Possible Damage to Steering Wheel using Steam

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Tempest

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Hi Guys,


I've been searching around for another thread for my situation, but cannot find one with my exact problem:
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The car:

  • 2014 Silverado 2500HD
  • Work Truck
  • Getting ready for trade in

The Detailer:
  • Weekend warrior
  • Junior but learning
  • Always do my best to educate myself and do a good, safe job when detailing.

-----------

After detailing most of it for my brother by hand (I have a DA, but up until yesterday I didn't have a steam cleaner), I decided to try my new Dupray ONE steamer out on a few things. I've read a fair amount to educate myself about steam, but I think I may have damaged the steering wheel :cry:.

I will get some pictures tonight, but in the meantime:


  • At the 12 o'clock position (on the front of the wheel) it feels rough and almost 'raised', and the rest of the wheel is smooth. Now, I'm sure the rest of the wheel is dirty (being so slick) but I'm wondering if I've essentially melted the top of the wheel, or if this is simply grime coming out of the wheel?
  • I didn't think that I had the steam on the area very long (using the triangle attachment with a MF bonnet)
  • The bonnet came off with some black residue, which I'm thinking might be the dye, but I am not sure.
  • The steering wheel is vinyl/plastic (forgive me if that's not very technical but the point is, I dont believe it to be leather).

Has anyone come across this before with steam? Like I said, I'll grab some photos later after work.


Thanks for your help.


Daniel
 
I've seen damaged caused by the steamer,apply some leather conditioner to it.I really think those machines are great for carpets and floor mats.If you can't fix it there is always a steering wheel cover.
 
Never use stream on dyed leather or vinyl.

There are too many variables to use it safely 100% of the time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Hey Daniel, I also use Dupray steamer for interior cleaning. On leather/cloth seats I used the triangle attachment with a MF towel. For the steering wheel, I used the nozzle and do very quick circles and wipe off. So far no issues.

How did you used the steamer on the steering wheel?
 
Thanks for the responses thus far guys.


Hi Zelfiris,

I used the triangle attachment with a MF cloth, and scrubbed it back and forth for a few seconds on the wheel. I wasn't rough, but my fear is that even this short duration may have heated that section of the wheel too much.
 
Here's a shot of it. Let's just say it was pretty smooth before.
 
I'm assuming it was a leather wrapped wheel. If so then you know leather is very sensitive. Very large amount of coating on leather steering wheel, but because it is saturated with skin oil it is very soft. Lesson learned, mild soap and water hand applied way to go.
 
That's actually very mild damage caused by a steamer... You wanna see what real damage by a steamer looks like?

I kid you not, this huge gash was the size of a nickel before I put my steamer across it for no more than 5 seconds. Lol.

View attachment 50561

It's been like that for well over a year now, so it looks worse now.. This is my own daily driver so I never went through much of a worry about it, I actually found it pretty funny after the initial few minutes of being PO. Lol.

My steeering wheel on the other hand has just recently began to tear open like this. I've also just began testing McKee's High Intensity APC in place of my usual interior cleaners [Megs D181 Leather Cleaner or Megs D101 APC] My steering wheel had been on the verge of this happening for 2.5 yrs since I bought the car, but never, until these last 2-3 cleanings with the new APC has this all of a sudden happened..... Oh well.

View attachment 50562

When it comes to cleaning other vehicles steering wheels I always use extra caution, I even stop and take a break from it and return to it in a few minutes to give the material time to get back to normal and gently begin cleaning it again, this way I can closely monitor what exactly's coming off onto my towel.

As far as the towels that work best in combination with steam cleaning? I prefer cotton terry towels over microfiber for this job. I actually think microfibers do pretty poor in comparison.. Not only that, but for all the talk from folks about never drying microfibers on high heat in the dryer, why then does it somehow become a good idea to use those towels with a steam cleaner which generates far greater heat than the dryer ever will? Lol.
 
Crispy said:
I'm assuming it was a leather wrapped wheel. If so then you know leather is very sensitive. Very large amount of coating on leather steering wheel, but because it is saturated with skin oil it is very soft. Lesson learned, mild soap and water hand applied way to go.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that it's "leather"/synthetic leather (I'm aware that 99% of leather in cars are synthetics). It has a hard rubber texture, so I'm not sure. By hand with mild soap from now on for sure.


Also, Eldorado2K - thanks for sharing! You made me feel a lot better (I was pretty upset about it), but it goes to show you how careful you have to be with such things, especially cleaners or heat. You also bring up a really good point about using MF towels, and that seems so elementary yet I've never considered that. Terry towels sound like the way to go for steam, so long as you're gentle.


I appreciate the tips guys, cheers.
 
Since it sounds like it was a favor for a family member to get the car ready to sell.....I seriously doubt anyone but you will even notice. It's not torn or anything. I would point it out, and move on. Don't beat yourself up about it.
 
Eldorado2k said:
... Not only that, but for all the talk from folks about never drying microfibers on high heat in the dryer, why then does it somehow become a good idea to use those towels with a steam cleaner which generates far greater heat than the dryer ever will? Lol.
Click to expand...

Interesting point here
 
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