Question About Caring For Polished Wheels

P

Polygon

New member
This is my first post here and I have a question about maintaining the polished lip on my wheels. For some reason the clear coat is coming off on the front wheels. I assume this is due to brake dust. However, you can also see fine scratches from the brushes I use to clean the wheels. They aren't very abrasive brushes, or so I thought. I am replacing all the wheels and I want to know how I should take care of them on a daily driver.



Just to let you know, I refuse to use any wheel cleaners as I know they are full of acid. I was using Simple Green based on others advice, but I'm not sure about it either. I just want to make sure the clear coat doesn't peel on the new ones and that there aren't any fine scratches either.



Thanks,

Clint
 
Your best bet is to use car-wash soap, with a soft sponge or wash mitt. Then some good sealant to protect. No brushes or so-called "cleaners".



If you are as anal as I am you could use this method... I never wash my wheels... I wipe them down with Z6 every day... It takes less than one minute per wheel. The car has over 80,000 miles on it and the wheels look brand new.



But most people aren't as anal as I am.;)
 
That would probably be a good idea since the pads dust like crazy. Also, what sealant would you suggest? This is going to help a lot since I am planning on getting a new set of wheels for my other car and they're going to be be completely polished.
 
Some of this is a cut-and-paste from my previous posts - hope it works for you too.



Waxed the rims with P21S, let the rims sit for 4 days, waxed again, waited 5 days, and applied 2 applications of Rejex one day apart, never using the car between waxes and or Rejex. They gleam better than new!

The maintenance on them is a blast of the hose and wipe-down of the left over wash in the bucket after washing the car and I'm done! They shine, they're protected, and the finish is so slick brake dust barely accumulates.



The first time is a lot of work, but the time I save in cleaning them now is worth all the prep time I put in. I apply a new coat of Rejex every month (very easy to put on and take off), and I love the results, and (almost) never worry about the long term effects of constantly using caustic wheel cleaners.



I just started this process this week on the car I took delivery on last week. As I said, it sucks not being able to drive it for several days ... but the long term, easy clean results are worth the wait.



Hope it works for you.
 
Polygon said:
..you can also see fine scratches from the brushes I use to clean the wheels. They aren't very abrasive brushes, or so I thought. I am replacing all the wheels and I want to know how I should take care of them on a daily driver...
Click to expand...



A lot of the "wheel brushes" on the market are coarse enough to mar the clear on many wheels (even though it's generally tougher than the clear on the car proper). I like Boar's Hair Brushes, which don't mar IME.



.. I refuse to use any wheel cleaners as I know they are full of acid. I was using Simple Green based on others advice, but I'm not sure about it either...
Click to expand...



There are numerous ph-neutral wheel cleaners that are safe for use on *any* wheel (e.g., P21s, Griot's, certain Meguiar's ones, etc. etc.). Twenty-some years of P21s/Griot's wheel cleaner use hasn't hurt the wheels on my older cars so I'm confident that those two are OK. They work pretty well when diluted with water too.



Simple Green, OTOH, has been known to damage the finish of wheels (a guy with a Jetta really messed his up with it but it happened so gradually that didn't notice until the damage was severe). Also, Simple Green has pretty poor lubricity IMO, and that makes it harder to clean the wheels without marring.



I go back and forth about approaches for daily drivers; either seal the wheels and clean with sorta-strong shampoo mix, or don't seal and clean with a safe wheel cleaner. Both approaches work fine IME, and if the latter doesn't leave 'em "shiny enough" you could give them a quick spritz of some leaves-stuff-behind QD.



Oh, and Welcome to Autopia!
 
Saintlysins said:
Some of this is a cut-and-paste from my previous posts - hope it works for you too.



Waxed the rims with P21S, let the rims sit for 4 days, waxed again, waited 5 days, and applied 2 applications of Rejex one day apart, never using the car between waxes and or Rejex. They gleam better than new!

