how to get brake dust off the rims

**Donavin629** · 02-02-2010, 06:02 PM

i had this bmw that was not detailed for a long time.. could not get all the brake dust to get off the rims... tried all my polishes.. did not have my degreaser with me because since i moved to austin i have not had a reason to brake out the harsh stuff.. and austin with How GREEN everyone is around here i dont carry any harsh chemicals anymore.

any ideas?

**Beemerboy** · 02-02-2010, 06:17 PM

You need two things. A decent wheel cleaner and some brushes that will allow you to get into that tight area.

Also cleaners to lift stuff out of tight areas need dwell time. For something like that I would wet the rim and spray on the cleaner. let the set on the rim for a few minutes, then use the brush to get into the tight areas and rince.

As for APC be very careful some of those can stain the rims depending how strong they are

**Donavin629** · 02-02-2010, 06:35 PM

yeah i dont like using anything harsh on rims cause of the fear of staining them.

i usually dont even have to degreese anything here in austin at all.. cars are pretty clean here.. so just a wash and a good wipe down with a microfiber towel does the job.

**Beemerboy** · 02-02-2010, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by Donavin629

yeah i dont like using anything harsh on rims cause of the fear of staining them.

i usually dont even have to degreese anything here in austin at all.. cars are pretty clean here.. so just a wash and a good wipe down with a microfiber towel does the job.

A good stiff brush that looks like a paint brush will get into those corners. Poorboys spray and rinse would be a great cleaner for those IMO and make short order of the work

**cartoysautospa** · 02-03-2010, 06:26 PM

my process is three steps
1. rinse off the wheels with pressure washer, remove as much dirt and dust as possible
2. spray whatever your preference of wheel cleaner, let dwell and rinse thoroughly
3. I use a foam cleaner car brite`s x-tra duty..foam up the wheels, let them sit. and use a detail brush , horse hair or synthetic type and wipe residue with micro fiber towel ....blow dry with air blower
this sounds like a lot of steps , but once oyu get the steps down , you can do wheels in no time

**Ronkh** · 02-03-2010, 11:14 PM

Not sure about BMW wheels

but my regimine is
for badly soiled rims

Rinse
PB spray and rinse all 4 wheels
then if real bad use daytona wheel brush
rinse

That`ll do ya.

**Troy@Protekt** · 02-03-2010, 11:30 PM

I would work on one wheel at a time. The build-up of brake dust is probably going to require some dwell time. Keep the surface from drying by agitating with a semi-stiff brush and reapplying for a few minutes.

Poorboy`s Spray and Rinse is the strongest cleaner I would recommend using and should do the trick nicely with a little patience and determination.

As far as being green, don`t worry about that. A little alkaline based cleaner will neutralize it. Just don`t get it on your skin while your working with it.

**Donavin629** · 02-04-2010, 11:36 AM

thanks for all the info guys i will give these ideas a shot... i used to run into this problem all the time when i was detailing in NJ.. but we used a pretty harsh degreaser at the shop to take care of it.. until on day one of the guys sprayed it on polished aluminum.. totally screwed the rims up.. so i try to stay away from harsh chemicals for the most part

**cartoysautospa** · 02-04-2010, 12:01 PM

nothing like some flashed up alum rims..................been there done that !

**Troy@Protekt** · 02-04-2010, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by Donavin629

thanks for all the info guys i will give these ideas a shot... i used to run into this problem all the time when i was detailing in NJ.. but we used a pretty harsh degreaser at the shop to take care of it.. until on day one of the guys sprayed it on polished aluminum.. totally screwed the rims up.. so i try to stay away from harsh chemicals for the most part

Of course you want to use chemicals properly and using an acid or strong alkaline cleaner is not too smart on uncoated polished aluminum unless you plan to polish them out. Just because that happened shouldn`t keep you from using something like Poorboy`s Spray and Rinse in this situation. It`s the mildest of the heavy duty wheel cleaners and in some cases a strong cleaner is necessary. I would say caked on brake dust is such a case.

People view the use of a rotary polisher the same way. Because of it`s potential to harm paint, people are scared to use it or think it`s a bad thing to use on paint, but it is an essential tool in certain cases. Learning the proper way to use it is key. Same goes with chemicals.

**Ronkh** · 02-04-2010, 01:10 PM

Spray and Rinse will be FINE for regualr BMW wheels. (which those in pic are)

Trust me on this. I`ve got enough of em.

**elk42** · 03-30-2010, 02:35 PM

ive used it to with great results. i dilute the solution also.

**shuddleston** · 03-30-2010, 09:50 PM

Don`t use steel wool - lol. It`ll get the dirt off but it`ll take more than that off. Just be patient and use approved products and a little elbow grease those aren`t too bad.