Autocosmetics: delicate skin. Effective car leather care products How to clean a leather steering wheel

An article on how to properly care for the steering wheel of a car. Important Rules steering wheel maintenance. At the end of the article - a video about car steering wheel skin care.

The content of the article:

The steering wheel, which from time immemorial has been dubbed the “steering wheel” by the people, can be called with full confidence the most “communicative” part of the car interior. And this is not surprising: wherever we go, the steering wheel is constantly in our hands. And this means that the surface of the steering wheel is more prone to contamination than other interior elements.

Why take care of your steering wheel?

At first glance, this seems like a trifle, but, nevertheless, your mood while driving a car, and, therefore, your safety, may depend on the cleanliness of the steering wheel.

In addition, from various kinds of contamination of the surface of the steering wheel, for example, from dust, some drivers may experience an allergy attack, which risks turning into big troubles on the road.

The conclusion suggests itself - the steering wheel needs careful care.

Places of the greatest pollution

Plastic "donuts" are most often contaminated where the steering wheel comes into contact with the driver's hands. If the steering wheel is represented as a clock face, then the hands are mainly squeezing those places where the numbers three and nine should be. It is in this position that it is recommended to keep the steering wheel in a driving school.

If the steering wheel is covered with leather or suede, it tends to collect a lot more dust, which is packed into the relief irregularities of the coating.

Cleaning the steering wheel from dirt is not so difficult. But at the same time, do not think that it is enough just to wipe the steering wheel with a napkin - and the job is done. Of course no. And timely washing of hands before the trip will not solve the problem either, because the steering wheel will still get dirty due to sweat and micro-dust contained in the air.

This all suggests that, no matter how accessible the steering wheel cleaning process is, in any case it represents a certain sequence of actions that it is desirable to perform.

Steering wheel cleaning

Before the cleaning procedure, pay attention to the material from which the steering wheel is made. This is necessary in order to determine the cleaning agents.

These types of preparations have different purposes and are used to clean steering wheels made of leather, plastic and vinyl.

And for those who do not want to visit specialized stores and spend money on detergents, we can advise you to make your own product by diluting the shampoo for washing the car body with warm water. At the same time, it is important to observe the necessary proportions: if the solution is too saturated, it will be very difficult to remove it completely from the steering wheel, which means that the steering wheel will become sticky and dirty very quickly.

As additional equipment, a spray bottle, a toothbrush and soft rags will not interfere. With these devices it will be easy to clean the steering wheel in hard-to-reach places.

Start spraying evenly detergent on the "steering wheel" of the car. After spraying, pause for a few minutes - the solution should dissolve the dirt. Then wipe the steering wheel with a soft, dry cloth.

If the result is not effective enough, this procedure can be repeated, and in addition, treat hard-to-reach places with a toothbrush, and then wipe dry again.

Leather steering wheel care

Leather is a fairly durable material, but it also has a lifespan that can be extended if properly cared for. Until recently, a leather steering wheel in a car was a luxury item, but now it has become available to all motorists, which is why its popularity has not diminished at all.

A leather steering wheel looks prettier than, for example, a plastic steering wheel without a shell. However, daily contact with the driver's hands can affect a leather steering wheel just as negatively as a plastic one. Over time, the leather on the steering wheel becomes brittle, cracks appear, the paint fades and wears off.

To prevent this, it is necessary to use special skin preparations that will cleanse and moisturize. Such products always contain special filters that protect the skin from premature fading.

If the leather on the steering wheel is cracked

With such a nuisance, you have no choice but to replace the leather covering on the steering wheel. There are two options to consider here:

1. Contact a special workshop where professionals will successfully cope with this task. The main advantages of this option are efficiency and quality.
2. Making a steering wheel cover with my own hands. To do this, you can use a cover or purchase a special kit in a special store, designed specifically for your car model. For greater reliability, we advise you to buy a set - it will ideally fit your steering wheel.

Prompt response

If cracks are found on the steering wheel, you need to respond quickly. If these cracks are minor, it will be easy for you to return the leather steering wheel to its original appearance.

And here you may have a choice problem: either paint the steering wheel, or perform minor repairs on it. Basically, big difference will not, but at the same time, it is precisely those nuances that will arise only in your case that should influence your choice. When deciding to paint the steering wheel, try to choose the paint that best matches your steering wheel in color.

And if you still choose a minor repair, use only smooth skin for this purpose.

Before starting the restoration procedures, do not forget to carry out the necessary preparation: the steering wheel should be washed and degreased with gasoline.

Both painting and repair can be done in two ways. The first way is to perform all the necessary measures for caring for the steering wheel directly in the car. At the same time, do not forget to protect other interior elements with film and masking tapes.

