Just posting this out there for you guys. This should be a mandatory thing, especially when you buy a pre owned vehicle. I picked up this cleaning technique from a previous car forum.
Basically turns your steering wheel brand new again with that matte look and feel. One full use sponge should do the trick for the steering wheel along with the armrest, e-brake handle, shift knob, and the vinyl door handle.
If you notice, it will now have a shiny coat like Armour all to it from all the years of dead skin, oil, dirt (imagine the mechanic or someone else using it) caked on. That nasty stuff is not supposed to be there and restores all these parts and more. I can honestly say my steering wheel looks like it got an upgrade and it looks much better. The feeling of the wheel in my hand is like getting in a brand new car now. A must do for $2 and 10 minutes of your time.

 

<p>I would BE VERY CAREFUL WITH Magic Eraser.</p><p>Magic Eraser is ABRASIVE. you are most likely taking off the surface of the seat material, steering wheel material, etc.</p><p>the safer way to clean a used car is a mixture of water and woolite.</p><p>this will clean any dirt, dead skin, dust, oil that was caked on and will bring back the interior to NEW.</p><p>p.s. Auto Detailers do not use Magic Eraser.</p>

 

^^^^This^^^^

There is a reason Magic Eraser can remove stains from painted walls, it is NOT recommended for leather/vinyl.

 

100% correct.
diluted woolite all the way. detailers best friend for interiors.

 

It's not steel wool lol. The magic eraser did not damage my upholstery. My steering wheel is brand new again and there is no sign of damage. The steering wheel is made to take alot of stress, it's not going to fall apart with one use of the magic eraser. Don't go crazy with it and use a soft touch and you'll be fine. I can imagine how long you'd be there with soap and water and it will not remove the caked on material. No one on any forum has said their steering wheel got damaged from this. Do a quick google seach for "Magic Eraser steering wheel" if you are concerned.

 

I second justn, magic erase is melamine foam, it's a mild abrasive. Is it going to be terrible if you do it once? Probably not. It's not something you should add to your cleaning routine though, you'll eat through the vinyl and/or leather.

 

<p>hgahahahhahahahha yo, i didnt even have to go far.</p><p>Google image search for magic eraser and steering wheel turned up with LOTS OF FUCKED UP STEERING WHEELS.</p><p><img src="https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazine.com-vbulletin/1208x1176/80-magic_jpeg_81e3432c52e3d8c7eee7e72c197389a851df806 a.jpg" title="" /><br /><br />&nbsp;</p>

 

How to make M-steering wheel matte again?

I guess it's a love hate thing. Just be very careful not to overdo it, just enough to get the shiny coat of oil off. Then you can use organic baby shampoo or whatever you prefer to finish it off with, i just used a clean microfibre cloth. Totally worth it to me. I think the people who damaged their leather were probably aggressive and did it for longer than a few minutes.

 

so, one would question WHY USE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
like polobunny said; it wont mess up your wheel the first time, BUT DO NOT KEEP USING it as a cleaner...
cuz its not a cleaner.

plus, in the thread you linked, its the same in here...people have mixed results...


and considering HOW WEAK OUR interior is, anything that is abrasive will not touch my interior.


again, Auto detailers Dont even use magic eraser. and they can turn a shit interior back to new

 

It probably depends on the state of the leather you're doing it on too. If it's starting to be very thin it's a big risk you're taking. Either way, cool trick for someone with 5 minutes who isn't scared.

 

panda's gonna make a new thread soon, "I used this abrasive cleaner and now my interior is falling apart"

 

Loving the feeling of the steering wheel
Sooo smoooooth.
^this dude needs to relax lol. Or get laid.

 

woolite and water does the same thing.

 

im super relaxed reclining while getting laid

 

All jokes aside he's right, diluted woolite is a very good cleaner for the leather, vinyl, plastic etc etc, lots of aesthetics guys use it. Use like 6:1 woolite water for harder spots or 10:1 for weekly clean.

 

Or the square root of 25 mins with a light touch of eraser. I'm guessing neither of you did this before. I've done it plenty of times. I can totally picture someone getting excited about how well the caked on crap comes off and goes hardcore on it, leading to nothing left on the leather.
You should sit naked in the car too if you don't want your jeans to abrasively damage the seats.

 

Yeah I dunno.. Those pics JS posted seem crazy. Those people must have went to town on their steering wheels. Very light pressure should be ok, however, I've ways just relied on a wet microfibre for cleaning my interior. I guess it's never really gotten all that messy to require anything else.

Although the eraser is abrasive, think how much other abrasive shit goes through your interior. Even having your hands on the wheel day in and day out is abrasive to some degree. 15 year old wheels generally still look fine

I'm sure if you do it once a year, very lightly, you'll be ok. Or just try the woolite.

 

but you didnt say this in your OP.
and in my first response to your OP, all I did was warn.
saying; be careful. it might wear through interior.

plus, as a detailer, I KNOW to always use the very least aggressive plan of attack FIRST. then step up from there.
that way you dont have holes in your interior or paint from overly aggressive product

 

I also hate the white residue the erasers leave behind on walls. I'm sure it's even worse in a black interior.

 

You don't have to be all butthurt because we disagree and prefer to use proven and safe methods.
The leather on the steering wheel of the TL is of better quality than the seats, but I can totally see someone using a magic eraser on the seats and regretting it.
I do however sit naked in the car for other reasons.

