Steering Wheel Rehab
The leather cover on my steering wheel had seen better days. While the leather was tight and the lacing good, the factory-applied coating over the leather was scratched, chipped and severely faded and it was just ugly. Solving the problem took about $8 and an hour of my time.
I found a local leather supply shop and purchased a bottle of high-sheen black dye and a bottle of top coat to seal the dye. Each bottle cost about $4 and was enough to do a dozen steering wheels easy.
Using 180 grit sandpaper, I sanded off the factory coating and smoothed out the scratches and chips. It comes off fairly quickly and you dont want to be too aggressive. A couple of times in the process I wiped off the wheel with Prep All to remove dust and any residual coating material. This also let me see where I needed extra sanding.
Once I got it sanded down nice and smooth, I put on plastic gloves and dipped a shop rag in the dye and wiped it on. The leather was really thirsty, so I used two coats, letting the dye dry between coats about 10 minutes. I then buffed the wheel with a clean rag.
After letting it set for a few hours, I then applied the top coat. Again, I used two coats letting it dry for 10-15 minutes between, followed by buffing with a clean shop towel.