How to clean and restore an oily and slippery leather steering wheel?

[judyb]

Why would you avoid leather cleaners and protectants? These will be far less likely to remove any finishes or coatings.

Dish washer detergents on the other hand contain a lot of salts these days which will definitely break down the finish on leather and so should be avoided.

Water is good for leather (this is what 'conditions' it as it keeps it hydrated) and is an important factor in its care and maintenance. Excessive water (oversoaking) can cause damage to the fibres but on an everday basis cleaning and protecting with water based products is what leather needs.

Steering wheels should be protected from new (as with all leather) and then cleaned on a regular basis to avoid the oils from your hands damaging the finish on the leather (body oils are very aggressive) most people leave it until it is too late and then they are very difficult to fix.
Once they are deteriorated they would need degreasing and refinishing but this is generally a very difficult process without taking the wheel out so it is far better to look after them from the start (as with all leather). It is far more economical to use good quality dedicated leather products (ones tested within the leather industry) as these will always prolong the life of your leather and less corrective work will be necessary which is when it gets expensive.

[8Banger]

I have a 03 mustang with a leather wrapped steering wheel. never had a good, deep cleaning till about 3 days ago. I bought leatherique for my seats and decided to give the steering wheel a small dose of it. turned out great. i bought the car slightly used and the steering wheel is now better looking and feeling then when i bought it. it has tan dye and a brown dye. when i used the scrub brush that came with my leatherique kit, it took some dye off, so if you go this approach i would just use a MF. After i saw some dye transfer i started using a MF only to remove with great results.






baracoda

[jopa489]

Interesting information in this thread. Subscribed.

[Roger Koh]

These pictures show how I do it!



#1] Apply a pH 7.7 prep cleaner, agitate with a horsehair brush and let dwell 10 to 30 minutes to allow the cleaner to penetrate, lubricate and suspense the greasy soiled leather.




#2] Clean-off sticky residue with a pH 3.8 cleaner and rinse-off remaining residue with a pH 3.0 rinse until towel is clean and the leather feels squeaky clean.




#3] Predictable foreign contamination-free result every-time!


You can do it too!



Roger Koh
Leather Doctor®

[louisll]

never had a problem with lexol and gliptone liquid leather
always use common sense and prevention rather than repair

[judyb]

always use common sense and prevention rather than repair

Very good advice here

[Roger Koh]

Hi. My steering wheel has been through a few years of "abuse". I remember when it had a supple matte finish and it was really easy to grip. Now the leather is absolutely smooth, glossy (like how something would look after being drenched in Armor All ), and slippery. I tried Meguiar's gold class leather cleaner/condition with a MF towel and it didn't help much. What formula, cleaners, and conditioners do i use to try my best and restore the steering wheel?

This is a cut and paste from the other forum related to this thread…highlighting the before and after result.

Quote:

I have a 2008 M3 coupe with the black novillo leather. The car has 25k miles and there are a couple of issues with the leather that I would like to possibly address and correct.

1) With use, the leather covered steering wheel has become shiny. I would like to restore it to its original matte condition. The same is true of the bolster on the driver's seat. I would like to restore the bolster to its original matte finish.

As far as products are considered, I've been using the BMW leather conditioner kit which is basically a rub in conditioner. I believe I will need more specialized products to address my issues.

I will update the thread with some pictures and hope to document the restoration process within the thread as well.

I've included some pictures of the areas that I would like to work on. Let me know what would be the best approach.

Steering Wheel Unwanted Shine



Close-up of shine



So I've received the entire cleaning kit and decided to test out the products today. I've attached two pictures from my project.

1) The first one is of the steering wheel with the second round of the Prep-7.7. The first round removed a lot of grime and shine, but there were still a couple of problem areas, so I decided to re-apply the solution for a longer period of time. As I type this, the steering wheel has been soaking for an hour or so. I intend to leave it for another 4 or 5 hours at least.




Today has been full of good news!

1) Steering Wheel

I am happy to say that my steering wheel is as good as new. The 2 days of cling wrap soaking really cleaned up the top and left sides of the steering wheel. Without further adieu, here are the pictures:

Right


Left


Top


Bottom



For more details go to this link: First Post and My Project Details of a 2008 BMW M3 Coupe with the Black Novillo Leather! - Leather Cleaning Restoration Forum

Roger Koh
info@leatherdoctor.com