Leather steering wheel renovation tutorial

Hello everyone, I purchased the Sofolk leather steering wheel renovation kit for my BMW and I wanted to share my feedback with you.

First of all a big thank you to the Sofolk team who helped me to make a repair that I thought was impossible. The result is beyond my expectations, I'm amazed.

I started my renovation on Saturday morning and finished it on Sunday in the early afternoon. The longest was mainly the drying times because in reality, I don't think I spent more than 2 hours on my steering wheel.

To carry out this repair, I had to buy in addition to the Sofolk leather steering wheel repair kit

• The leather healing sofolk
• A small piece of leather as thin as the one on my steering wheel (provided free of charge by Sofolk)
• Strong glue
• acetone
• 2 sponges (one for painting, the other for varnishing)
• a small brush (also for applying paint in difficult areas and not to overflow)

This is the condition of my leather steering wheel. It was so worn that the leather had completely disappeared from the top.

Sanding of leather with 240 grain sandpaper supplied in the kit. I don't hide from you that I was heartbroken to do this because it's impressive. The shiny side of unused leather has completely disappeared.

Stripping and degreasing with acetone. Insist on this step because I had to do it again after applying my first coat of paint. Indeed, even when dry, the leather was slightly sticky to the touch. The technician Sofolk had warned me and said that if this happened, it was because of insufficient stripping. I must say, my steering wheel was really dirty.

Rather than having to redo a complex shape with my piece of leather that must fit perfectly, I preferred to cut the edges of my hole cleanly.

Not having any tracing paper, I used a simple sheet of paper that I placed firmly on the hole. Then with a pen, I tried as best I could to "feel" the edges with the mine.

I then stapled my paper to the piece of leather so that it would not move when cutting with scissors.

Of course, I had to make small adjustments with scissors in order to have a perfectly adapted piece of leather. Now it is glued and positioned.

I applied the leather healing clay here to weld the edges of my leather piece with that of the steering wheel. I might have been able to avoid this step, but I preferred to do it in order to have a piece of leather that will not move over time.

Application of the repair paste. I used a small soft cardboard box for that.
My piece of leather being slightly more porous than that of my steering wheel (ultra smooth), I spread the paste all over it to make it waterproof and therefore give it a smooth touch so that the appearance is identical once the paint is applied.

Sanding the dough (always with 240 grit sandpaper). I advise you to take your time, and put it back several times until you get a totally smooth touch, without the slightest roughness.
To be honest with you, I had to put some paste back on after my first coat of paint, because I had done a bad job in one or two small places.

Application of sponge and brush paint (especially for the edges near the central plastic of the steering wheel). The paint dries very quickly (I started the engine and heating).
First I put a coat of paint on the paste only. Then I applied 3 additional coats on the whole steering wheel.

Apply 2 coats of varnish with a sponge 24 hours after the last coat of paint. A 3rd coat will be applied 7 days later.
My leather steering wheel is perfectly repaired. It is now almost as good as good as new!