EK9 / ATENZA: Leather steering wheel degrease

You know this. When using your car regularly, your leather steering will become glossy and loose it’s original texture from dirt and greasy hands. Like this:

I wanted to have back the original look and decided it’s time to google for the best solution to get back the OEM look. First step: Buy a good leather cleaner (I got Q2M Leather cleaner) and a leather brush:

Step two: Spray the leather parts of your steering wheel (avoid any buttons or electronics) and then gently work it into the leather with the brush. Let it soak for a few minutes

Then gently remove it by pressing (not rubbing) a soft cloth against the steering wheel. Repeat 2-3x if necessary. After that, leave it to dry overnight or so, as it can be a bit sticky after cleaning. Optionally, add leather care lotion according to instructions for additional protection. It’s definitely not perfect, but looks much better than in the first photo.

After the good results on the Mazda, I repeated it for the EK9, with similar results:

Overall, I’m quite happy and will do this much more regular:

It’s not quite so much visible, but the dirt left on the cloth after cleaning is quite… nasty to say. So it’s also definitively worth the work: