Extending the life of your leather steering wheel with Gyeon!
Being a Subaru owner of cars from a couple decades ago brings you a few things.. Jokes about vaping, head gaskets, etc.. but the things has plagued me through all three of my Subarus is worn out steering wheels. Now on my STi I decided enough was enough and I upgraded my steering wheel to a amazing unit from Reggie’s steering wheels.
On the left my brand new steering wheel from Reggie’s custom wheels. On the right twenty years of abuse on the factory leather wheel. If you have recently bought a new wheel start taking care of it now! Otherwise your future is shown below.
When my steering wheel was damaged during its time at the paint shop. To get the wheel repaired I sent it back to Reggie where I was informed that I may not have been doing my best when it came to steering wheel upkeep. I have been fortunate enough to have Gyeon stepped in to send me some products to make my steering wheel out last my headgaskets. Let’s find out what products we have and how to use them!
This image came from Reggie’s custom wheels where he has cleaned the right side of the wheel while leaving the left side as it was. What you can see if the shininess… you are supposed to have a nice matte finish, otherwise you leather will start to degrade and fail.
What will happen if you don’t take care of it.. this. You can see the leather has broken down and the is now coming off. Maintenance is much cheaper than replacing the wheel..
Time frame
With just a couple of Gyeon products in hand you should have this completed in less than five minutes. This will give you three months of protection, so set your calendars for 3 months to do this once again.
Tools and Products
Gyeon Q2M Interior Detailer
Gyeon Q2M Leather Cleaner (not used)
Gyeon Q2M Preserve
Gyeon Q2M Leatherbrush
Gyeon Leather Set strong (kit)
Microfiber towels
How to
With my steering wheel only being a few weeks old I felt the Gyeon Interior detailer was powerful enough to help clean the very fresh wheel. A tip I was given from Reggie of Reggie’s custom wheels was that a shiny leather is an unhappy leather. So if you are seeing shiny spots on your wheel, it’s time to take action. Given the steering wheel has perforations I found the Leather brush incredibly helpful to clean this thoroughly.
Before we start I want to say this is something you need to start early with your leather products in your car. My old STi steering wheel was in pretty rough shape so I couldn’t save it, but if you are picking up a new wheel make sure to take care of your investment for the future.
Since this wheel has been on for a less than a week, it didn’t need much precleaning. When it is time to reapply I will be using the Leather cleaner to make sure to get a proper deep clean on the wheel.
My next step was to clean the center section of the airbag, I stayed with the same cleaner but moved to a microfiber towel. Once that is done you can take another microfiber towel and coat the steering wheel center section with Preserve to one deepen the looks while also protecting it from harmful UV rays.
A little finishing wipe down with a microfiber for the center section of the wheel. Now it’s prepped and ready for the final touches.
This should have given the wheel time to dry and now you may apply the leather coat. This coating will keep your wheel protected for the next three months when it is time to apply again. We will be applying Preserve to the center section and Leather coat to the wheel.
Next up it is time to add the Gyeon Leather coat treatment to the steering wheel.
Leather coat is very simple to apply by adding a spritz and massaging it in with a microfiber towel.
Preserve is applied to the center section of the steering wheel to keep it looking fresh.
Preserve can be handled in the same method. Add a small amount to a microfiber towel and then rub into the material.
Should come out like this! Looks amazing and is protected!
At this point I would like to advise your to take a look at your shift knob, parking brake lever, and possibly leather seats you can go ahead and apply the steps above to keep the rest of your car protected.
If you already have the products out, you can spend a few minutes to freshen up anything else covered in leather.
Well that’s it! Keeping those everyday touch points nice, fresh and protected doesn’t take all day but a few years down the road you will certainly thank yourself for putting in the effort. Especially when the steering wheel still looks as good as the day you installed it.
For more information on Gyeon’s exhaustive list of vehicle care and maintenance products head on over to their website