How to Clean a Steering Wheel without Damaging It?

 You are probably exposed to one of the dirtiest things while leaving for the office or somewhere else without knowing it. 

No, it’s not your bathroom seat, not your smartphone screen. And not even the door handle of your bathroom. 

It might be hard to digest, but it’s your cars steering wheel. Keeping your vehicle clean and tidy is essential. Steering wheels with leather covers are more prone to get dirty if not appropriately handled.  It can get gross, really gross. Keeping your car clean and tidy seems obvious to some people. But keeping your car clean from the inside is necessarily important. Especially your steering wheel, which is in constant contact with your hands while driving. 

These numbers might scare you that average drivers in the UK spend around 17,600 minutes behind the wheels every year. That sums up to about 12 days a year! 

Keeping your steering wheel clean and sanitized is undeniably important, especially after witnessing the wrath of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s not just about that you touch the steering; it’s about what other things you touch during the day. Also, how often the wheel was touched by others. There’s no harm in keeping things clean and tidy. 

All the bacteria, grime, and infections you carry around the world end up on your steering wheels. According to reports, the average steering wheel of a car was found to be:

• Five times dirtier than a public toilet seat
• Thrice dirty as the elevator’s buttons at your office
• Over seven times more contaminated than your cell phone screen

Pro-head tips for cleaning your car’s steering wheels

Now that you’ve decided to clean up your car’s steering wheel. Here’s the ultimate guide on the best way to clean a car steering wheel. You might need this stuff which includes the following- 

Try interior cleaner and a microfiber cleaning cloth

 You will need interior cleaning and a microfiber cleaning cloth for regular surfaces. Now start spraying interior cleaner on a microfiber cleaning cloth in a small amount. Wipe down the steering wheel thoroughly back and forth to get the dirt out from both sides of the wheel.  Also, a toothbrush will do the trick. Dip your toothbrush in a 3:1 mixture of your cleaner with some water. You can easily remove the grease and body oil from your steering wheel. 

Pull out tough grime with an interior scrub pad 

You can clean stubborn grime through an interior scrub pad. Spray your interior cleaner onto a scrub pad and slowly wipe the wheel in short strokes. You need to take it easy here, be careful that you need not rub too hard as it can wear out the area around your steering wheels. 

Try stream cleaners while servicing your car 

 

Steam cleaners are great for cleaning and sterilizing surfaces inside your car. Although steam cleaning might seem more expensive than a standard cleaning method, it is worth the investment. Steam cleaning is one of the best ways to clean the car steering wheel and other interior parts of your car. 

Tips to remove spots from the leather steering wheel 

As discussed earlier that leather steering wheels are vulnerable to developing spots. Spots can occur either from water or some sticky liquid. The good news is that you can quickly get rid of them. 

Soft cloth, Lemon juice & tartar cream

You’ll need the following:

• Soft cloth 
• Lemon juice 
• Cream of Tartar 
  
  

Make a paste of lemon juice and cream of tartar. Squeeze out half part of the lemon and 1 part of the cream of tartar. Apply the paste to the region of spots you’re looking to remove. Let it dry for a few hours. Also, please park your car in the shade. The area should be not exposed to sunlight. Sunlight can interfere with the process, so be cautious about it. 

After 2 hours, come back and bluff the spot with another mixture. The stain should get fade out reasonably easily. 

Normal water & cotton cloth

You can also try the other old-school method that works every time. You’ll need the following- 

• Cotton cloth 
• Distilled water 
• Lots of patience 

Just wipe down the steering wheel with a wet cotton cloth thoroughly back and forth. Do not let the water sit on the surface of your leather steering wheel. It will stain your leather.

Baby oil & soft cloth 

If that also doesn’t work, you can try our last option, but it’s tricky. 

You’ll need 

• Baby oil or olive oil 
• Soft cotton cloth 
  
  

Dab the cloth with olive oil and gently rub the fabric on the affected area. It would help to wipe the area in a circular motion to bluff out slight scratches. You will notice that the area between the scratches will appear darker as it will soak up the oil. The darker area will get normal as it dries. This trick works best during the evening when there’s no sun. 

Let the steering wheel dry for 12 to 18 hours. Also, ensure that you park in the shade, the affected area of your wheel should not be exposed to the sunlight. 

If needed, repeat this process until you see a flat and shiny surface on your steering wheel. 

Final thoughts 

Finally, we end here, dam; that was a long read! But we appreciate that you spare some time to give it a read. We hope that you have learned something new today here! If you like our blog, stay tuned to get more amazing blogs that will surely help you increase the life span of your favourite four wheels. We expect you to understand the need and importance of cleaning your car’s steering wheel timely. We would love to hear from you and for more of such informative content, keep your eyes peeled. Till then, have a safe drive! ..(continue reading )