Is this steering wheel deteriorating or just really nasty? At which point do I stop scrubbing?

[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

I am currently working on a Dodge Caravan, and I am just curious to see at which point I should stop scrubbing the steering wheel. I scrubbed it with the Famous Detailing Brush as well as the green tooth brush.

Not much seems to come off with the Famous brush but quite a bit seems to come off with the green tooth brush. I am using Meguiar's APC 4:1.

The top of the steering wheel has deteriorated as you can see from the pictures so I will not be scrubbing much here but for the rest of the steering wheel I just want to be sure that I'm not removing any of the steering wheel material.



Any help you can provide will be much appreciated.

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[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Looks both to me,

Really grimy and also worn.

Sometimes the most you can do is all you can do.

 

[TTQ B4U]

Looks like both but also that the factory coating over it is what is starting to come off. I'm not a fan of strong pH APC's on interiors as they can and will do that. Especially on older vehicles.

 

[Desertnate]

Agree. I think age of the vehicle is a factor here too. Even if the wheel is becoming cleaner, the factory coating on the wheel is probably failing too. That's a 90's vintage minivan by the looks of the interior and the quality of those vehicles wasn't good when new!

 

[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

Looks both to me,

Really grimy and also worn.

Sometimes the most you can do is all you can do.

Thanks Mike. I spoke with the owner and we decided I'll just call it good where I'm at. I went ahead and rubbed the steering wheel down with some 303 Protectant as well just to see if that would help any. I got a little more off this way. I'll go back and buff it off here after a while.

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[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

Looks like both but also that the factory coating over it is what is starting to come off. I'm not a fan of strong pH APC's on interiors as they can and will do that. Especially on older vehicles.

Thanks. I try not to use them as well. I resorted to the stronger mixture this time because I thought it would get the grime off.

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[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

Agree. I think age of the vehicle is a factor here too. Even if the wheel is becoming cleaner, the factory coating on the wheel is probably failing too. That's a 90's vintage minivan by the looks of the interior and the quality of those vehicles wasn't good when new!

Thank you. Its a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan. I really appreciate your input and also its great to hear from some one who knows what the interiors were like when they were new.

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[Desertnate]

Thank you. Its a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan. I really appreciate your input and also its great to hear from some one who knows what the interiors were like when they were new.

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My parents still own TWO of those minivans in various trims from that generation. For a short period of time I owned a Dodge Stratus built around the same time period which used most of the same interior bits. Time is not their friend. Both of my parents vans have steering wheel covers on them for a reason!

 

[Mike Hoekstra]

I would agree with the concensus that it is both nasty and deteriorating. I had a steering wheel very similar on a detail a month ago. The build up was gross, and when I did get it "clean" it was deteriorated to some degree and not able to get it back to new.

 

[2black1s]

At least its not one of those synthetic steering wheels they used to use that would become sticky as they deteriorate and nothing I ever found would remove that stickiness.

 

[Rsurfer]

At least its not one of those synthetic steering wheels they used to use that would become sticky as they deteriorate and nothing I ever found would remove that stickiness.

Made like that so don't loose control.

 

[TrustJesus]

Mike is right on. It looks also faded to me, remember older cars have got beat from sun.

I remember when I got my Durango, I wanted to keep looking new. However after months and months I realize that it won’t stay new all the time.

Just stop when you feel it’s not coming off.

Heck if APC or a mild cleaner ain’t cleaning it then it’s faded at that point. Customer has to understand that


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[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

Mike is right on. It looks also faded to me, remember older cars have got beat from sun.

I remember when I got my Durango, I wanted to keep looking new. However after months and months I realize that it won’t stay new all the time.

Just stop when you feel it’s not coming off.

Heck if APC or a mild cleaner ain’t cleaning it then it’s faded at that point. Customer has to understand that


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Thanks man. I appreciate your input and advice! I will try to work on it some more tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.



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[Eldorado2k]

I am using Meguiar's APC 4:1.
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Too strong.
Also, that looks like the dye, not the dirt.

What I usually do when I run into a steering wheel like that is take a break from cleaning it and come back to it. Give the material some time to recover, and you’ll get a better sense of where it’s at.

 

[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

Too strong.
Also, that looks like the dye, not the dirt.

What I usually do when I run into a steering wheel like that is take a break from cleaning it and come back to it. Give the material some time to recover, and you’ll get a better sense of where it’s at.

Thanks brother! I appreciate your help and advice!

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