The Fabia VRS I have just acquired used to be a smokers car. The steering wheel in particular was very shiny and a little sticky- not pleasant at all.

I found the following article and thought if it's good enough for this chap's E46, it's good enough for my Fabia:

Steering Wheel cleaning guide

Whilst obviously not something you would do on a regular basis due to the abrasion, for a one off clean it worked wonders on my wheel- I could literally find where I had missed by just sliding my hands around the wheel a bit like the difference between sanded and varnished wood.

I hope this prove useful to others,

DC

Edited 3 April, 201115 yr by Chutney

I did this tonight and it brought the wheel, gear knob and hand brake back like new.

Do go easy though. Lightly does it

I have bought some magic eraser things from eBay and going to try this week too. Will report back when done!

Sounds optimistic though!

After the drive to work this morning it seems like it could go shiny again pretty quickly but I suppose there's nothing to stop me from repeating the process every few months. As long as you don't overdo it you shouldn't damage the leather.

It also didn't help that I got Millers on my hands at the garage this morning and that stuff is toxic, despite rubbing my hands with baby wipes and paper towels it still left two slightly shiny patches on the wheel.

Even now after washing my hands a few times I can still smell it.

Edited 10 August, 201114 yr by Petardo

Managed to find 15 mins to sort my steering wheel tonight. A good success considering the magic eraser thing only cost me £1.99 on eBay. Result is in the pics - might not be too clear on some as was quite bright out!

Bottom Right done

Left not done - bottom done

Left not done

Right done

Water after!

how did you post the pictures? I can't seem to do it

Just hit reply then add attachments.

how did you post the pictures? I can't seem to do it

Need to be a freedom member to attach.

You will need to use photoshop or something.

APC and a MF cloth works well too

here's my wheel after cleaning. That's a wheel that has 126k miles on it and it looks like new!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66275120@N07/6034315519/

Looks good!

Mine is still a bit slippy though even after cleaning which is a bit annoying.

results look good, quite looking forward to seeing the difference in mine as mine is super shiny, infacts its soo shiny i thought that was the way the material was suppose to be. will get photos when i clean it up

safe to say im soo impressed that im not even going to change the wheel now, honestly its like new. no shinyness. well chuffed!! best £1.99 ive spent.

Great stuff - did you get teh eBay ones? Great value!

Let me know how yours gets in a day or 2. Mine is still a little slippy like it was when shiney. But still looks cleaner.

Great stuff - did you get teh eBay ones? Great value!

Let me know how yours gets in a day or 2. Mine is still a little slippy like it was when shiney. But still looks cleaner.

oh well im hoping it will last but we will see. but for £2 yeah off ebay....i wont mind buying them ever 2-3 months or so. and do it again. takes 5 mins, just gotta watch i tried it on that cheap wheel i bought and it rubbed the leather off it. i wasnt caring as it was cheap just wanted to see to what extent of damage these sponges could do....i wonder whats in then because there pretty powerfull.

linky to the ones i got >>>>>>>> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260825441679&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2700wt_905

the bits of the wheel that you touch will definitely go shiny again pretty quickly but with it being so easy to clean it's no bother at all

Must be the best baragin diy fix imo

I did the wife's scenic too and had similar results but then I tried to use the magic sponge to change the Scenic into a CR-V and unfortunatley it didn't work

they are made of melamine foam which is actually very abraisive stuff when wet, the magic is that they feel so soft, you could definitely do some damage with them

oh well im hoping it will last but we will see. but for £2 yeah off ebay....i wont mind buying them ever 2-3 months or so. and do it again. takes 5 mins, just gotta watch i tried it on that cheap wheel i bought and it rubbed the leather off it. i wasnt caring as it was cheap just wanted to see to what extent of damage these sponges could do....i wonder whats in then because there pretty powerfull.

linky to the ones i got >>>>>>>> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260825441679&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2700wt_905

Yeah thats the ones I got too - not bad for the price as you say!

they are made of melamine foam which is actually very abraisive stuff when wet, the magic is that they feel so soft, you could definitely do some damage with them

Is your wheel a bit slippy or ok?

Yeah thats the ones I got too - not bad for the price as you say!

Is your wheel a bit slippy or ok?

It's just like a new wheel, so matt leather (not shiny) and it's not really grippy but then again I've driven brand new cars with brand new leather steering wheels and they arent that grippy/sticky either. You could always wear some leather driving gloves like Alan Partridge if you fancy it? ;-)

How are your steering wheels doing now after a few days?

How are your steering wheels doing now after a few days?

Mine's still all new looking, it's lasting really well.

Now all I have to do is sort out my faded spoiler, stone chips, polish and wax it, sort out the ride height, upgrade the brakes, get my a/c sorted and tart up my wheels :-)

Edited 18 August, 201114 yr by Petardo

Just reading this and debating trying ti on my MX5 which currently has 16 years of crud on it. My only issue is whether it will lift off the finish as there are a couple of nicks and bald patches in the finish of the leather that have appeared over the years (caused by my wifes engagement ring I think). Anybody any experience?

Also has anyone come across anything that will 're-finish' a leather wheel? If not then I may end up with a wheelskin.

Just reading this and debating trying ti on my MX5 which currently has 16 years of crud on it. My only issue is whether it will lift off the finish as there are a couple of nicks and bald patches in the finish of the leather that have appeared over the years (caused by my wifes engagement ring I think). Anybody any experience?

Liquid leather, there's a thread on here about a guy that redone a BMW wheel and it came up like new.

Also has anyone come across anything that will 're-finish' a leather wheel? If not then I may end up with a wheelskin.

Mine's still all new looking, it's lasting really well.

Now all I have to do is sort out my faded spoiler, stone chips, polish and wax it, sort out the ride height, upgrade the brakes, get my a/c sorted and tart up my wheels :-)

Hmm - mine has gone a bit shiny again. No where near as bad mind you. Wonder if it will damage it if I do it again soon?