So I had my spare twinky wheel laying around and I was bored. The thing looked pretty ratshit. I don't know what happened to the leather but it was bad.
So out came the razor blade, and I started un-stitching the leather.
Which left a weird glue behind.
So I tried degreaser, glass cleaner, turps, brake cleaner. But thinners got it off the best. Gave it a wash in hot soapy water and one of those green kitchen scrubbers and voila...
Pretty sweet transformation. Sure its not leather any more but its gone from a POS looking wheel to a respectable looking one.