What is wrong with my steering wheel?

[King Crimson]

Hi everyone,

The past few months i have noticed small white particles on the steering wheel, when you touch them you can feel a small "bump" but no matter how much i try to remove them as gently as possible with my fingernail they just don't budge. Due to corona i usually use disinfectant wipes on my hands and some times on the steering wheel if i forgot to clean my hands before touching the steering wheel, could that be the cause of these things appearing? I have a attached a picture below to get a better idea of what i'm talking about.

Cheers.

[DavidTC]

My first thought would be the solution used in the disinfectant. When it dries it leaves behind little white blobs - I've had a similar experience in the past

[King Crimson]

2 minutes ago, DavidTC said:

My first thought would be the solution used in the disinfectant. When it dries it leaves behind little white blobs - I've had a similar experience in the past

Have you found a way to remove them without damaging the steering wheel?

[DavidTC]

8 minutes ago, King Crimson said:

Have you found a way to remove them without damaging the steering wheel?

I used Autoglym vinyl and rubber care, cleans up nicely with no damage to the material. Spay it on a microfiber towel not the steering wheel

[Catlover]

3 hours ago, DavidTC said:

I used Autoglym vinyl and rubber care, cleans up nicely with no damage to the material. Spay it on a microfiber towel not the steering wheel

Did you try just water and the microfibre towel.  Microfibre is very good at grabbing hold of things, maybe the water would soften and microfibre remove.  Just a thought.

[flash22]

Its dead skin plus sweat/oils from you skin, you may also find a build of gunge on the stalks

 

AG interior cleaner does a good job of cleaning it up

[TonyHSD]

This is what I use to keep my interior clean, minimum twice or three times a week wipe all plastics including the seats leather and fabric., door cards, handles, seat belts, dashboard, steering wheel and instruments, everything.  Works great on all surfaces, no odour and leaves no residue, plus cleans very well indeed. As Joe said, I spray a bit on microfibre cloth and wipe, can spray directly into panels too. 

[Swanthecat]

Corolla virus?

[Mikw]

White specs on the interior? Shudder to think what you've been doing in there??!! 🙂

[King Crimson]

11 hours ago, Mikw said:

White specs on the interior? Shudder to think what you've been doing in there??!! 🙂

I was sure someone was going to say something like that ahahaha

[CurranShelter]

I've noticed something similar on mine from time to time, although maybe not quite as much as in your picture. Have you also been using hand sanitiser, by any chance? As I realised mine occurred just after sanitising my hands when returning to the car from shopping (but only seems to happen with some gels and not others).

[King Crimson]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:38 PM, CurranShelter said:

I've noticed something similar on mine from time to time, although maybe not quite as much as in your picture. Have you also been using hand sanitiser, by any chance? As I realised mine occurred just after sanitising my hands when returning to the car from shopping (but only seems to happen with some gels and not others).

Yea i've used hand sanitiser but didn't see anything immediate happen on the steering wheel. Maybe i had never noticed them and they were there after i had used hand sanitiser over the months. 

[King Crimson]

On 7/22/2021 at 11:46 AM, DavidTC said:

I used Autoglym vinyl and rubber care, cleans up nicely with no damage to the material. Spay it on a microfiber towel not the steering wheel

I used Autoglym and unfortunately it didn't do anything for the steering wheel 😞. I guess i'll keep it to keep the rest of the interior looking fresh ahaha. I'll use the Dettol one next and hope for the best.

[DavidTC]

@King Crimson that is unfortunate, maybe your issue was more serve than mine. Hope you find a solution soon!