Advanced Leather Solutions SG Series Marketing Info

The following is marketing information for those who wish to become resellers of the proven SG Series of leather performance products made by Advanced Leather Solutions, Inc.  Here at ADVLeather.com we chemically engineer the best performance  for leather care products.  Those who use the products praise the results.  Those who distribute the products to their customers report back to us that their customers are also praising the merits of SG - 5, our leather cleaner and SG - 25 our leather conditioner.  As a reader of my blog, you too can take advantage these superb products, either under your own private label or take advantage of the brand awareness Advanced Leather Solutions has already created.  Here are the details...

Advanced Leather Solutions --- The SG Series of Leather Performance products

Intensive cleaning and moisturizing for automobile, leather garments and furniture

Chemically engineered specifically for leather

Safe and easy cleaning action --- SG - 5 cleans automotive and upholstery grade leather.  The cleaning action is safe for leather, surrounding and lifting dirt away from the leather, even if deeply embedded in the grain pattern.  Because it is safe for leather, frequent repeated application will not damage the leather.  The cleaning action brightens the leather without the use of harsh bleaching agents. 

Intensive moisture replenishment ---   SG - 25 is an intensive moisturizer for automobile and upholstery.  These replenishing oils and other softening agents are absorbed deep into the leather, where they restore the leather’s vitality. 

Improves suppleness --- As leather dries, it loses its soft, supple feel.  The intensive moisturizing agents in SG – 25 bring back lost suppleness, prolonging the life of the leather even if exposed to harsh heat and intense sun.  

Restructures top layer --- SG – 25 actually restructures the protective top layer (top-coat) to your leather.  Through use and sun exposure, this top layer loses its effectiveness.  It can even feel rough or chaffed to the touch.  The SG Series restructures this protective layer improving the long term wear characteristics.  Repeated use of the SG products builds this protective layer adding durability to your leather.  It leaves even old, dried leather feeling silky smooth.

pH balance --  The SG Series  is pH balanced.  Leather is acidic at 4.5 to 5.0.  Most leather cleaners are alkaline. This means they are actually harming the leather. When Leather’s pH is out of balance, it accelerates the breakdown its internal fibrous structure. The SG Series of Leather Performance products brings the leather back to its appropriate pH, reducing the long term damage to the leather caused by inappropriate pH leather care products.

Anti-bacteria and virus Agent Added – Pets and kids are germ factories.  SG – 25 not only conditions and protects your leather, it also adds anti-bacteria and virus protection.  With the system, when we say clean, we mean hospital clean.

Easy wipe on and rub --- Easy to apply with a simple, cleaning and conditioning wipe and rub technique.  No more cleaners that dull leather.  No more conditioners that make the leather feel sticky or oily.

 Long term effectiveness --- The SG Series of Leather Performance ingredients have staying power, reducing the frequency of application required.  Even after a single application your leather will feel better, last longer and give you the overall performance expected from leather in high-end automobiles.

The warmer the better --- The warmer the environment, the better SG – 25 performs.  When leather is warm, the moisturizing agents quickly revitalize the leather.  Even old, dried, tired looking leather can be brought back to life.

Suggested Marketing Channels

SG – Series of Leather Performance Products is an after-market product targeted to automobile and furniture owners who want to protect their investment in leather.  It will also work on a wide variety of other leather goods like jackets, motorcycle leather seats, saddlebags, briefcases, shoes, etc.

Example channels should include the following:

1. Auto Dealerships (new and used)
2. Aftermarket auto supply stores (Pep boys, etc.)
3. Auto paint shops (Earl Schibb, etc.)
4. Auto detailer
5. Car washers
6. Auto clubs
7. Large chain stores
8. Furniture retailers
9. Direct sales via advertising in auto trader, etc.
10. Direct sales via internet
11. Flea market booths

Additional considerations:

It can be used for horse tack leather as well.

Targeted demographic markets include middle to high income households and auto owners who care about their leather.

