Heated seats and air-con help keep us comfortable at the wheel, but they are bad news for leather upholstery. Hide trim is becoming increasingly popular, and although a weathered look adds character to a classic model, it has the opposite effect on a three-year-old hatch.

Come selling time, grubby, cracked hide can deter buyers, and raise fears about exactly how well the rest of the car has been looked after.

As leather is a natural product, it needs conditioning as well as cleaning to replace the essential oils within the material that are lost through heating.
Traditionally, this used to be a two-step process, but an increasing number of products on the market combine the two.