Hi All,

I have a slight problem with my steering wheel. Basically I appear to have a "touch allergy" towards it. Basically if I hold the steering wheel for any real amount of time my hands can start to itch. On one hand I have a very light rash.

Now if anyone remembers a certain Argos sofa issue from a couple of years ago, they will know that the problem was the anti-fungal treatment the leather went through. It was proving to be harmful to some people and causing in some cases extremely bad chemical type burns.

I'm not on that scale, however the rash can be painful so I've taken to driving around with gloves on. This has reduced the problem considerably, however there is still a little irritation going on and glvoe wearing in the summer months is not always practical.

And so to the point of this post. I have a retro-fitted MFSW on my car. Now as a little background I had a kidney transplant just over a year ago and am on anti-rejection drugs which lowers my immune system. So it's highly possible I'm only having this problem because my natural defenses cannot fight it.

It's also highly possible it's "only this steering wheel" or "steering wheels from this batch" that might cause me issues.

Now I've tried Skoda dispite the fact this was not fitted at the factory. Cutting extremely long stories short, Skoda quite believed that my manual petrol came with a MFSW as standard however they said warranty would simply never authorise a swap-out based on this issue. I cannot demonstrate a fault with the steering wheel and so it simply would not get replaced under warranty. It was a long-shot, a clutch at straws and was a little dishonest, but there, you cannot blame a guy for trying.

So it leaves me with 3 options:

1. I buy another MFSW and have that fitted. The most expensive option and one I'll leave to a last resort.

2. If it's an anti-fungal issue then surely I can counter that on the steering wheel. Any chemists here? Anyone with any idea what I might be able to treat my steering wheel with that might counter whatever chemicals are here?

3. I look for some kind of cover. Now all I've ever seen are "cheap and nasty" Halfords type covers. I want something that is still leather, that feels great and looks good too. I do not mind spenind a fair amount of cash on such an item if anyone sells top quality covers. Anyone know of any companies that do?

Cheers in advance for your input.

Did you have the same problem with the original wheel? was that also after your transplant?

I don't think there would be an issue with the wheel as they would have been made in the same factories. where did you get the wheel from?

I had the new steering wheel fitted just before my transplant and drove around for probably only 2-3 weeks with it before I was forced to stop driving due to operation and then recovery. Initially after I started driving again there was no problem. However at the time part of my medication was a quite high dose of steroids and one of the treatments for "touch allergy" is indeed steroids. So it's possible the medication I was on was also treating any issues from the steering wheel. I don't remember having any problems with the original wheel. The one I fitted came from skodateile.com and all indications are that it is a genuine part - it's certainly stamped up as one.

One option is to got ta your local upholstery shop and ask them to refurbish the steering wheel. My company has dealt with a similar issue (though, on a car seat) and we used artificial leather (sadly, so far I have found no genuine leather with same characteristics) designed for children toys and furniture. It contains no allergens nor poisons/chemicals. Your local refurb shop might have a sample of the material in stock - ask to play with it and see if you get the same reaction.

might be worth talking to your doctor about it, see if they can help

I did have a chat with my doctor and the only real option is to "avoid that which is causing you problems" :-)

What I was hoping to find was some way of cleaning the wheel so as to get rid of any left-over chemical, but so far no joy on that front.

I'll look into the idea of a refurb. Some "faux" leather can look really good, so as long as it keeps it's overall looks then it maybe the better option for me.

Ta