G'day,

Having a factory leather steering wheel, hand brake and gear selector, I was wondering what is the best way to care for them? It's not like I can get out the shoe polish, but are their products out there that can clean and "Nuture" the leather? Especially for the steering wheel as I don't want it to be greasy or slippery.

Thanks,

I'm a big fan of the Autoglym range, I use their cleaner and conditioner on my seats :)

I wouldn't use anything on the steering wheel. The others I personally wouldn't even bother with, but as above, I would use Autoglym's leather conditioner stuff, I use it on the seats in my Evo and find it really good.

is there anything to keep that leather smell in the seats?

is there anything to keep that leather smell in the seats?

2 years and 20,000kms later my car still smells like leather. Autoglym leather cleaner, followed by their leather conditioner once every 2-3 months seems to do the trick for me!

meguiar's Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner/Conditioner can be used on steering wheels i use it and it doesn't leave it slippery at all

I use Poorboys Leatherstuff (http://www.waxit.com.au/proddetail.asp?prod=PB0020&cat=19). I quite like it. It's not greasy - in fact, one application method is to apply it straight with your bare hands. It's only ever-so-slightly slippery the first time you use it after applying.

I don't know why you wouldn't do the steering wheel, considering it's such a high-wear area.

on my lib the seats have been pretty mistreated by previous owner.. 5 years and almost 100k.. and cant really smell the leather anymore

Best way to restore the leather smell is to give your leather a really good clean with a DECENT, dedicated leather cleaner (none of those 2-in-1 leather cleaner/conditioners work too well at cleaning) and a good condition with a quality leather conditioner.

The leather should look and feel a lot softer and more supple after using a correct cleaning method. Dry Steam can also be used to clean leather (although its best to get a professional to do it with this method) and this really cleans the leather deep down in its pores.

Conditioning after cleaning is vital, and only worth doing to clean leather. Less is more when conditioning too - apply a thin layer and allow it to completely soak in before applying any more. Once it stops soaking in, the leather has accepted as much conditioner as it is going to. Too much conditioner will prevent it from being fully absorbed, leaving the suface moist/sticky which will attract dirt and dust.. Hardened leather (usually on the tops of seats and headrests etc usually cant be reversed so no amount of conditioner will restore it to is original condition - although I have yet to try Leatherique, which claims to work wonders)

I usually find that the scent that will remain after following a good cleaning/conditioning process will smell more like the products used rather than the original leather scent. Leather interiors in different makes and models smell completely different to one another. Some have a very distict scent, some are very feint.

As far as product reccommendations go - there is only 2 or 3 that I would reccommend.. Final Inspection Leather Clean Gel and Feed Conditioner are by far the best I have used, followed by Zaino Z9 and Z10 and Lexol Leather pH Cleaner and their Conditioner. These are all readily available online but for those wanting over the counter products - I have had decent results with both Autoglym and Mothers Leather Cleaners and Conditioners. The Mothers Leather Conditioner has a very very destinct scent to it and is quite strong - although I don't think it is very leathery.

I too clean and condition my steering wheel/gear knob in my RColt. It prevents it from obtaining a shiny finish (leather is supposed to be matte in appearance in most automotive uses) which is usually caused by dirt, sweat, bodily oils etc. I just make sure that I only lightly condition it and buff any excess off with a soft microfibre cloth after about 5 minutes. Because Leather is pourous, in hot climates it can sweat and this must be monitored especially on the control areas of a vehicle.