How Agressive can I get with a scrub Ninja - Best Advice for Steering Wheels

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chefwong

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I have a clean steering wheel - fairly well maintained from new . It's just not matte black but it's a satin black---PATINA......
I suppose hand oils are in-evitable even after cleaning.
After a stronger cleaner, it does feel more -matte- and does look a bit more flat black but that only seems to last for a hot minute

Primarily use Interior Cleaner on it and have tried LM Strong Cleaner and it didn't appear to make that much of a difference.....
Maybe it is as good as it will get.....and I did use my Scrub Ninja once - light pass as in my mind, I am very minu-tia-ely micro-abrading it.
Maybe I'm leaning too much on the less aggressive side too much

Does anyone have a special technique to get a steering wheel back to bone stock clean.....
As I get older, I'm a bit more conscientious about how I spend things, but I might do my usual route of buying a brand new one and flipping the slightly used forsale.
Ha, it's the OCD
 
Last edited:
chefwong said:
I have a clean steering wheel - fairly well maintained from new . It's just not matte black but it's a satin black---PATINA......
I suppose hand oils are in-evitable even after cleaning.
After a stronger cleaner, it does feel more -matte- and does look a bit more flat black but that only seems to last for a hot minute

Primarily use Interior Cleaner on it and have tried LM Strong Cleaner and it didn't appear to make that much of a difference.....
Maybe it is as good as it will get.....and I did use my Scrub Ninja once - light pass as in my mind, I am very minu-tia-ely micro-abrading it.
Maybe I'm leaning too much on the less aggressive side too much

Does anyone have a special technique to get a steering wheel back to bone stock clean.....
As I get older, I'm a bit more conscientious about how I spend things, but I might do my usual route of buying a brand new one and flipping the slightly used forsale.
Ha, it's the OCD
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Are you a smoker?

My father's steering wheel is permanently glossy, it's been abraded over several years and the nicotine from his hands has caused a sticky residue. Over the years, I've tried multiple different products and tools, from a mild alkaline interior cleaner, strong leather cleaner from ColourLock, even APC, teamed with either a scrub pad, medium stiffness leather brush or the TRC VLB. None have removed that sticky/shiny appearance. In fact, I'm now at the point where I'm removing the black dye. Do I continue hammering down on it, removing more and more dye, in turn make it look worse and worse? Or just mildly clean it and move on?

So yes, you can go too far.
 
DFB said:
Are you a smoker?

My father's steering wheel is permanently glossy, it's been abraded over several years and the nicotine from his hands has caused a sticky residue. Over the years, I've tried multiple different products and tools, from a mild alkaline interior cleaner, strong leather cleaner from ColourLock, even APC, teamed with either a scrub pad, medium stiffness leather brush or the TRC VLB. None have removed that sticky/shiny appearance. In fact, I'm now at the point where I'm removing the black dye. Do I continue hammering down on it, removing more and more dye, in turn make it look worse and worse? Or just mildly clean it and move on?

So yes, you can go too far.
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Put a steering wheel cover on that one, get him one of the fat RM Williams leather ones, less than $30 normally, and replace it every year.
 
Nah on smoke. It's not glossy but just has a slight sheen-satin-eggshell too it.

I would **love** to get it to 0 odometer grey flat black.
Have used the Scrub Ninja once on this steering wheel with LM Strong Leather Cleaner. Scrub Ninja was not scouring the surface....I just lightly scrubbed it as I still have reservations on whether is is abrading it on a micro level.
 
Bri26 said:
I know some like the scrub ninja but I think it's too abrasive for most situations.
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That’s where I come done. I’d rather have some gloss than ruin a steering wheel. That said I use a multi step cleaning process so,d by Ron Keough (leather doctor) test I’ve always had great results with.
 
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Scrub ninja with very light pressure and P&S express mixed 50/50.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The perception of clean to all can vary....I suppose. Just short of rentals when traveling.......I'm generally in our own cars and don't see the interiors much of -others-. However, a year back when one of my neighbors husband was away in the hospital, she had asked me to help shuffle a few of his cars.....and that's when it sorta reminded me, when the discussion of how cleaning is being discussed or the effectiveness.....some of this is from pro's seeing interiors of what I was seeing and even a 10% reduction in dirt is pretty much noticable whereas for others, who spend time yakking up auto detailing, we may be chasing that's 1%
 
My steering wheel can get pretty gross. Not from daily use, but because at least once/twice a month from March through October I spend a weekend doing autocross. Throughout one of those events my hands get covered in sunscreen, dirt and grime from checking tires, and plenty of sweat on the warm days.

After each event I'll hit my steering wheel with Poorboys World APC mixed to the normal ratio and a MF towel. I'll follow up with a leather AIO to dress/condition/protect the wheel surface. When it isn't race season, my normal interior detail spray usually keeps it clean and I only do the APC and leather AIO routine every couple of months.

My wife's car however... She drives constantly all day long as she hops between work locations, eats on the go, and uses hand loation. The wheel in her car gets pretty bad really quick. For her car I do the same APC/leather AIO routine, but far more frequently and all year long. I really should invest in a Scrub Ninja to make work on her car a little easier.
 
Desertnate said:
My steering wheel can get pretty gross. Not from daily use, but because at least once/twice a month from March through October I spend a weekend doing autocross. Throughout one of those events my hands get covered in sunscreen, dirt and grime from checking tires, and plenty of sweat on the warm days.

After each event I'll hit my steering wheel with Poorboys World APC mixed to the normal ratio and a MF towel. I'll follow up with a leather AIO to dress/condition/protect the wheel surface. When it isn't race season, my normal interior detail spray usually keeps it clean and I only do the APC and leather AIO routine every couple of months.

My wife's car however... She drives constantly all day long as she hops between work locations, eats on the go, and uses hand loation. The wheel in her car gets pretty bad really quick. For her car I do the same APC/leather AIO routine, but far more frequently and all year long. I really should invest in a Scrub Ninja to make work on her car a little easier.
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I'm sure you have your reasons but once I really got into it I always wore gloves while auto-xing (HS) or doing HPDE's. Primary reason for them was safety, of course, but now that I'm reading this I realize there was also a side benefit!
 
Karl_in_Chicago said:
I'm sure you have your reasons but once I really got into it I always wore gloves while auto-xing (HS) or doing HPDE's. Primary reason for them was safety, of course, but now that I'm reading this I realize there was also a side benefit!
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention this. I was looking at gloves right before the event and one of our sponsors had a trailer set up with some products from his store. The gloves on display all had suede on the grip surface, so I was afraid that would be rather slippery on a leather wheel vs the alcantera wheels they were probably designed for. I'm looking at other alternatives like military flight gloves to improve my grip when it's hot and my hands get really sweaty.
 
Desertnate said:
Funny you should mention this. I was looking at gloves right before the event and one of our sponsors had a trailer set up with some products from his store. The gloves on display all had suede on the grip surface, so I was afraid that would be rather slippery on a leather wheel vs the alcantera wheels they were probably designed for. I'm looking at other alternatives like military flight gloves to improve my grip when it's hot and my hands get really sweaty.
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I've wondered how golf gloves would work as driving gloves. They are meant to provide enhanced grip, but on rubber grips.
 
Big Dave said:
I've wondered how golf gloves would work as driving gloves. They are meant to provide enhanced grip, but on rubber grips.
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I've seen them recommended from drivers in the autox scene because they are grippy (like you say), cheap and easy to get. However, they do acknowledge golf gloves don't hold up very well in a competitive environment with all the grime and being frequently taken on/off. They aren't good for HPDE's due to the lack of fire resistance.
 
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