The leather steering wheel on my A4 - apart from being a tad too big for my liking - is really very smooth and slippery after 6 years and 50k miles of use and one heck of a valet clean a few months ago. On the twisty hills near where I live I can barely relax my vice-like grip, and driving 1-handed (heaven forbid!) is a little alarming at times.
Apart from buying naff driving gloves, any idea what product I can buy to render the wheel's rim a bit more grippy?
Wife's X3 is a year newer but done the same miles, but the Beemer helm is still textured and grippy (and smaller!)...
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With the car parked and the steering locked, vigorously clean the rim of the 'wheel with baby wipes. They will remove all greasy and waxy stuff and you'll be amazed at how much dirt they take off. Any stray fibres of wipe that snag on the leather rim's stitching will brush away when they're dry.
When I'm properly cleaning the inside of my car I NEVER polish the important touch points - steering wheel, pedals, gear lever, handbrake. I want to know I can grip them accurately in an emergency situation.
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Did anyone else read the title and think 'KY Jelly'?
Just me, then.
}:---)
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>> Did anyone else read the title and think 'KY Jelly'?
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>> Just me, then.
>> }:---)
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No - me too!
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The valet cleaners probably used silicone spray on, amongst other things, the steering wheel. When I buy a used car I tell the dealer not to use silicone spray anywhere.
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+100 on the saddle soap. give the whole rim a scrub with it, using one of those kitchen scouring sponges.
(Tip. Sit behind the wheel with a towel over your knees).
It always amazes me how much scurve and dandruff accumulates on the indicator stalk as well.
On vehicle-cleaning mishaps... an acquaintance bought a little 80cc scooter. He gave it a good clean, as one would do for a car. came up a treat, it did. However, nobody had told him that the silicone tyre spray which works so well on car tyres isn't the cleverest stuff to use on motorscooter tyres.
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Slippery steering wheels were all the rage in the 70's when I had my Zephyr 4.
I had a *Leopard skin steering wheel cover to match my *Leopard skin seat covers.
(*Genuine imitation)
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And if all else fails a replacement from a newish wreck, the airbag can be swapped over.
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Some of those valeting products are evil. I remember once leaving my car with the valeters who visit the site where I work and asking them to wash the outside but not to touch the interior. They did as I asked, except that when they moved the car into their washing bay, enough interior product rubbed off the driver's overalls to flavour the car - and give me headaches - for a week afterwards. It's been back to the buckets and sponge on my drive since then.
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A gentle "roughing" with a suede-brush, then some leather softner/preservative cream rubbed well in.
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I can scarcely see out of my front windscreen when it is sunny on account of the glare from the polish used on the dashboard before I bought the car.
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Thu 31 May 12 at 11:33
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I remember the horror of the glossy cockpit spray stuff when I picked up my mk2 Mondeo. The dash, steering wheel, gear lever and every other non fabric surface was so glossy and shiny that direct sunlight on any of it was painful to the eyes. What's more, it stank.
Spent two hours when I got it home rubbing everything down with a damp cloth to get rid of the evil stuff. It should be banned.
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>>I remember the horror of the glossy cockpit spray stuff when I picked up my mk2 Mondeo......
Exactly the same when I picked up my MK II.
When I went to collect my X type the owner said it had been "valetted".
I was pleased and relieved to find it had been sort of washed by a chaep outfit and no smellys used.
Now into cleaning / in depth inspection.
One bonus I can clean the wheels easily as my hand will go through the spokes to reach parts that other do not.
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>> When I went to collect my X type
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Do you get a warm glow when you type that?
;-)
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>> >> When I went to collect my X type
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>> Do you get a warm glow when you type that? :-)
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and still smiling. ;-))))
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>> >> to reach parts that other do not.
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Sounds like a beer advertisement, henry!
I use a lavatory brush.
MrsIan complains about this. I can't understand why. Bought at a fraction of the price that a 'mag wheel brush' would have cost.
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>> >> >> to reach parts that other do not.
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>> Sounds like a beer advertisement, henry!
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You are dating your self :-)
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>> I use a lavatory brush.
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>> MrsIan complains about this. I can't understand why. Bought at a fraction of the price that a 'mag wheel brush' would have cost.
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I get the same complaints when my bog brush sees the light of day.
( I just happen to have several free ones but that is another story)
I had not thought to employ it for wheels.( comments not rquired) i
Plans are afoot for us to come south this October so I hope for a better demo than a loo brush.
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Isopropyl Alcohol (such as in Autoglym Fastglass spray) should strip off any silicone gubbins very quickly.
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Meths. Works wonders on leather. clean lint free cloth, wipe on, wipe off. Job done. Good for getting grease / oil marks etc off suede shoes too.
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With that you would need these.
car-lashes.co.uk/
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My Grand Vitara was valeted by the dealer before I came across it. I'm sure the whole thing was done with silicon, windows/screen and everything else. It's been a pain in the bum. The glass steams up like it's got a pair. I'm pretty sure I've got rid of most of it now.
A little trick we used to do on sales cars with black carpets......vacuum the worst off then spray with a black cellulose rattle-can. Any light bits in the pile disappear and the interior smells like new.
I suppose a pair of Marigolds might give Nick a better grip.
Ted
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>> I suppose a pair of Marigolds might give Nick a better grip.
Which variety? tinyurl.com/brwh5ms
:-)
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 1 Jun 12 at 09:32
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Clive Christian No. 1 Pure Perfume for Men will remove the slipperiness and will make it smell nice as well. tinyurl.com/bmx66fq You could try a cheaper brand if you're a skinflint.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 1 Jun 12 at 07:47
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>> tinyurl.com/bmx66fq You could try a cheaper brand if you're a
>> skinflint.
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I can't guarantee that a cheaper brand would work as good.
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Greetings from a sumptuous B&B hotel in Calais, as recommended by Bromp and others. OK, maybe 'sumptuous' isn't the word but it seems to do the job.
Anyway, point of writing this here is that, prior to boarding le Shuttle, we were subjected a to a security sweep, as part of which an officer scanned my steering wheel with her magic wand. Not sure if she was checking for slipperiness but she was content to send us on our way.
Probably my last contribution for a while. No wifi where we're headed tomorrow, and in any case I'm hoping to have better things to do than hang out with you lot.
};---)
WDB en vacances
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Got anything for a slippery steering wheel?! - Dave_
