Actual cure for a sticky leather steering wheel?

Eldorado2k

Eldorado2k

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Some guy is complaining that his steering wheel has become sticky and the leather now feels like rubber… Button part is all gummy & sticky too. You know what Im talking about. Is there a real cure for this? What have you done to remedy this situation?

51b95d98f7fcc60391240d77318c3d17.jpg
 
I dunno about the steering wheel....but if the button is sticky, *new steering wheel * is the easy fix and one I would opt for.

Since you have rubber rot....I presume the steering wheel in itself is past due...
 
chefwong said:
I dunno about the steering wheel....but if the button is sticky, *new steering wheel * is the easy fix and one I would opt for.

Since you have rubber rot....I presume the steering wheel in itself is past due...
Click to expand...

Yea only the leather part, the wood part is ok. Rubber rot? 1st time I’ve heard that term. Any ideas on what causes that to happen in some cases? Could it have been maybe somebody tried cleaning with alcohol? There has to be something that causes this.
 
I know the rubber can get sticky, but if the leather is sticky it's got some gunk on it, no?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I know the rubber can get sticky, but if the leather is sticky it's got some gunk on it, no?
Click to expand...

It’s hard to completely tell from the picture. It’s also hard to remember if I’ve dealt with the actual leather part being sticky but I’m kinda thinking it is possible and if so it’s not your normal gunk. It’s like alien melted gunk.
 
Eldorado2k said:
Yea only the leather part, the wood part is ok. Rubber rot? 1st time I’ve heard that term. Any ideas on what causes that to happen in some cases? Could it have been maybe somebody tried cleaning with alcohol? There has to be something that causes this.
Click to expand...


I don't have the exact #### on this but for it just happens over time.
Something like this exists....no idea how it works long term.
Once it rots, IME, there is no fix

Rubber Renue 408A
 
Eldorado2k said:
It’s hard to completely tell from the picture. It’s also hard to remember if I’ve dealt with the actual leather part being sticky but I’m kinda thinking it is possible and if so it’s not your normal gunk. It’s like alien melted gunk.
Click to expand...

Those skin oils can do strange things.

chefwong said:
I don't have the exact #### on this but for it just happens over time.
Something like this exists....no idea how it works long term.
Click to expand...

And then there's that...there are definitely materials that just break down over time, no matter what you do.
 
The built up hand crud that eventually makes it super tacky, I use a stiffer brush and an apc. I use BH Surfex. Takes forever! Then on the sticky buttons I use alcohol and an air compressor to shoot the alcohol down to the base. Then keep clicking the buttons. Repeat till they start to free. I'm only speaking from wheels I've down that were bad but not horrible.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I know the rubber can get sticky, but if the leather is sticky it's got some gunk on it, no?
Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking too. Depending on the top layer of the leather, a long accumulation of sweat, skin oils, sunscreen, bug spray, etc, could lead to the wheel feeling sticky. I keep my wheel very clean, but even after a single autocross race weekend, it gets grimy and feels a little sticky.

People really seem to underestimate how much gunk will build up on a steering wheel over time. What may think is material failure is very often just years of accumulated grime.
 
I once detailed a Camry that had this situation happen all across the dashboard. This specific situation isn’t something that’s caused by your hands being dirty, but more like something went wrong with the vinyl/rubber the manufacturer used. I think I’ve heard it called vulcanization or something.

I’ve actually started causing this to happen once on the steering wheel buttons of a Mercury Maurader after using APC to clean it. It’s like it was too strong for it and they started to deteriorate and get sticky.
 
In terms of things getting sticky, I saw the dashboard control buttons on a 2005 Mercedes get this way. Must be due to a reaction from the hot environment here over the years.

One of the buttons like this on my A4 shriveled and cracked. Thankfully it is just this one button. Could be just how the material it is made out of reacts.
 
Toyota extended a 10 year warranty for dashboards that went "gummy". A neighbor has one 20 years old with a nasty dash cover.
 
Had that on my 99 Suburban steering wheel.

The only fix is to replace it.

Here’s a pic comparing the two

835296d79823465e28d4cd225a490192.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Some people say isopropyl alcohol works.
I believe I’ve also heard makeup remover can help and possibly nail polish remover.

Last time I had to deal with it I tried Rapid Remover and was surprised it had little effect on it.
 
Eric7810 said:
Had that on my 99 Suburban steering wheel.

The only fix is to replace it.

Here’s a pic comparing the two

835296d79823465e28d4cd225a490192.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I’m curious, how much does it cost to replace a steering wheel?
 
It’s a classic suburban and I found a mint steering wheel on eBay for 400. Think I paid 150 to have it installed?


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