The second way is to dismantle the steering wheel and then repair it. In this case, when you remove the steering wheel, be sure to disconnect the battery. This is necessary so that the battery does not signal an airbag error.

By following the simple rules we have listed, you will constantly keep your steering wheel in excellent condition, which is important for car operation.

If a stain on a seat or door upholstery can still somehow be tolerated, then a sticky steering wheel can drive you crazy in a matter of minutes. Lovers of chewing on the go know this especially well: when your hand keeps reaching into a bag of chips, it is difficult for the steering wheel to remain unstained. And if you were fumbling under the hood without gloves, the chances of keeping the steering wheel clean are almost zero.

The usual wet cleaning here, unfortunately, "does not roll." No skin - from natural to leatherette - does not like water. If you want, for example, to spoil brand new gloves - play snowballs in them or roll up a snowman. It’s not worth the risk, especially since there are a lot of special cleaning compounds. For our test, we selected eight, including napkins for 25 rubles. Most expensive remedy while it cost 390 rubles.

After treatment, the surface becomes slightly sticky, and this applies to all preparations without exception. Not a single one worked perfectly, - however, there are no frankly failed ones either. As for the podium, we divided all the participants into three conditional groups. The first included those who managed to remove all the pollution, the second coped only with the job easier, the third turned out to be others. Of course, the talents of the proven tools are not limited to the steering wheel: they are suitable for both leather upholstery and, say, for ladies' handbags.

IN PLACES

6th–8th place

Skin cleaner

390 rubles, 500 g

The foam composition is slow. We'll have to wait until it flares up and begins to act. It copes with light dirt, but not with old ones. The expiration date and release date are indicated on the package. The tool is unreasonably expensive.

6th–8th place

Tanner's Preserve,

USA leather cleaner

Tanner's Preserve

220 rub., 221 ml The leather cleaner removes fresh light dirt, and gives in to old ones. Note the pungent odor that provokes sneezing. There is no instruction in Russian. Expiration date and release date not specified.

6th–8th place

Tanner's Preserve,

USA leather conditioning cream

Tanner's Preserve

220 rub., 221 ml Cream-conditioner in its capabilities resembles a cleaner of the same company, differing in a less pungent odor. Removes fresh dirt, old ones are worse. There is no release date or expiration date. There is also no instruction in Russian.

3rd–5th placeGermany Skin care product

360 rubles, 250 ml It rubs well and does not leave streaks. It cleans light dirt, but it does not cope with old, stubborn dirt. Nice smell, convenient to apply. Instructions are too small. According to the labeling, it is not clear when the composition was made.

3rd–5th place

Turtle Wax,

USA, UK Leather cleaner and conditioner

260 rubles, 500 ml Easy to apply. The smell is neutral. The tool copes well with fresh light dirt, which cannot be said about old, stubborn ones. Before rubbing, you need to wait a long time, it takes a lot of effort. The expiration date and release date are indicated on the package.

3rd–5th placeRussia Leather cleaner with conditioner

390 rubles, 500 g The foam composition is slow. We'll have to wait until it flares up and begins to act. It copes with light dirt, but not with old ones. The expiration date and release date are indicated on the package. The tool is unreasonably expensive.

It is no secret that any car needs not only regular technical inspection, but also timely washing of the body and its elements, as well as cleaning the interior and its components. It is noteworthy that, to some extent, the owners of private cars are helped by traffic police officers to monitor the cleanliness of the body, who can issue a fine, say, for dirty numbers, then car owners have to monitor the cleanliness of the interior on their own. Some motorists are distinguished by accuracy and cleanliness, while others from time to time may be interested in answers to such, one might say elementary questions, regarding, for example, cleaning the steering wheel.

How often should you wash your steering wheel?

How to clean the steering wheel?

The steering wheel is the subject of the cabin, on which the driver's hands are constantly, of course, this leads to its pollution. The easiest way is to put the steering wheel in perfect order without a braid, plastic, as you know, is perfectly washed with a sponge dipped in the most common soap and water solution, after which it is wiped dry with a special tissue paper, or with a rag. Things are a little more complicated with cleaning the steering wheel, covered with natural or artificial leather. Since the leather braid is increasingly beginning to be found in factory-equipped cars, and is also popular with drivers, it is worth talking about how to clean the “leather” steering wheel separately and in a little more detail.

What tools to use when cleaning the steering wheel

The subtleties of cleaning the steering wheel with leather braid

Of course, a leather steering wheel requires a more careful approach to personal care and cleaning, optimal solution such a task can be special detergents and cleaners for the skin, which are used in their work by specialists of car washes and car services. Such tools cause no harm to either the steering wheel or its leather sheath, and will perfectly cope with the task, and not only rid the steering wheel of various kinds of pollution, but also from harmful bacteria, which naturally accumulate over time on a leather steering wheel.