Here's how seats can look with a little rubbing and woolite water mix


But that's the thing, why not spend the time necessary with woolite for your first cleaning? It doesn't harm anything and your maintenance cleaning will take a breeze.

 

Yes maam. Thanks for reminding us and I clarified by saying you should use a soft touch. You just went all gangsta and CAPS in your following posts, yo.
You can do a one time magic eraser softly to get the previous owners residues off or use woolite/water and jerk that steering wheel off.
You have 2 options.

 

Panda is still learning how the Internet works

 

Thanks for the post Panda but members have been using ME for years on AZ and the same debate happens.

Obviously, use common sense and be very light in the application when using this product because it is like taking a 1500 grit sandpaper to your interior.

Me personally, I wouldn't use it.

 

I only use acetone and 0000 steel wool to clean the soft touch surfaces in my car. It's gnarly AF now, and most people don't like it, but it works for me. Looks like an old basketball left out in the rain. Intact leather/vinyl is overrated IMO.

Basically, different strokes for different folks.

Well, not always. But I did it once and it was a bad idea.

 

Reading over the posts in this thread has led me to believe Lexol is out of business or something.

 

It is not, and it works well, but it's surprising how well woolite works for a fraction of the price. It also leave a nice subtle scent.

 

Whoa, and some offense, but calling it "...a mandatory thing..." and "...A must do..." when you are talking about an abrasive sponge on leather is just plain nuts. My wife can completely wreck a steering wheel in about 2 weeks. I think it's residue from hair spray that gets transferred after she pushes hair back with hands. And I've never needed anything other than the mildest of cleaners and a soft towel.

This thread should be locked or even deleted IMO

 

hey man i use Goo Gone on over a dozen headlight lens to remove butyl that gets on there after doing headlight work, and i read online that Goo Gone eats plastic or something and not to use it on plastic lens. no effects at all, and im sure you guys have seen the countless headlight work ive done over the past 4 years

just to be safe though, switching to something different now (mineral spirits) and not using goo gone

keep doing you

 

That would make sense. You should make her clean it, that'll teach her.

Goo Gone is safe on most plastics AFAIK. Shouldn't be used on leather though.

 

I have never used it twice because my own use never gets it as dirty. A quick wipe around gets the tough stuff out without melting the leather down. No ill effects heres that's for sure and it's quick and easy. The eraser sponge is abrasive, but by no means a sandpaper that is way too exaggerated. If you can't handle a gentle wipe then stick to the soap method. Try out the eraser on a small area and see if it works for you as well. If you get a booboo, it's a car afterall lol

 

If your wife can wreck a steering wheel in 2 weeks.... that's plain nuts right there. How does one do that? That's nasty infact. She may need the magic eraser for her armour all head.
And you are cleaning after her 2 dozen times a year to boot.

 

That's what the bottles say

With caps as Justnspace would say:

You're definitely right it shouldn't be used on leather, I didn't mean to imply that lol
Just sharing my story of how hey, if it works and you're happy, keep doing you and i'll do me

On the subject of leather, I did take the back of a sponge (abrasive side) to the seats due to the recommendation of a member on here because it "allows the suds to build up" with Lexol. No more shiny, oily texture. Looks clean, I'm super happy.

That was in 2012 I believe. Now when I use Lexol I use the sponge side, and no suds build up
Probably won't take the abrasive side to the leather anymore, but mainly because I don't have to after the first time

 

Being that this is the Magic Eraser vs. Soapy Water thread, what do I use to take out "burn/heat" marks that have shown up on my seat where I fart in the car?

 

Yep, it's nasty. But like many woman I know she has a "visual filter" that prevents her from seeing what a mess her car is all the time. But at the risk of more abuse from you guys about my wife I ain't gonna say any more about her and what she gets dirty

 

a good leather cleaner from Meguairs along with DA attach with brush will get you the same result minus the f***up part. to makes thing better is to borrow someone steam machine to clean the leather.

Before






After

 

I have no doubt about Woolite, but I like my leather smelling leathery

 

Not exaggerated at all. Just search the Internets....

 

I'm going to try this out. Want to see what all this hype is about.






...the Woolite/Water thing.

 

You're right. There are a ton of pics messing up their leather. They MUST have took out their road rage on it. I noticed a very very tiny spot at the seems between the sections of my steering wheel showing signs of this, I did go a bit harder on it than I should have :p I can imagine what those guys did. Luckily it's barely noticable and in a hard to see spot and it's not perceivable to the touch. I would avoid the seams if you were to use the ME sponge and finish off with soap/water. The result is worth it to use whatever method to get your steering wheel back to new again. I just forgot about it in the midst of things and had a bit of time this week.

On a side note, anyone use turtle wax jet black on their tires? This stuff is amazing. It's been 3 weeks now and the shine is still there through 3 rainstorms. It MAY be too shiny for some (like me) but it gets less shiny after 2 or 3 weeks. Wheels are always black and looks detailed. Avoid getting this stuff on rims, if you leave it too long it's hard to remove the black coating.

 

I guess we just gonna have to continue to agree to disagree on this one too. Any tire product that can even slightly be described as a "...hard to remove the black coating." is DOA to me. Sounds more like a dye or paint than a protectant. I like Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss. Not really that shiny and no oily residue, or residue of any kind. But it doesn't last weeks and weeks though.