Question Leather seats vs cloth

Mel281

New member
does this make a significant difference in car seat safety? Would it be a deal breaker in a new to you vehicle?
 
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Mags462

New member
Car safety issue? No.... it makes no difference what the seat is made of.

Deal breaker? Nope.... i actually really really really hate leather for comfort reasons so it'd "break" the other way for me personally (eg a vehicle having leather would have to be an amazing deal that i couldn't pass up :eek:) ...... leather is overrate IMO ;)
 

Mel281

New member
I should clarify... I feel like my carseat installs might be harder to get tight in the cars I've used with leather.... Too slippery. I wondered if having the leather seats truly is less safe, or if i get a false sense of security with cloth seats. I don't love leather either, but I want a back up camera and some of the other bells and whistles that come with the higher end packages, and leather happens to be the only choice. I'm looking at minivans, 2nd generation Ody or Sienna if that matters for anything.
 

Christie

New member
And I just bought an oddy and HAD to get leather. Our three car seats have rock solid installs and I'm totally not worried about them.

I was glad I got leather when, five days after getting my new van home, DS vomited all over his seat and the van seat. Clean up (and smell issues) were nothing compared to having to clean cloth seats like I have in my Chevy Express.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
I HATE leather. If someone gave me a car with leather, I wouldn't complain. But if I was buying, I would only consider it for, like, $5000 off. I seriously HATE installing on leather.
 

YinzerMama

New member
There is some more slip but it does not preclude getting a good install. We got an ody with leather so no one could ever pee deeply into the seats again. I have to try a little hard it seems but I can get the car seats installed well.

If you absolutely find it isn't working - find a site that sells parts for your make/model an buy a fabric seat cover. I might down the line end up recovering all our seats just for comfort, but who knows. I have looked into it and it is possible. You would zip off the leather and replace with fabric. Alternatively you could find a junker and pull the seat. Just do it for the seat you have issues with. But odds are you will get a car seat installed just fine.
 

carseatguy

New member
The bigger issue is the softness of the seat cushion material. I do not care leather or fabric for vehicle seat upholstery . I do not want the car seat so tight it can not move or it could be more dangerous in a crash than a loose feeling seat. Techs will remember, no more than one inch movement along the belt path only of a CRS with 12 to 14 pounds of applied force. The energy or force you use to open a car door or the refrigerator applied at the belt path to pull the CRS toward you and then away from the seat bite toward the front of the vehicle. If the CRS can not move, more energy transferred to a child in a crash. It is a Goldy Locks thing and just right is not easy to find when seat cushions have different softness and upholstery has different slipperiness. Stay away from 'Firefighter tight' and remember that giving a little is a good thing. -Bill
 

elyrayday

New member
The bigger issue is the softness of the seat cushion material. I do not care leather or fabric for vehicle seat upholstery . I do not want the car seat so tight it can not move or it could be more dangerous in a crash than a loose feeling seat. Techs will remember, no more than one inch movement along the belt path only of a CRS with 12 to 14 pounds of applied force. The energy or force you use to open a car door or the refrigerator applied at the belt path to pull the CRS toward you and then away from the seat bite toward the front of the vehicle. If the CRS can not move, more energy transferred to a child in a crash. It is a Goldy Locks thing and just right is not easy to find when seat cushions have different softness and upholstery has different slipperiness. Stay away from 'Firefighter tight' and remember that giving a little is a good thing. -Bill

I had never heard of this. Ours are super solid/tight with no movement and I thought that was a good thing? Confused... They always says a maximum for movement, but no one ever mentions a minimum.
 

o_mom

New member
The bigger issue is the softness of the seat cushion material. I do not care leather or fabric for vehicle seat upholstery . I do not want the car seat so tight it can not move or it could be more dangerous in a crash than a loose feeling seat. Techs will remember, no more than one inch movement along the belt path only of a CRS with 12 to 14 pounds of applied force. The energy or force you use to open a car door or the refrigerator applied at the belt path to pull the CRS toward you and then away from the seat bite toward the front of the vehicle. If the CRS can not move, more energy transferred to a child in a crash. It is a Goldy Locks thing and just right is not easy to find when seat cushions have different softness and upholstery has different slipperiness. Stay away from 'Firefighter tight' and remember that giving a little is a good thing. -Bill

Do you have a reference for this?
 

Mommy!

Active member
We have rock solid installs in both cars; one all leather, one vinyl in the backseat only. The leather does get damaged by car seats, but so would cloth. And I can't say enough for how much easier it is to clean "kid messes" on leather seats instead of cloth! Even stuff like melted crayon came off pretty easily. It makes life so much easier that way. :)
 

danivdp

New member
Originally Posted by carseatguy
The bigger issue is the softness of the seat cushion material. I do not care leather or fabric for vehicle seat upholstery . I do not want the car seat so tight it can not move or it could be more dangerous in a crash than a loose feeling seat. Techs will remember, no more than one inch movement along the belt path only of a CRS with 12 to 14 pounds of applied force. The energy or force you use to open a car door or the refrigerator applied at the belt path to pull the CRS toward you and then away from the seat bite toward the front of the vehicle. If the CRS can not move, more energy transferred to a child in a crash. It is a Goldy Locks thing and just right is not easy to find when seat cushions have different softness and upholstery has different slipperiness. Stay away from 'Firefighter tight' and remember that giving a little is a good thing. -Bill

Do you have a reference for this?

I am very interested in this logic as well.....
 

MotoMommaNH

New member
The bases on the new generation Britax are non slip and so I've had no problem with leather install. Matter of fact I wouldn't buy another car that isn't leather after experiencing the ease of mess clean up with it!!
 

NVMBR02

New member
I am not a huge leather fan but my new Pilot has leather seats and I kinda love them. :eek: I haven't had any problems with installing any seats because of the leather.

Anyway, I am probably not much help.
 

Mercuria

Active member
I think it depends on the particular seats. The hardest installation in our three vehicles is actually the only cloth upholstered vehicle we have. It's because, in that car, there's no "give" in the seat, and you can't push the CR into it. Consequently, the only way to get an acceptable install with a seat belt is to use a locking clip and brute force. Switching the retractor leaves too much slack because the CR can't be pushed down/in to push back on the seat belt.

The leather option on the same car was actually coushier, IIRC, so it would probably be easier to install on that.
 

ceruti82

New member
Do you have a reference for this?

I learned this in my tech class as well. Thru said its good for the seat to not be ROCK SOLID.. Some seats with the safe cell technology, need a little give in order for that feature to work properly. And you want the carseat to "ride down" the crash, not just the child "ride down" the crash.
 

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