Cleaning Steering Wheel

[DonVitto]

Use Baby wipes first, they are gentle

I always assumed baby wipes were bad for leather because they contain alcohol?

 

[Craiglxviii]

No alcohol in baby wipes, you wouldn't use alcohol on a baby's skin would you? Perhaps you're confusing with hand gel cleanser, which is alcohol based.

 

[DonVitto]

No alcohol in baby wipes, you wouldn't use alcohol on a baby's skin would you? Perhaps you're confusing with hand gel cleanser, which is alcohol based.

You're most likely correct - I assumed they contained a mild alcohol but maybe not. However I do think they contain various "harsh" chemicals because often baby's skin can react to them, and they also sell "sensitive" and "extra sensitive" ones which imply that regular ones aren't as good for sensitive skin.

Edit: just found the ingredient list for "Pampers Sensitive Baby Wipes" : Water/Agua/Eau, Citric Acid, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Benzyl Alcohol...

I might give one a go though as it can't be any worse than using a brush.

 

[DonVitto]

I cleaned my steering wheel at the weekend. Here's how I did it:

1) First of all I used a baby wipe which got some grub off

2) Next I sprayed the wheel with interior foam cleaner (I put a towel over the dashboard and put the driver's seat as far back as possible to avoid spraying foam on other things)

3) I gently worked the foam cleaner all around the steering wheel and then left it for 2 minutes

4) Then I gently wiped the wheel with a warm, damp cotton flannel. I think you could use a soft tooth brush but I didn't have one to hand. I think the key here is not to rub hard but gently wipe the leather and let the foam cleaner do the work. I repeated this process twice but expect on dirtier steering wheels you might need to do it 4 or 5 times but again DON'T rub hard as I imagine this would damage the finish.

5) It was amazing how much grub came off the wheel and how good it looked afterwards, but I was worried that the cleaning process had left it looking a little dry. So I used a TINY amount of "Leather Silk" from Wilko for £2 which is a non-silicone "shine and conditioner". This helped to make the leather feel a little more supple but without making it shiny and greasy again.

Sadly I don't have any before and after pics. The wife says she can't see the difference but to me the difference is vast lol

 

[Craiglxviii]

Having had a pretty non-productive weekend I too decided I had o do SOMETHING, and ended up taking my new Gliptone twin pack of cleaner and conditioner, and a pack of microfibre cloths, and cleaning the leather wheel, handbrake grip and gearknob on my A3. A gentle rubbing of a good dollop of Gliptone Gentle Cleaner, followed by the creamy white conditioner, brought them back to new, The shiny feeling has gone and there's a grainy feeling once again. Nothing fancy, just a gentle rubbing around with the microfibre cloth, sometimes using 2 fingers (like "bulling" boots for those who know what I mean") where there was a flat bit, or a wraparound circular twisty motion where I found easiest.

Result, new-feeling leather and 2 originally blue, now grey/black cloths that need to go in the wash.

 

[BernardB]

I tried ALL the methods recommended in this thread and none of them worked on my beige steering wheel. Hardly surprising really as there was ten years' worth of accumulated grime and grease. In the end I took the car to a specialist leather refinisher and had the wheel recoloured. A perfect match and the best £40 I ever spent.