How do you clean them?
'86 "leather look" rubber 4 spoke wheel.
and rubber/plastic manual shifter knob.

quote Originally posted by AL87: How do you clean them? '86 "leather look" rubber 4 spoke wheel. and rubber/plastic manual shifter knob.

baby oil is the best

The stickiness is generally an accumulation of skin oils, so any soap should work. I've used windex before. Now on the steering wheel if it's leaking goo from the stitched seam then there's nothing on earth that will help you there.

since they're rubber/plastic/vinyl, you can be pretty free with what you use, in my opinion. I just suggest spraying said cleaner on, and letting it sit so it and break down whatever is making it sticky. Then work it off (not just wipe, but thoroughly rub it down) with a damp cloth. Rinse said cloth when you're done and wipe it down again to get rid of cleaner residue.

I'm sure some people will disagree, but when I say "whatever" cleaner, I might use something meant for the job like armor-all all purpose cleaner, or I might use windex if I don't have any. And if it's particularly stubborn, and I had nothing better on hand to try, I'd grab the bottle of lysol all-purpose kitchen spray. If I was going to armor-all it after, I wouldn't worry much about what I cleaned it with before, as long as it wasn't going to damage it. Sure paint thinner will get rid of your stickiness, but it might also eat the vinyl while it's at it...

PS: stop reading pr0n mags while you drive and you won't have this issue.

[This message has been edited by Stubby79 (edited 02-16-2011).]

I've seen quite a number of Vinyl, Leather, Seats , Steering Wheels, Shift Knobs etc that were cleaned with Alcohol based cleaners, bleach cleaners or other inappropriate cleaners that caused (after time and sunlight beating on them) a gummy , sticky residue that just can't be removed no matter what you do. (Requiring prepping and re-dying of the leather / vinyl.

Just wanted to put that out there in case you find that cleaning doesn't seem to work (or makes them worse)

The sticky wheel could be from the old foam leaking out also. The only fix for this is the recover it. I used to hate that before I fixed mine.

Hahaha! the **** ... =P I have a GF that would frown upon such things, since she insists on me letting her do all the work herself ;P
(I'm sorry if I offended someone, but all work and no play makes all us jacks dull)

My '87 had the leaky foamy stuff coming out of where i grip, where the left spoke meets the wheel.
I got that cleaned off and out, I had to squeeze the goo out and then I used acetone on a rag to wipe it off... (GT=Leather wheel)

The '86 of which I originally posted about has the "simulated leather" rubber 4 spoke and a plastic shifter knob...
I used acetone on a rag for the shift knob with good results, but I'm iffy about the wheel since its not leather, and does seem to be more heavily soiled with whatever... I figure if I use acetone it will dissolve the wheel... I'll see what else I have around, and post about it tomorrow.

If you can't get the sticky shtuff to wash off using regular cleaner, than it's because the plastic is breaking down. In that case, you have to use a solvent that melts off the outer surface of the plastic. I've used laquer thinner before, but have not tried it on Fieros. You may also, after wiping with laquer thinner, have to sand & polish the wheel (on a hard plastic wheel).
HTH,
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

What I did for my sticky steering wheel and shifter was replace them. Worked like a charm.

Larry

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"Life is short. Drink the good wine first"

Armorall cleaning wipes worked on my stuff. Just the plastic steering wheel though here, not faux leather.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 02-17-2011).]

Try this!!

http://www.simplegreen.com/

Spoon

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Two yeast spent their entire life "about 2 days" discussing what the purpose of life could be and not once did they even come close to the fact that they were making champagne. Quoted by: Unknown