How to clean and restore an oily and slippery leather steering wheel?
- Thread starter SayNoToPistons
- Start date
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
Here's judyb's website:
LTT Leather Care - Leather Repair Cleaning Products - Training Courses Articles - Protection and Care Plans
Very interesting stuff. I also read through some of her past posts and she's given some great advise. Alot goes against the grain (pun intended) from what most of us have been trained to believe with leather cleaning and protecting.
LTT Leather Care - Leather Repair Cleaning Products - Training Courses Articles - Protection and Care Plans
Very interesting stuff. I also read through some of her past posts and she's given some great advise. Alot goes against the grain (pun intended) from what most of us have been trained to believe with leather cleaning and protecting.
judyb
New member
The 303 Protectant is a UV protector and is recommended for vinyls etc. Whilst this may have some benefit there is no evidence that it has been specifically tested for leather. A good leather protector will also contain UV protection but will also have been thoroughly tested for use on leather. As there are specific leather products for protection purposes I would not recommend something that has not been tested.
I have not tested the protection properties of this product myself but will try and get hold of some and see what the results are.
The products we use have been tested on leather over a very long period of time and are developed to keep up with the changing market. We try and supply the best that are avaialable from all over the world so are always open to new sugestions and products but they do have to stand up before being added to our range.
Much of the 'old fashioned' knowledge or training on leather comes from when leather was tanned in a very different way and unfortunatley the myths have stuck and become rather hard to change.
Please just ask away and I will try and answer your questions.
I have not tested the protection properties of this product myself but will try and get hold of some and see what the results are.
The products we use have been tested on leather over a very long period of time and are developed to keep up with the changing market. We try and supply the best that are avaialable from all over the world so are always open to new sugestions and products but they do have to stand up before being added to our range.
Much of the 'old fashioned' knowledge or training on leather comes from when leather was tanned in a very different way and unfortunatley the myths have stuck and become rather hard to change.
Please just ask away and I will try and answer your questions.
How to clean a leather steeling wheel ?
Here are what I did and it works very well to my car.
1.Dip a tooth brush into a liquid dish wash detergent (2 teaspoons) diluted with hot water (1/4 cup) in a paper cup, and then uses it to gently brush the steering wheel and immediately wipe off with a paper towel to remove the detergent and water. Work only a quarter of steeling wheel at one time before continues to clean the next quarter of the steeling wheel.
2.Use a cloth wet with water to wipe the whole steeling wheel to remove any possible detergent left over, and immediately wipe off with a paper towel to remove any possible water left.
3.Uses a portable home electric fan to blow dry the leather steeling wheel for 10 to 20 minutes.
(Avoid leather cleaners, conditioners and protectants that will remove the special finishes and coatings on the leather steeling wheel. Avoid leather material to contact with water for longer than the necessary! )
Aug. 22, 2009
Here are what I did and it works very well to my car.
1.Dip a tooth brush into a liquid dish wash detergent (2 teaspoons) diluted with hot water (1/4 cup) in a paper cup, and then uses it to gently brush the steering wheel and immediately wipe off with a paper towel to remove the detergent and water. Work only a quarter of steeling wheel at one time before continues to clean the next quarter of the steeling wheel.
2.Use a cloth wet with water to wipe the whole steeling wheel to remove any possible detergent left over, and immediately wipe off with a paper towel to remove any possible water left.
3.Uses a portable home electric fan to blow dry the leather steeling wheel for 10 to 20 minutes.
(Avoid leather cleaners, conditioners and protectants that will remove the special finishes and coatings on the leather steeling wheel. Avoid leather material to contact with water for longer than the necessary! )
Aug. 22, 2009
judyb
New member
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.
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.
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:ca
baracoda:ca
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®
#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®
judyb
New member
Very good advice here
another qx4 said:
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
[email protected]
Try with Leather Clean to remove all strong stains from steer wheel. I hope this will help you.