I have had my truck for about a year and a half now and something that has bothered me for a while is the condition the steering wheel is in. The previous owner didn't have a cover on it, basically wherever human hands have touched this tan steering wheel it's turned green/black. I initially tried Armorall on it; didn't even scratch the surface grease.

Today I spent about an hour with some Purple Power branded Citrus Cleaner, and while it has worked on parts of the wheel that aren't as heavily branded, it hasn't helped the parts that are black.

Does anyone here have any ideas?

A steering wheel cover will not cover it up completely, and I prefer not to run with a steering wheel cover anyway. Having taken previous vehicles to detail services in the area, I have yet to find one that I trust would actually fix this and on top of that I would imagine it would cost quite a bit more than my time is worth if I knew what magic thing would clean it up.

 

is it leather?

 

I believe it is vinyl.

 

Mines the same way. It's not that it's dirty, it's that the dye is worn off.

I guess you could try and re dye it with some leather dye.

 

you could try this http://www.ehow.com/how_7618961_clea...ng-wheels.html

if it's the dye then there's not much you can do other than re dye it or get a new wheel.

 

baking soda + water.. cool, ill give it a shot too
my steering wheel is always sticky and it bothers the hell out of me
i can never get it clean it seems

as far as the color, mine is gray, and between say.. 11 and 1 o'clock, the gray is totally worn off down to black, just worn off from holding it up top, doesnt bother me , i just hate how its always sticky

 

i used a terry cloth and some of the purple power interior cleaner. that made it not sticky anymore and my white rag was black. it also took the slickness off the wheel so i didnt have to squeeze till my knuckles were white to turn either. if you work it for a good 20 mins on the whole wheel as hard as you can you can probably get it off. if not, some of these other good ideas will help for sure. im trying the baking soda tonight to see how that helps

 

It won't be sticky when it dries. If it is gunk on the wheel that has turned it black, a Magic Eraser works great. Get the heavy-duty one so it doesn't fall apart as quick.

 

If all else fails, you could get the leather covers that you "stitch" on, which would completely wrap the wheel. Mine is leather, and after removing as much of the dirt as possible, it revealed how worn out the leather was. ~$50 on eBay. Cheaper than buying a lot of different cleansers (that might not work well).