Suggested Sales and General Awareness Tactics

1. Create an article for publication in a trade journal.  Focus on uniqueness.  Examples available for ADVleather.com
2. Make up 1 or 2 oz samples and distribute through above channels – try it, you’ll like it approach.
3. Create point-of-sale displays again emphasizing uniqueness of product offering.
4. Direct sales to each of the above listed sales channels.

Bottle and Label Considerations

We recommend HDPE cylinder rounds, natural. These are semi-clear plastic bottles so you can see the contents.  Use a poly-tops white closure with a flip top for ease of use.  Make sure the ink on the label is not susceptible to having the ink run when it gets wet.

Copyright 2010, Kevin Gillan

Does leather conditioner clog pores?

I've heard some strange theories about the care and maintenance of leather. Recently, it was brought to my attention that there are people who hold the belief that conditioners are bad for leather as it will "clog the pores." I have no idea how they come up with their theory. Clog the pores? What does that mean? Is the leather going to develop a "black-head" or a pimple due to clogged pores?

Here are the facts. Keep in mind that the cow is dead. The pores are non-functional. The animal isn't sweating anymore. There are no more body oils being produced by the animal. Nothing is coming up from inside the skin through the pores. What's to get clogged?

Furthermore, a pore is just one structural element found across the topography of a hide. Looked at under a microscope (even a simple magnifying glass) will demonstrate that the pore structure represents a small percentage of the overall surface area. Leather is absorbent across its entire surface, not just the pores.

If you put a massive amount of a heavy, greasy substance as some leather conditioner manufacturers propose, the real problem is that the skin can't absorb it. So it dries on the surface and leaves the leather feeling sticky, gooey (clogged pores?).

Consider the following:

1. Leather has about 25% moisture content coming out of the tannery.

2. That moisture evaporates to the atmosphere at a rate based on 3 variables: A) humidity B) temperature and C) porosity of the hide. (An unfinished leather will dry out faster than a finished leather because it loses moisture at a more rapid rate as the natural skin surface is not coated. A finished leather has a coating that will hold the moisture in longer. In both cases moisture is lost from the suede side as well.) The more heavily finished, the slower the rate of moisture loss. The corollary is that a heavily finished leather will be less absorbent of any moisturizing agent. If its slow to go out, then its also slow to go in.

3. As the leather loses moisture, the fiber bundles lose its internal lubrication, the leather stiffens. Furthermore, it loses a portion of its mass, consequently shrinks.

4. The purpose of a conditioner is to re-instill that lost moisture - improving suppleness, prolonging the life of the leather. Period.

5. Don't replenish moisture (don't apply conditioner) and it surely shortens the life of the leather as the leather desiccates.

pH Balance

What is far more important is to understand that leather is acidic (4.5 to 5.0 oh a pH scale). A lot of harm is done by applying a chemistry that is not pH balanced to leather as it will induce a chemical reaction breaking down (rotting) the fiber structure. Consider body oil accumulation - some people are very caustic (pH below 3.5), causing the demise of the leather. Advanced Leather Solutions cleaners and conditioners are pH balanced to leather, thus helping to correct any pH imbalance combating the rotting affect.

Museums use non-volatile moisturizers.

At the conservation and preservation (museum) level, it is true that a standard grade conditioner MAY do more harm than good. Once leather gets to a certain level of moisture loss (estimated at below between 5 and 10%) then adding a greasy conditioner at that point may render the leather to mush. (Think about cardboard when it gets wet). So the goal is to make sure the moisture content of leather never gets to that low a level by regularly conditioning your fine leathers.

Most conditioners are made from organics like neatsfoot oil which is also the "natural oils" infused into the leather at the tannery. Organics are volatile, meaning they evaporate, which is the fundamental reason why leather needs moisture added from time to time.

A non-volatile moisturizer is a synthetic and does not evaporate. However, they are very expensive so the tanneries generally don't use them. Advanced Leather Solutions has developed a Deep Penetrating moisturizer which is a non-volatile conditioner. It's a highly specialized chemistry that acts like countless tiny ball bearings infused within the fiber structure. In that sense its not a liquid (doesn't evaporate). Once applied, you don't have to continually moisturize as there is no loss to the atmosphere.

Copyright 2010, Kevin Gillan