How to care for and clean your steering wheel

You can buy such special cleaning products at any automotive store, and on the packaging of such products you can find out exactly how to use them in order to properly clean the surface of the leather steering wheel and not harm the leather braid itself.

How often should you clean your steering wheel?

Regular cleaning of the steering wheel should become a useful habit for every car owner, since driving a car with a frankly dirty steering wheel is clearly not the most pleasant experience. In addition, a dirty, sticky or oily steering wheel can cause dangerous situations while driving on the road. If it is desirable to wipe the plastic steering wheel every time the car body is washed, then it is recommended to clean the leather steering wheel at least once a year. Finding out when the leather steering wheel needs cleaning is quite simple, at the moment when the driver’s hands felt that the leather braid has become stiff and unpleasant to hold hands on it, although the leather steering wheel is clearly not worth running to such a state.

Every driver sooner or later has to deal with such a problem as the wear of the steering wheel surface and the loss of the original appearance of the material, especially if this material is leather. A reasonable solution in this case may be the restoration of the steering wheel in a specialized workshop. But what if you do not want to overpay for such services and would like to know how to clean and paint a leather steering wheel with your own hands in order to carry out restoration work in your own garage? This approach to resolving the issue is perhaps more rational, and its implementation is available to every motorist. You just need to have free time, read this article and prepare everything you need for work.

No matter how clean your steering wheel covers are, they will still need to be cleaned over time. Prolonging the life of the leather surface, as well as delaying the need for its restoration and painting, can be done with proper care and timely removal of contaminants. And yet, sooner or later, the number of scuffs and scratches will increase so much that drastic restoration measures will become the only right decision. About what care should be and how to restore the previous appearance of the steering wheel with your own hands, we will describe in more detail below.

Proper care of leather steering wheel

Have you noticed at some point that the steering wheel of your car has lost its appearance, which is why the driving process has become not so pleasant? In this case, appropriate measures must be taken. For example, you can return the surface of the steering wheel to its former state and maintain it in this form through proper and timely care.

If the leather covering is very well preserved, but its appearance has suffered somewhat, then in the process of its restoration, you can limit yourself to using special cleaning compounds. Recognizing when buying in a car cosmetics store is quite simple: the package usually says “skin cleaner” (or something similar) and instructions on how to clean the leather steering wheel from dirt with it. And you may also need a toothbrush and a clean, soft cloth.

Most leather steering wheel cleaners have similar properties, so the following checklist can be used as a one-stop guide:

1. First, spray the product onto the surface to be treated.
2. Wait a few minutes - during this time the liquid will dissolve the dirt.
3. Now you should wipe the surface with a cloth and spray the product again.
4. Next, with a toothbrush, you need to clean all hard-to-reach places from dirt.
5. Finally, dry the steering wheel with a clean cloth.

After cleaning, it is desirable to treat the coating with a special impregnation and conditioner. The first remedy prevents the destruction of the skin under the influence of sweat, dirt and other aggressive factors, and the second ensures the elasticity of the material for a long time. Although you can purchase a cleaning compound that contains the necessary protective components.

For those car owners who are not ready to once again spend money on buying cleaning products in the store, preparing the composition with their own hands will be a good alternative. For this, warm water and car wash shampoo dissolved in it are suitable as ingredients. Just be sure not to add too much shampoo, so that after treatment the surface of the steering wheel does not become sticky. Such a solution should be used in the same way as how to care for a leather steering wheel using store products.

During normal maintenance, it is not necessary to remove the steering wheel. It is only necessary to prevent liquid from getting on the spokes, steering wheel buttons and dashboard. For protection, use a plastic film, securing it with adhesive tape.

Restoration of a leather steering wheel by painting

Properly caring for, you will significantly extend its service life. But even in this case, scuffs and small scratches appear on the surface over time, which do not in the best way affect appearance steering wheel and, as a result, the aesthetics of the interior of the car as a whole. Therefore, drivers quite reasonably ask themselves the question: how to restore a leather steering wheel with their own hands, if the usual preventive measures are not enough? This will be discussed further.

Painting a leather steering wheel can also be done at home - there is nothing super complicated here. You just need to select the appropriate materials and follow the recommendations. By the way, if you do not want to dismantle your steering wheel during the restoration, all procedures can be carried out right on the spot. Just take care to protect the instrument panel from paint ingress. And yet it is much more convenient to work with the steering wheel removed, plus the result will be better.

Preparing for painting

Before, you need to prepare the surface. To do this, you will have to buy a kit in a specialized store designed for restoration. leather goods. If there is no such set, you can purchase each component separately, and what to do with it and how to clean the leather steering wheel of a car, we will tell further.

