dealership is taking it seriously and not just brushing it off.
 
#22 ·
Yeah they are treating me very well. The kicker is I drove three hours to another dealer to pick this up due to the dealer near me not having one in stock with the options I wanted.

The Service Manager from the dealer near me is really doing a great job with the customer service, I just hope this is some type of fix for this issure... It is very odd to say the least.
 
#24 ·
Wow that is odd
 
#25 ·
I totally agree with you Al E. Gator,

With that said I was speaking to Dodge Canada and the first thing that I was told is that they are not going to replace the seats just because they are turning white. They want them to diagnose to see if it is a manufactures warranted item.

When I spoke to the Dodge rep it was like he was telling me that I put something on my seats. I informed him that I have never put anything at all on my seats....

So here I am waiting to here. On the plus side got a chrome bug deflector on my trip to the dealer so put that on today...

I hope this gets worked out... I have no other ideas of what if causing this??? and neither does my Dodge dealer...
 
#26 ·
Hey CdnoilRam,

I have thought about everything and I was told not to put anything at all on or in the truck until this gets worked out... I did use the conditioner on the drivers side. Did half of the truck and it looked good for about two hours.

While at the dealer the white chalky look came right back after applying the conditioner. The other side of the truck is now getting whiter??????? No idea why....

The good news is I still love this truck and it will all get worked out in the end...
 
#27 ·
After seeing the pic's that looks to me like leather fat spew. It's the natural oils and fats in the leather coming to the surface. A buddy of mine bought a stupid expensive leather recliner that did that exact thing. The furniture store says it happens often and gave him a bottle of spew remover. Did the recliner once and never had it return.
Here is a little youtube vid on the subject
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hbyp-wmVO8
 
#28 ·
Hey Stump3R,

Thanks a bunch for the video. I will be forwarding that to my service manager looking after this problem.

Hopefully this does the trick...

Thanks again,

Ed
 
#29 ·
Hey Stump3R,

Do you know if this can be purchased???

If so can you let me know where. Just got off the phone with the dealer and will be calling me back.

Thanks again,

Ed
 
#30 ·
Not sure where you could track it down locally. I googled and found leathermaster.ca out of Winnipeg. Might be worth calling an upholstery shop, they should be able to either get it for you or point you in the right direction.
 
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