Advice on what to use to clean steering wheel?

[Longyear]

Hi all,

My Puma steering wheel has what I can best describe as 'black gunk' which has formed over the years. It's a dry brownish/greyish, powdery type of soil and hasn't come off with standard car interior cleaning products.

Can anyone recommend something to use on this, that will lift this crap? I was thinking maybe petroleum spririt or similar or WD40 ? Just don't really want top experiment too freely without first getting advice, in case I disolve or kill the wheel!

Cheers in advance.

 

[martinthrapston]

did you look around the site 1st as there is plenty of threads about this,i found 1 no problem
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=15040" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
also it will help to use the search feature k:

 

[Longyear]

Thanks, but that thread relates to painting the steering wheel, which I wouldn't be looking to do. I'm not sure mine is the same problem, as it's not sticky to touch, just has a kind of scummy coating to it!

.... I did try the search function first, but couldn't find a recommendation for a cleaning solution to use on the wheel. That thread does mention Fairy Liquid but not sure that'd be the best option as I can imagine it would leave a lot of residue in place.

Cheers.

 

[jboy01]

Try some industrial hand wipes mate, it does the job but not to aggresive.

 

[Longyear]

Try some industrial hand wipes mate, it does the job but not to aggresive.

Thanks mate, just found some on eBay for a steal, so will pick them up and give it a shot

Cheers.

 

[jboy01]

Should have said mate got loads at home an your local.

 

[quest63]

When I cleaned mine it ended up reverting to suede rather than leather,I ended up having to use a mini maglite like a rolling pin to flat it back down and get some kind of smooth surface again.

 

[Longyear]

Should have said mate got loads at home an your local.

Ah cheers anyway mate. They were only £4.99 and should arrive tomorrow. In preperation I used some warm water and a sponge today and got a bit more of the crap off than I thought, so hopeful that the industrial wipes will clear the rest off.

Are there any meets in the N.E ?

 

[jboy01]

Not that i know of mate but maybe we should sort something out as theirs a few of us now.

 

[zedder]

I don´t think that any kind of cleaning will help, because problem is that leather´s original glossy surface is worn and broken and glue which was used to fastening it to plastic steering wheel comes thru. At least cleaning is not "permanent" solution.

What I did is this:I cleaned leather with solvent and sprayed it over with this:http://www.motipdupli.de/?L=2&id=1726. I did not even remove steering wheel, i just covered other surfaces around it.

Best solution is of course to get steering wheel re-upholstered, but I did not have time for that kind of thing.

 

[melinamotor]

Baby wipes the johnsons variety.

 

[Longyear]

Cheers all,

wipes came yesterday and did a great job.... it's about 80% removed now, but a 300% improvement on how it was!

 

[slayllian]

It will come back. Mines off to a place called dr vynal in the spring to have the wheel cleaned and re laqured, all for £50 but comes back good as new and will out last the car.

seemingly its caused by the coating coming off the wheel, and the more you clean it the worse it gets!

 

[pipcars]

I used the wifes nail polish remover! works a treat on the old gunky wheel, :grin:

 

[SPENSPUMA]

I tend to use leather cleaner wipes. Give it a good rigorous rub (ooeer) and it tends to come up really nice (more ooeer).

The trick I find is that you don't leave any moisture from the wipe on the wheel, just give it a good firm rub , then wipe it dry after with a microfibre cloth or similar.

The wheel always feels nice to touch after and is back to being smooth.