The driver’s seat of my 2004 Titanium X estate is showing signs of wear. The fabric is
pilling so it is far from thread bear yet. While I cannot complain after 130,000
miles are there any fabric cleaners or conditioners that I can try to improve
the situation?

not really.you'd either need to get an upholsterer or a new seat from scrappy or from a mondeo thats breaking for spares

To reduce the wear and tear you could go for fitted aftermarket seat covers.

Plenty of styles available.

Agree'd stick a cover on it and it will look nicer, you can buy alsorts of leather looks for a reasonable price, or a fabric type.

I bought about 4 years ago a cheap seat cover from aldi, nice and comfortable seat but with a firm layer underneath to protect it from pointy objects. Not had any problems at all with any damage to any of my last four cars now!

what? for the price of a seat from a mondeo thats being broke for spares?chances are your covers could cost twice as much as a £20 seat,no? have you clocked the price of good covers these days??lol

Very true, the cost really is a juggle, its just a case of how far you want to go? do you want to dig out seats and buy second hand and replace the entire seat? take up additional space and then have to get shot of them? or do you just want ebay to send you their finest or cheapest goods that do the job?

It really is each to their own as to how much you can afford, how much time you can invest, and how much nagging you can take from the mrs...

Also it's the consideration of seat airbags, do you want to take the risk of accidentally firing one or it not going off when needed?