Has anyone found anything to tackle those 'orrible mucky, greasy steering wheels often found on older wagons? I’ve tried the standard wet wipes, grease busting antibacterial spray and all sorts but nowt seems to be working on my latest steed.
Shrek:
Has anyone found anything to tackle those 'orrible mucky, greasy steering wheels often found on older wagons? I’ve tried the standard wet wipes, grease busting antibacterial spray and all sorts but nowt seems to be working on my latest steed.
Try a product called MILTON, £2.45.a shot and it works, Regards Larry.
Forget wet wipes, anti-bacterial spray and sterilizing fluid. If you’ve got greasy clag ingrained into the surface, you need to shift it - not just move it around a bit (or just kill the germs living in it). Go to your local Homebase/B&Q etc and find a bottle of sugar soap. Use it as per the instructions on the label for “general cleaning” - or for really tough jobs use it neat on a sponge or scouring pad. Rinse off, dry off any excess moisture and away you go.
Swarfega, or preferably Tufanega the orange one with the granules, hand cleaner.Put plenty of it on a rag wrap it and run it all around the wheel a few times and then clean it off with another one soaked with just water.
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) aka rubbing alcohol
Carryfast:
Swarfega, or preferably Tufanega the orange one with the granules, hand cleaner.Put plenty of it on a rag wrap it and run it all around the wheel a few times and then clean it off with another one soaked with just water.
Why is it that some vehicles have every switch and control item is covered in that grey/brown gunge - when I did plating work it was very common and very gross.
Just wrap the wheel in cling wrap as an emergency fix.
Use the cleanser on a small stiff bristled brush - it brings greasy hi-viz gear up a treat.
Trying to clean it is a waste of time, what has happened is the shiny grained outer layer has worn away leaving the dull matt material that makes up the bulk of the steering wheel.
The only answer is a new steering wheel or a cover.
Rub with plentiful neat petrol.
If it doesn’t shift easily, warm it up with a match or ciggie lighter.
One way or t’other you won’t have a dirty steering wheel.
Socketset:
Carryfast:
Swarfega, or preferably Tufanega the orange one with the granules, hand cleaner.Put plenty of it on a rag wrap it and run it all around the wheel a few times and then clean it off with another one soaked with just water.Why is it that some vehicles have every switch and control item is covered in that grey/brown gunge - when I did plating work it was very common and very gross.
When I was on the council it was everything from gully suckers stinking of foul water to tippers with enough earth and dirt on the floors for grass and weeds to be growing and refuse bulkers stinking of refuse.Also tar on everything including the steering wheel which at least smelt better than the gully suckers and bulkers.Also driven my share of trucks with grease here and there either left by the workshop staff or getting everywhere from fifth wheel.
Regardless of all that what I hated most was people not using gloves to fill up and getting the zb on the steering wheel etc.I hate diesel and I’m allergic to the stuff to the point of once having to go to A and E with serious skin problems after spilling a load of it over me when putting some in a fire truck with a jerry can on a step ladder.
But the old steering wheels were generally made of hard surface materials and easy to clean and obviously didn’t wear.Anyone remember the old RT and RM London bus steering wheels which were usually polished to a mirror finish by their drivers for some reason.
mike68:
Trying to clean it is a waste of time, what has happened is the shiny grained outer layer has worn away leaving the dull matt material that makes up the bulk of the steering wheel.The only answer is a new steering wheel or a cover.
That was part of a service in Germany, new steering wheel and pedal rubbers, worn switches or steps.
Socketset:
Just wrap the wheel in cling wrap as an emergency fix.
+1, I used to have to do this all the time when I shared a truck with minging colleague who never wore gloves, so there was grease and other crud all over the controls everytime I took over from him 
Socketset:
Just wrap the wheel in cling wrap as an emergency fix.
That is actually genius, I may give this a try, we swap wagons a lot in my job and 10+ minutes a shift cleaning all switches and the wheel is getting rather old and tiresome especially considering I was doing this waaay before this virus situation, and on that note and looking at the colour of my anti-bac wipes after a wipe around the wheel (which I guess’ll be having to make a public apology if they jump on this blackfacing apology bandwagon) I guess some people want to take covid-19 home to their loved ones.
mike68:
Trying to clean it is a waste of time, what has happened is the shiny grained outer layer has worn away leaving the dull matt material that makes up the bulk of the steering wheel.The only answer is a new steering wheel or a cover.
