Wheel Cleaning, plz help

[imported_spielnicht]

This is my first year in an apartment and it`s been so, so , so hard to maintain my cars the way I like. Thank God the parking garage is covered at least. The water at the apartment car wash area is shut off in the winter for 4 months.



I try to make it to the self car wash once a week, but with cold weekends, it goes for two weeks. However, once I go that extra week, my wheels gets trashed and the brake dust just bakes in. This is both on the X-Type and S40, but the S40 much less. The X-Type wheels now look horrible. I bought a bottle of wheel cleaner/polish (blue nasty ammonia smelling stuff) from Pep Boys, I scrubbed the inside of the wheels (rough surface), but I accomplished very little, nothing near good. The S40 faired better since the surface is a little more smooth.



What`s the best way to clean the wheels and remove all the baked dust from the rough surfaces and inside of the wheels? Just as well, what`s the best way to keep non smooth surfaces clean all the time? Will wax (e.g. AIO ) work?

[jshillin]

A good wheel cleaner will help you immensely. A lot of people like P21S gel and I`ve heard a lot of good things about the Surf City Garage wheel cleaner. I have some of the SC cleaner, but haven`t had a chance to use it. Just spray your cleaner on, let it dwell, agitate with your wheel brush, rinse and dry.

[gmblack3]

Poorboys spray and rinse will get everything off without scrubbing. But I would not use it all the time. You need to clean, then use a good AIO product and sealant. I use ZAIO and Z2pro on them. Then they will come clean with a simple wash.

[baseballlover1]

Thought about claying them with an aggressive clay? Is that a bad recommendation?

[blownvert]

megs wheel brightener, let it sit for 30 seconds or so most of it will come off if not all.

[Joseph K]

Get them really clean, then seal them with a wheel sealant (Poorboy`s is nice). It won`t keep crap from building up on there, but it will make it a whole hell of a lot easier to get it off when the time comes to clean them.

[BigAl3]

EO1 all wheel & tire cleaner has not done me wrong and works very well (also works great in the wheel wells) IME. they make several different wheel cleaners, so find the one that is appropriate for your wheels... Wheels & Metal (http://eagleone.com/pages/products/category.asp?cid=5006)

[jgh1987]

like mentioned above, I would get them super clean and apply a coat of Poorboy`s wheel sealant (multiple coats would mean even more protection)



Poorboy`s World Wheel Sealant - Detailed Image (http://www.detailedimage.com/wax.php?id=1055&url=detailedimage.com/Poorboys-World-M1/Wheel-Sealant-P40/)



I recommend the site above, very good customer service if you have any questions

[rothaus]

Check out this cleaner, it`s waterless car wash and also work for break dust



YouTube - waterless magic 3 wheels soapysmooth carmagic.com.au (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVOKgIyboq0&feature=related)



Cheers

Engelbert

[matrix_808]

if you protect the wheel with a sealant or wheel wax. The next time you go to clean it with like P21s gel will it strip the wax/sealant on the rim?



i just assume that since its cutting away at the break dust it must be eating away at the LSP.

[Joseph K]

Just clean them with car wash soap and hot water... the brake dust, etc. won`t be embeded/attached to the surface of the wheels, it will be on the surface of the coating, and should come off with a light scrub down.

[SuperBee364]

Check out this cleaner, it`s waterless car wash and also work for break dust



YouTube - waterless magic 3 wheels soapysmooth carmagic.com.au (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVOKgIyboq0&feature=related)



Cheers

Engelbert



Believe it or not, this video is of *gasp in surprise* more Nature`s Way spam.:beware