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First of all, I am sorry I do not have a before shot. This really needed a before shot to do it justice and show you how far it has come.
You'll just have to take my word for it. When I bought my car it was very clean except for the wheel, which was matted and almost a greyish greenish color. It was pretty disgusting actually, especially in the thumb notches where the hub joins the wheel. My friends were all making jokes about what they guy did before he drove the car. NASTY.
so here is what I did, and this is my second time having success with this.
First of all, rub down the wheel with a DRY Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. The original all white one. Put a little pressure, but don't grind it. Gradually the eraser will start to slough off a bit, and some chalkiness will remain on the wheel. Brush that off, then vacuum the remainder.
Now take an fully wet a microfiber cloth, and then add a little bit of woolite. Squish the cloth a few times. If it is a little lightly soapy thats great, if its squishy white soapy then rinse it out a bit. Take that cloth and wrap it around the wheel and squeeze and move, squeeze and move, squeeze and move. DO NOT TWIST IT. Remember, alcantara is not actually suede, its a manmade material. You can wash it but you want to avoid twisting it as it can stretch then you lose your fitment. The material should be just a little soapy.
Take another clean, wet, microfiber cloth and repeat the process by way of a rinse. Probably seeing some dirt on these cloths. Make sure to rinse this well. If you dont rinse it well, the soap will still be there, and the material will be hard when its dried. Once rinsed well, let it dry.
When fully dry you can repeat it again, this time giving it a little more 'rub n scrub' but still being careful not to twist or stretch the material.Rinse WELL, the material will no doubt be quite wet, and let dry.
Once dry brush with a firm toothbrush or something similar to bring up the pile.
If the wheel isnt clean yet, then just do it again. It will come clean, it will start loosening up and develop a pile, mine went from hardpacked to where I can actually brush it in a direction a bit now. Its hard to get photos to do this justice but I will attach two pics, one that shows the cleanliness (bearing in mind it looked like it had been mashed with green earwax - no, Im not kidding, wish I were) and another where you can see how I can actually comb the pile again. The wheel was still a bit wet when I took that pic, but you can see the line where it is brushed in an opposite direction to the rest of the wheel. That thumb notch right there was hard, greygreenish and dizgusting with no suede-like qualities at all. Much better now.
Hope this helps you maintain the STUPIDEST steering wheel material ever lol.
Nice, thanks for the tips. I personally just use a microfiber cloth moistened with water only and it works very well. Sometimes I'll toothbrush it afterwards.
Nice, thanks for the tips. I personally just use a microfiber cloth moistened with water only and it works very well. Sometimes I'll toothbrush it afterwards.
Mine was waaaaaay to far gone for that, though that will work for normal cleaning.
Nice, thanks for the tips. I personally just use a microfiber cloth moistened with water only and it works very well. Sometimes I'll toothbrush it afterwards.
Same procedure here.
How often do y'all clean yours? I'm cleaning mine once every two or so months.
How often do y'all clean yours? I'm cleaning mine once every two or so months.
The last one I cleaned every couple months. I also keep a few pairs of nitrile gloves in the .....glove box.....so that if I know my hands are going to be getting dirty I don't need to worry about transferring that grime.
You are on fire posting stuff I pay attention to constantly. I am gonna read this and see what I can do. I tried to clean mine with sway cleaning foam borrowed from my wife (she uses it to clean bags of course) and microfiber towel. I wish I had gone a bit easier on it...
When I got my car, I did this the 1st week and IT WAS traumatizing to see how dirty it was and neglected...
Every month cleaning from then on. Again thanks for sharing your steps. Have a great Sunday.
You are on fire posting stuff I pay attention to constantly. I am gonna read this and see what I can do. I tried to clean mine with sway cleaning foam borrowed from my wife (she uses it to clean bags of course) and microfiber towel. I wish I had gone a bit easier on it...
When I got my car, I did this the 1st week and IT WAS traumatizing to see how dirty it was and neglected...
Every month cleaning from then on. Again thanks for sharing your steps. Have a great Sunday.
I was here a lot, and then I was gone for quite awhile.....but I have the fever again thanks to the new car!
I see, I am new but it is good to have a Fanatic member coming back.
As I said, I wish I had gone a bit easier when I cleaned it, too much pressure was applied thru towel. The result is - surface became a bit rough and looks used, although it is clean.
Then I went to ACE and bought 1500 grade sand paper, came be and gently rubbed the surface one way a few times, it became all nice and smooth in 20 seconds. Definitely won't be as new but for sure in the best shape since my ownership started. Just thought I should share in case another idiot had the same situation.
Its like the freedom you gain when you've lost everything lol. Once you've really buggered it up you are free to try almost anything, and it will only get better!
I think where people go wrong is in thinking of it like suede and treating it accordingly. Its a man made material. My dad had suit jackets made of an earlier version back in the 80s. They called it ultra-suede. Thats how I found the woolite - by searching for ultra-suede cleaning tips.
Excellent info. It's motivated me to clean mine before it gets bad. May as well do seats, shifter and doors too while I'm at it. Lots of ultra-suede to clean haha.
See Post 17 for a before and after shot. I think this is what the OP is trying to demonstrate. As I have said before, a toothbrush is great for re-fuffing the alcantera on the steering wheel after you have cleaned it with a microfiber cloth.
See Post 17 for a before and after shot. I think this is what the OP is trying to demonstrate. As I have said before, a toothbrush is great for re-fuffing the alcantera on the steering wheel after you have cleaned it with a microfiber cloth.
^^ Copy. I've had mine for 2 years and only recently cleaned it. It was, well, bad. I used a microfibre towel and water with a very small amount of detergent mixed in, cleaned fairly well but I waited too long and the alcantara is actually stripped or torn in a couple of places. Dang it. Good info regardless, thanks for posting.
I just realized what I dealt with can be called "flaky". (I am learning English)
I will try a toothbrush next time and compare that with finest sandpaper result. But the sandpaper result is surprisingly good, I enjoyed my steering wheel so much today...that sounded weird...well, I don't think I will need to do this again in 2 years...
@604 c63 exactly, only direction from the bottom is up, lucky it was not as bad as having to get it re-wrapped. Btw I love the Chris Harris Pistons pic, that video was a big part of the reason why I went for w204. As well as a pure comparison done by automann tv.
@604 c63 exactly, only direction from the bottom is up, lucky it was not as bad as having to get it re-wrapped. Btw I love the Chris Harris Pistons pic, that video was a big part of the reason why I went for w204. As well as a pure comparison done by automann tv.
Chris Harris has at least 4 or 5 w204 C63 vids, and watching those as they came out and knowing that I was driving THAT car was a big part of me really falling deeply in love with our car. It helps that I really really enjoy the Harris Monkey, and he clearly delighted in our car, in a way that he never has quite done with the new model.
I can't think of any other car that has prompted a farewell video from one of the great auto journo's of our time.
I too have had good results with the Sonax cleaner, though it's a bit pricey for how much you get. I cleaned my entire Alcantara interior twice with one $18 bottle (plus maybe one extra wheel clean). It was pretty dirty though from the previous owner. For "maintenance" cleaning, my second bottle has lasted awhile.
I too have had good results with the Sonax cleaner, though it's a bit pricey for how much you get. I cleaned my entire Alcantara interior twice with one $18 bottle (plus maybe one extra wheel clean). It was pretty dirty though from the previous owner. For "maintenance" cleaning, my second bottle has lasted awhile.
Two full interior cleans plus a wheel clean for $18 seems pretty reasonable to me.
07-09-2016, 05:52 PM
