How do you clean Steering Wheels

P

pingable

New member
Let's face it. Steering wheels are abused daily. Dirty hands, natural oils / sweat from the hands, etc.



I just put on a new steering wheel on my DD. It looked too smooth/waxed......and I could not stand it.

The new one, nice textured matte black leather is on.



In the past, I used to wipe it with a Microfiber.

I've also done the steam route and then wiped it dry with a MF.





I'm looking for new ideas on how to clean it, without INDUCING additional sheen to the leather and or creating extra friction - aka, smoothing/accelerating the texture/grain of the leather.
 
I use Woolite 20:1 every other week and then a damp cloth to wipe off. As important as cleaning is, the shine comes from oils as you said AND driving style. A lot of people let the wheel slide in their hand, that's what causes the most wear.
 
I'm with Dan. Woolite 20:1 once a week is the best bet. Maintaining it is far easier than trying to deep clean once neglected. When I have to clean heavily I use a mild APC and a medium-soft leather brush for cleaning the grain on the back and where the hands most frequently touch it. Women and their lotions usually have the worst steering wheels.
 
I use a very mild dilution of Meg's APC Plus with a nail brush on very dirty steering wheels which works great. On my own interior that's usually very clean, I use a mild dilution of Woolite as mentioned above and one of my cheap microfibers. I also use 1Z Cockpit Premium on the dash and door cards as I like the look and smell.
 
chrisguga said:
I use a very mild dilution of Meg's APC Plus with a nail brush on very dirty steering wheels which works great.
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Good call on the nail brush. Hadn't thought about that, but seems like a great option for gentle scrubbing. Thanks.:up
 
ONR (wash strength is fine) dampened towel works great. Fast too. Just wrap the towel around the rim, twist with your hand (like a motorcycle throttle) all the way around the rim.
 
Maintenance Cleaning - Leather Master™ Cleaner Wipes - cleans most common dirt and stains. Soft Cleaner contains a delicate detergent that can be used on your leather whatever its finish; suitable for all types of leather except Nubuck and Alcantara.



Removal of grease stains use - Leather Masters™ Leather Degreaser (check for colour fastness) this aerosol product is ideal for cleaning this type of stain as it dissolves the oils and transforms them into a powder that is more absorbent than the leather. This powder is what is wiped off, cleaning and degreasing the leather. Allow the white powder to dry fully. If the powder is drying to a yellow colour, it means that there are still a lot of oils in the leather.



Using a Medium / hard horse hair brush, or a soft sponge, spray and work the cleaner into a foam, lightly scrub surface and immediately wipe with a terry towel to remove excess moisture, especially around stitching (you may need to repeat this process).
 
If it's leather I use Dr Leather liquid leather cleaner - from the UK made by an aussie

If not, Xpert Anti bacterial with an MF and a brush. followed by Permanon Aircraft supershine, Gtechniq C1.5 or a coating
 
Scottwax said:
ONR (wash strength is fine) dampened towel works great. Fast too. Just wrap the towel around the rim, twist with your hand (like a motorcycle throttle) all the way around the rim.
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Scottwax. I know MANY have used ONR with success. I used it 1X out of the gallon bottle I bought. I don't know if it was my SS mitt....but after using it with my SS mitt and literally, the SS mitt disintegrated *down to the skin/hide*, I've been hesitant to use ONR since then !
 
chefwong said:
Scottwax. I know MANY have used ONR with success. I used it 1X out of the gallon bottle I bought. I don't know if it was my SS mitt....but after using it with my SS mitt and literally, the SS mitt disintegrated *down to the skin/hide*, I've been hesitant to use ONR since then !
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If by "1x" you mean you used it full strength.....that is likely the reason. At wash strength per Scottwax's recommendation, it is mixed 2oz/1gal of water. I believe QD strength is something like 8oz/1gal of water.
 
It was at the QD dilution....

The *MANY* = I may be the exception to the rule...but after seeing what it did to my Mitt, ONR just went to the back of the shelf...
 
Might have been a bad mitt, I use mitts almost exclusively with ONR. That said, I'd probably not use it on my steering wheel regularly.
 
I think I will stay with current routine after reading everyones different opinion



Light cleaner/fairly damp mf, light light pass

The a semi-damp mf with very minimal scrubbing just to do a drying/rinse pass



And of course, I'm always careful the 1st couple of weeks on how I *hold* the wheel and how I hold it during turns....but then that mentailty quickly fades away..
 
chefwong- You might try using cotton towels for some of the steering wheel cleaning. I find them to be a bit more aggressive than MF but still plenty gentle enough.
 
While I'm sitting in my wife's minivan waiting for her to come out from shopping, I have a tendancy to clean my steering wheel with baby wipes. Seems to do a pretty safe job.
 
This is why I always wear soft leather driving gloves when I drive my nice cars. I can't stand grimy steering wheels and shift knobs. I very rarely need to clean them.
 
P-nut said:
This is why I always wear soft leather driving gloves when I drive my nice cars. I can't stand grimy steering wheels and shift knobs. I very rarely need to clean them.
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Heh. I'm not James Bond in the Aston Martin.



This thread would not be complete without pics.

So I am driving making a conscious effort to not hold it as much on the 9-12, mixing it up by holding it on the 9'oclock position spoke, etc, when I turn, I don't flat hand it...That's how I treated the steering wheel when it was new...



swheel.jpg


swheel2.jpg
 
And to take this to the OCD level, I will use a towel on a the 9-12 oclock and then switch to a different towel...

So, that whatever oils/dirt that is my usual driving steering pattern, it won't carryover to the rest of the steering wheel.



Who ever knew detailing could get this complicated :lol
 
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