advice for fading steering wheel

[rymsteve]

hey guys
i was wondering if anyone can recommend any product/procedure that could bring my faded steering wheel back to life. it's not too bad but i notice and it really detracts from the rest of the interior which is almost flawless. i'd really prefer not to have to replace the wheel. i was looking at some dye online but i've never used that stuff before. it's a 2003 boxster s with all black interior.
thanks in advance
ryan

[rick3000]

Have you tried leather conditioner?
I am not a fan of dye's because they can come off your hands, however you can replace the leather for about $60.

http://www.********************************************************************.com/product_p/agla_993sw.htm

[RandallNeighbour]

The leatherique product line is absolutely AMAZING.

I have used it on my leather and vinyl to dye it black and it make everything look new.

You'll love it. Just google "leatherique" and the web site will pop right up.

[rymsteve]

thanks guys! i'll let you know how it goes.

[jmatta]

+1 on the Leatherique

http://www.leatherique.com/

[jbs986]

Black Leather shoe polish works geat and you can buy some at walmart for $ 1.98

[23109VC]

Originally Posted by jbs986

Black Leather shoe polish works geat and you can buy some at walmart for $ 1.98

I've never thought of trying shoe polish on my leather - but I"ve used it for a high quality leather bag.... If you have a pair of high quality leather shoes - with soft leather - and shoe polish works great on a nice set of shoes - works fine on a nice leather attache - why wouldn't it work on seats and/or a steering wheel???

once the stuff is dried - i don't think it would come off onto your hands or clothes..

anyone use shoe polish on seat bolsters or steering wheels?

I wear a lot of allen edmonds shoes (nice hand made in the USA shoes) and they have their own line of high quality shoe polish..which I have a pile of in my closet.....)

is there really a huge difference between a quality shoe polish and leatherique??

[RandallNeighbour]

shoe polish will work, but it's waxy and will probably not stand up to summer heat and direct sun in the same way as the leatherique leather dye.

The leatherique products are just wonderful to own, and you'll use them on your seats, doors, dashboard, and so forth. They work wonders on vinyl too... I dyed my vinyl door panels and my wife thought I'd bought new ones and installed them behind her back

My thought was, "This vinyl panel is shot. Before I throw it away, I think I'll slap some of that leatherique leather dye on it with a rolled up paper towel and see how it looks when it dries."

Amazing results!

I can't afford to replace the dash with a leather one, so I am planning to take the dashboard pieces off and dye them one at a time so as not to get it anywhere it doesn't belong. Then the dash will look brand new too.

[70Sixter]

Originally Posted by jmatta

+1 on the Leatherique

+2

They have a great rep.

[geoff]

Originally Posted by rymsteve

i was wondering if anyone can recommend any product/procedure that could bring my faded steering wheel back to life.

ColorPlus seems to be what a lot of the PCA concourse guys are in to. See http://colorplus.com/ Their black was an exact match for my '01 black interior when I had a few scratches, including my steering wheel. Very easy to use and makes it look brand new

[Frank M]

ditto to using black shoe polish

I had a faded black leather steering wheel on my Corvette.
I was going to exchange for it a re-man one and figured why do try the liquid KIWI black.

Well I can vouch for it restoring it almost like new.

I gave it 2 coats, drove the car the next day and never had to re-apply any when I sold the car 5 years later.

[jmatta]

I would stick with the leather dye...it was produced for that purpose, unlike waxy polishes. I'm really surprised to hear that shoe polish held up for anything but a "quick fix" (sort of like black permanent marker in those emergency situations). The sweat and oils from your palms would remove the polish in no time. The leather and vinyl dyes are what the concours guys use to amazing results.

[Frank M]

Originally Posted by jmatta

. I'm really surprised to hear that shoe polish held up for anything but a "quick fix" (sort of like black permanent marker in those emergency situations). The sweat and oils from your palms would remove the polish in no time. The leather and vinyl dyes are what the concours guys use to amazing results.

I used the liquid KIWI polish.
Essentially its a dye with a gloss finish.