So in the process preparatory work you will need:

• polish-restorer;
• leather cleaner (white spirit or gasoline "Kalosha");
• several types of sandpaper with different grits: 400, 600, 1000 and 1200 units;
• putty for the skin ("liquid" skin);

Surface restoration begins with sanding to remove dirt, grease and old paint residues. In addition, in this way you will improve the adhesion of fresh coloring composition. First, use P400 or P600 sandpaper to remove the top layer of paint. After that, the skin must be sanded using fine-grained sandpaper (P1000 or P1200).

The next step is puttying. To do this, many specialists and car enthusiasts prefer to use "liquid" skin, although you can hide dents and scratches with a special putty, buying it anywhere where auto cosmetics are sold. Very small flaws are hidden with the help of a restorer polish. After the treatment of the damaged areas is completed, wait 20 minutes and sand the surface where the restorative composition was applied.

Then you need to degrease the surface with white spirit (or other cleaning agent), but keep in mind that after sanding, the skin begins to intensively absorb any cleaning compound. Therefore, wipe the steering wheel with a clean cloth. The final stage of preparation is the protection of the spokes of the steering wheel and the buttons located on it from the ingress of paint particles, using the same plastic film and adhesive tape. Now you can proceed directly to the painting work.

Painting leather steering wheel

Before you paint a leather steering wheel with your own hands, you should decide on the type of paint used. What composition is best? According to experts, it is advisable to use a water-based paint designed for leather - it is suitable for all leather surfaces. For painting one steering wheel, as a rule, no more than 20–30 grams of prepared paint is consumed. As for the shade, it can be selected by mixing different colors.

You can apply paint to the leather covering with a foam swab. But if you have an airbrush, then its use is more preferable, since in this case the paint will lay down in an even layer and be more economical. It is better to put 2-3 layers of paint, and you should not wait until the previous layer dries - apply the next one immediately. This method of painting is called "wet" and allows you to control the process of absorption of paint into the skin. Upon completion of the painting work, it will be useful to apply a layer of varnish, which will ensure the safety of the surface of the leather steering wheel for much longer.

The approximate time that will have to be spent on the restoration of the steering wheel of your car is about 5-6 hours. Despite the fact that the work is simple, do not rush, and be careful when performing each step. And it is also better not to save on high-quality paint and a good restoration kit.

Like many elements of the car interior, the steering wheel gets dirty over time, it can become more slippery or sticky, but not every driver knows how to care for the steering wheel and how to clean it properly, so in this article we will consider these issues in more detail, while For different types car steering wheels.

Leather steering wheel cleaning

A leather steering wheel is more demanding for care and cleaning, so many car service specialists recommend using special cleaners and conditioners to clean a leather steering wheel, which are designed according to the recommendations and requirements of manufacturers and will not harm the skin.

When using various special means to clean a leather steering wheel, first of all, carefully read the instructions on the package, as some products may have a different cleaning process and may have their own warnings.

Cleaning a leather steering wheel usually takes place in several stages:

1. Prepare soft clean rags, cleaning agent and special conditioner (if not included in the cleaning agent).
2. With a cloth moistened with a cleaning agent, gently clean the leather steering wheel from all sides. In places with seams, you can use a soft old toothbrush.
3. After cleaning the steering wheel, wipe it with a clean, dry cloth and apply a special conditioner, which will further protect the skin on the steering wheel from drying out and extend the life of the coating.

Many car owners often wash and clean the leather steering wheel with soapy water and a rag, or wet wipes, which at first glance do a good job of cleaning, but do not forget that over time, such cleanings will ruin the leather on the steering wheel and shorten its life.

Care and cleaning of the steering wheel made of artificial leather or plastic

Steering wheel cleaning faux leather as well as steering wheels made of hard plastic is quite often carried out using ordinary soapy water and clean rags.

The process of cleaning the steering wheel in this case is simple and does not require special knowledge and special tools. With a clean cloth dipped in soapy water, carefully wipe the steering wheel and clean all dirt, then wipe the steering wheel with a dry cloth.

How often should you clean your steering wheel and how do you know when it's time to clean your steering wheel?

The steering wheel must be cleaned when you already clearly notice and feel that it has become dirty, sticky or slippery, a coating has appeared. It would seem elementary things, but often the driver simply does not pay attention to it.

A leather steering wheel can become dry to the touch over time, which indicates that the leather on the steering wheel needs to be moistened and treated with a special conditioner. This procedure is recommended to be carried out at least once a year.

In conclusion, it can be noted that proper care and steering wheel cleaning are simple but important car care procedures for every car owner. Not often, but there are situations when the steering wheel is not cleaned for a long time and it becomes slippery, which can lead to an accident if it slips out of your hands at the most inopportune moment. Their helpful tips and reviews on how best to clean the steering wheel in a car leave in the comments to this article and share it in in social networks if it was helpful to you.