This. Or, rather, eventually this. I took a truck over once and the wheel was filthy. All the standard stuff kept bringing off black stuff, so I upped my game and got out the more abrasive options as suggested above. Then I discovered anti-bacterial scrubbing wipes and thought all my Xmases had come at once - so much so I shared the news with a good friend who also used them to attack his wheel. It was only several weeks later that the penny dropped and I realised the black stuff wasn’t muck, and hadn’t been for quite a while… 
…Nice furry finish on the wheel though! 
This brings back memories of the large alloy steering wheels that Fodens fitted back in the sixties/seventies, they were coated in black plastic that wore away after a few years leaving the rim smooth so we then wrapped the rims in insulation tape to get grip. That didn’t last long either but at least you could change the colour regularly!
Pete.
windrush:
This brings back memories of the large alloy steering wheels that Fodens fitted back in the sixties/seventies, they were coated in black plastic that wore away after a few years leaving the rim smooth so we then wrapped the rims in insulation tape to get grip. That didn’t last long either but at least you could change the colour regularly!Pete.
Hi Pete, I used to do the very same on my S20 & S21 Fodens, I remember going to the testing station at Sandy Lane North Gosforth with The S 21, The examiner said to me that insulating tape was not acceptlable, So I very politley asked him why 
, He said it didnt look right to him, And he could fail this vehicle for having this covering on the steering wheel, So me me being a cockey little git said well what about the very same tape that I have put on some of the rear lights wiring to protect them from getting wet Etc, He didnt answer me, But the good old S21 passed once again,Plus I used to use the very same tape on my fingers when knocking a bit of skin off me knuckles when changing a spring, The good old days, , Regards Larry.
Some of the old steering wheels are not dirty but it’s just what they are made from .
I could wipe mine on a cold damp morning and it would make a clean white wipe turn black yet the night before it wouldn’t dirty a white shirt .
Lawrence Dunbar:
windrush:
This brings back memories of the large alloy steering wheels that Fodens fitted back in the sixties/seventies, they were coated in black plastic that wore away after a few years leaving the rim smooth so we then wrapped the rims in insulation tape to get grip. That didn’t last long either but at least you could change the colour regularly!Pete.
Hi Pete, I used to do the very same on my S20 & S21 Fodens, I remember going to the testing station at Sandy Lane North Gosforth with The S 21, The examiner said to me that insulating tape was not acceptlable, So I very politley asked him why
The tape used to wrap “drop handlebars” on bicycles worked well too.
.
. And still does today!
Franglais:
Lawrence Dunbar:
windrush:
This brings back memories of the large alloy steering wheels that Fodens fitted back in the sixties/seventies, they were coated in black plastic that wore away after a few years leaving the rim smooth so we then wrapped the rims in insulation tape to get grip. That didn’t last long either but at least you could change the colour regularly!Pete.
Hi Pete, I used to do the very same on my S20 & S21 Fodens, I remember going to the testing station at Sandy Lane North Gosforth with The S 21, The examiner said to me that insulating tape was not acceptlable, So I very politley asked him why
The tape used to wrap “drop handlebars” on bicycles worked well too.
.
. And still does today!
Well thats a blast from the past, Ive done that as well, Plus on my wheel barrow handles too, The good old tape Eh, In later years we used to deliver to a firm in the Leicester area called Advance Tapes, The load was from Commercial Plastics at Cramlington, And they used to give us a box of reject rolls, Nowt wrong with it IMO, But we certainley made good use of it, Regards Larry.
mike68:
Trying to clean it is a waste of time, what has happened is the shiny grained outer layer has worn away leaving the dull matt material that makes up the bulk of the steering wheel.The only answer is a new steering wheel or a cover.
That’s not a bad shout.
Remember the ones in the 70s,snazzy, with a pair of matching driving gloves adorned with a black and white check pattern.
Endorsed by Paddy Hopkirk ?