Annoying Squeaky Leather

[Spanker]

Talk about a first world problem.....

Whilst waiting for my Gummi Pflege to arrive to help alleviate my annoying door rubber seal noise, my attention has turned to the other noise inside the car that's been bugging me.
It's the squeaky leather.
Sure, leather on old sofas and in old cars can squeak. In mine, it does it beautifully.
The main culprit is where the side of the Recaro's rubs against the leather arm rests. I'm not a small chap so tend to have the seat pushed back a bit and my weight presses the side of the seat outwards. So when going over rougher roads, when I "bounce" a little, the leather rubs and squeaks.
Is this the case with other D2 owners?
Does it annoy anyone else or have folks subconsciously detuned their hearing so that it no longer registers?
And more importantly, has anyone come up with a solution, like a magic cream/moisturiser that when rubbed on the offending area, reduces or eradicates the noise?

[moltuae]

Annoying ain't it.

I think it's primarily a FL issue. While the FL armrests are a definite improvement both visually and reliability-wise over the skinny little PF armrests, it's like the Audi designers never really thought it through when they redesigned the armrests. They sit too close to the seats. It often seems to be the case with FL vehicles that flaws are introduced. I guess design budgets for facelift projects are a fraction of those assigned to designing a new vehicle. The PF A8s I owned never had that problem (though PF armrests would invariably break).

One thing I would say .... make sure the bit your seatbelt clips into (whatever it's called) is vertical. If it gets pushed forward it rubs on the seat and can sound a lot like the armrests rubbing.

The only temporary fix I've found for the armrests though is to rub lots of leather cream into the sides, which is something I often do before a long journey. The rest of the time, if the noise starts and it annoys me, I sometimes drive with my hand tucked between to stop it!

I've considered gluing felt to the sides to prevent the noise. I'd be interested to hear of any ideas anyone else has had.

[Lee S]

Originally Posted by moltuae

I've considered gluing felt to the sides to prevent the noise.

I have done this to the back faces of the seat-belt clips. They used to rub and squeak something terrible against my seat bolsters. Got some light grey sticky back felt from eBay and cut to shape, stuck on and hey-presto... no more squeaks... I got the idea from noticing the felt already stuck to a brand new A6 I had borrowed once and asked Audi parts if the felt was available but it wasn't. I would have had to buy the whole clip, so I bought the felt for a couple of quid and did it myself. Obviously an issue that had been complained about to Audi for them to add the felt to later models.

[Spanker]

Oh good.

It's not just me then.
I thought I may have loose seats or armrests or leather that hadn't been looked after (though it looks in very good condition). But I guess not. I'm glad I am not alone on this one.

I'm going to go outside now and check my seatbelt "holder" to see where it is positioned. Every little helps.

Can you recall the particular leather cream that you use? I'm not that upto date on leather care products so I could Google it.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by Spanker

Can you recall the particular leather cream that you use? I'm not that upto date on leather care products so I could Google it.

I think most will work; I've used various. I think I previously used the Auto Glym stuff but mainly I've been using an old bottle of 'Gliptone GT13.5 Leather Conditioner' that I was given by a professional leather restorer a few years ago (this seems to be the same stuff in a different/new bottle). I've also used Tableau Leather Cream (aka Leather Food).

[Spanker]

Thanks
I'll get something akin to that from my local Halfords, if they have it.
I did check the seat belt holder and did notice that it wasn't upright, and was touching the leather. I'll keep an eye on them and it's good to know that felt is the Audi solution too.

[David's8]

Just as an aside, a thread about Squeaky Leather started by someone with the forum name of "Spanker" must be confusing the cr@p out of some internet surfers - maybe Max Mosely will be along soon but at least he seems interested in cars too.

[Spanker]

Originally Posted by David's8

Just as an aside, a thread about Squeaky Leather started by someone with the forum name of "Spanker" must be confusing the cr@p out of some internet surfers - maybe Max Mosely will be along soon but at least he seems interested in cars too.

Indeed. I suppose my choice of words "magic cream/moisturiser that when rubbed on the offending area......." doesn't help

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by David's8

Just as an aside, a thread about Squeaky Leather started by someone with the forum name of "Spanker" must be confusing the cr@p out of some internet surfers - maybe Max Mosely will be along soon but at least he seems interested in cars too.

haha

Well, to add to the confusion, we are essentially discussing the importance of a good lube.

And now that we've managed to lower the tone .... speaking of lube, I wonder if something like Baby Oil or Vaseline would be worth a try?

I'll give KY a miss I think though. Being seen heading out to the car with a tub of Vaseline would be bad enough ...

[Spanker]

I eventually got some similar Simoniz product from Halfords as it was quicker than waiting for an online purchase and without a shipping fee. It has made all the difference. No more squeaky leather! Yippee!
In fact my synthetic rain-jacket, moving around in the seat, was making more of a noise than the leather today.
Solution found. Thanks for the tip!