The two areas on my steering wheel had gotten disgustingly sticky. After much research I used Neutrogena Makeup Remover wipes and now the areas are beautiful.

FYI ...I live in South Florida and the button had gotten sticky before. About 3 years ago they were all replaced in the original factory warranty, so looks like it doesn't last very long before the rubber coating starts to deteriorate.

Here are before and after pictures.

 

Thanks for this post. I am having a similar issue with practically all the buttons (steering/console/etc). Will give the wipes a go. Have tried all sorts of different chemicals with zero luck!

 

My center console buttons are just starting to get sticky and I'll probably have to do them before year's end.

Let me know how it goes and post pictures.

 

2012 Jaguar XF:
Just starting to clean some of my sticky buttons using the Neutrogena makeup remover hydrating cleansing towelettes. Not all of my buttons are extremely sticky; mostly on the vertical part of the console. They were becoming very sticky and gooey and leaving the goo on my fingers. I decided to tackle these first. The other buttons are just starting to get sticky and will tackle those when they get gooey and leave the goo on my fingers.. It is much easier to remove it in the gooey stage. Some of the buttons are easier to clean than others. You need a mind set of patience and determination. Never rub very hard or you stand a chance of damaging the icon on the button.

What I learned:
Open a towelette and shape it to cover the buttons in the area you want to start in. Hold/tape it over the buttons for a few minutes to help further soften the goo. When you are ready to start open a towelette and fold it over once. Shape it over your pointing finger and start gently rubbing the button. I swirled it around at first and then started to wipe it in one direction, experiment what variation seems to start removing it best. Continually put a clean spot over you finger when doing this. During some of the swiping the towelette will shred a bit and leave a stringy goo on the button. This is good! Use your fingers to pull up on the gooey strings and it sometimes removes a good amount of goo with it. I also used wooden round toothpicks to lift some of the goo up and in the end it cleaned out the spaces around the buttons. Each time you use the toothpick wipe it off with the towelette. That keeps the toothpick clean and eliminates putting goo back on the buttons. When the buttons seem to be clean I wiped the button down with a clean micro fiber cloth covering my pointer finger. Now I used a tooth pick to clean out the spaces and crevices between the buttons. I finished up by wiping down the the buttons with a little Windex on a micro fiber cloth. The button icons actually look clearer and more crisp. Remember: patience, gentle touch and determination.

Top buttons cleaned.



HVAC buttons half cleaned to show the difference.

 

FANTASTIC WRITE-UP.

I also used a toothpick to get the around the buttons and the small areas and a microfiber cloth to clean up the excess towelette residue. Actually, we pretty much did everything exactly the same except that I didn't let it sit on the button before starting.
Glad this worked for you too.

 

I did all of my center console last summer. The steering wheel wasn't that bad but its getting there and I need to tackle it next. I found toothpicks didn't quite reach far enough in between to get all the goo that inevitably works its way in the nooks and crannys as it softens up. Dental picks would work but I was afraid of scratching. I fashioned a pick out of some thin sheets of plastic packaging material which seemed to work pretty well. However, I am a little more nervous about compromising the thumbwheel controls on the steering wheel than I was about the center console buttons. They seem to be a lot closer tolerance and more susceptible. How difficult or easy is it to disassemble the steering wheel trim? (sometimes things are easier than they look once you know how, but not always).

 

I purchased the makeup remover and tried it on the steering wheel and it did indeed work without any damage. Thanks for the tip guys.

 

So I was finally able to give this a go. The wipe is self didn't work for me. It "appeared" to clean up the sticky mess but once dry the buttons were still sticky. Here is what worked for me

1. Leave the car out in the heat for a few hours (I live in the DC area). You will notice after a few hours the "sticky" substance starts to glisten and loosen on its own.
2. Take a make up removal wipe and "soak" the buttons one at a time.
3. I used a dental scraper tool (with loop) and slowly worked it from one side to the other as the sticky substance started to curl up and was able to remove with tweezers. Its painstaking requires patience but is also satisfying at the same time.
4. Apply another wipe onto the area and wipe off with a lint free towel
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until the button is clean

 

Hi kiddhan625,

Did you use the Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes?

If you did then yes, it does take some very firm rubbing/swirling to be done more than once in a particular spot, but it should take the rubber coating down to the plastic button and not damage the icon. The rubber coating is not a thin layer, it's fairly thick.

However, anything that can help remove the softened rubber and doesn't damage the buttons should work ... I used my fingernail.

You are correct in that the rubber will dry again back to it's original stickiness. When I first did my steering wheel I thought I had gotten it all and then after it dried I noticed some little spots left that were still sticky and had to be redone.

There are lots of YouTube videos of people using different chemicals for this purpose. I chose the wipes because I did not find that they caused any damage to the surrounding areas. So although it may take more labor and time I thought it better to be safe than sorry.

Good luck.

 

Denatured alcohol usually works too.

 

Nothing sticky left on button when I did it. It does take time and patience.