The maintenance on them is a blast of the hose and wipe-down of the left over wash in the bucket after washing the car and I'm done! They shine, they're protected, and the finish is so slick brake dust barely accumulates.



The first time is a lot of work, but the time I save in cleaning them now is worth all the prep time I put in. I apply a new coat of Rejex every month (very easy to put on and take off), and I love the results, and (almost) never worry about the long term effects of constantly using caustic wheel cleaners.



I just started this process this week on the car I took delivery on last week. As I said, it sucks not being able to drive it for several days ... but the long term, easy clean results are worth the wait.



Hope it works for you.
Click to expand...



It sounds like a lot of work, but it will be worth it since the pads end up covering the wheels after about a week. Thanks for the tips. Right now, I'm out of work so I might be able to not drive it for a few.



Accumulator said:
A lot of the "wheel brushes" on the market are coarse enough to mar the clear on many wheels (even though it's generally tougher than the clear on the car proper). I like Boar's Hair Brushes, which don't mar IME.



There are numerous ph-neutral wheel cleaners that are safe for use on *any* wheel (e.g., P21s, Griot's, certain Meguiar's ones, etc. etc.). Twenty-some years of P21s/Griot's wheel cleaner use hasn't hurt the wheels on my older cars so I'm confident that those two are OK. They work pretty well when diluted with water too.



Simple Green, OTOH, has been known to damage the finish of wheels (a guy with a Jetta really messed his up with it but it happened so gradually that didn't notice until the damage was severe). Also, Simple Green has pretty poor lubricity IMO, and that makes it harder to clean the wheels without marring.



I go back and forth about approaches for daily drivers; either seal the wheels and clean with sorta-strong shampoo mix, or don't seal and clean with a safe wheel cleaner. Both approaches work fine IME, and if the latter doesn't leave 'em "shiny enough" you could give them a quick spritz of some leaves-stuff-behind QD.



Oh, and Welcome to Autopia!
Click to expand...



That makes sense. The scratches are in a circular pattern around the lip. Any advice on where to find that Boar's Hair Brush? Also, when I said wheel cleaner I was referring to the crap you find at Autozone, Checker, Wal Mart. I don't know of any places around here to get good products. That's partly why I came here, to read up and find some good online vendors. Thanks for the heads up on Simple Green. I'm guessing you wouldn't want to use this on anything powdercoated?



Thanks for the tips and product ideas as well.
 
Polygon said:
Any advice on where to find that Boar's Hair Brush? .. Thanks for the heads up on Simple Green. I'm guessing you wouldn't want to use this on anything powdercoated?
Click to expand...



I like the BHBs from Griot's better than the others I've tried. I like their PN 92546 for the bulk of the work and the smaller ones in their pn 15520 for the tighter areas. You could get their Wheel Cleaner pn 11106 too and see if you like it. Website: Car Care, Detail Supplies, Garage Organization, Car Accessories - Griot's Garage 800-345-5789



I never tried Simple Green on Powdercoating...I hardly ever us it at all so :nixweiss
 
Thanks a ton.



I guess a better question would be, what would you use for engine detail/degreaser that won't kill a powdercoated finish? I just powdercoated the valve cover and upper intake plenum.
 
Polygon said:
.. what would you use for engine detail/degreaser that won't kill a powdercoated finish? I just powdercoated the valve cover and upper intake plenum.
Click to expand...





Beats me :nixweiss I've only had a few powdercoated items and I always cleaned them with either regular shampoo mix or Griot's Wheel Cleaner. Dunno what I'd use on powdercoating that was too dirty for either of those.
 
Accumulator said:
Beats me :nixweiss I've only had a few powdercoated items and I always cleaned them with either regular shampoo mix or Griot's Wheel Cleaner. Dunno what I'd use on powdercoating that was too dirty for either of those.
Click to expand...



Well, that does help. My brake calipers are going to be powdercoated black. You think Griot's would be fine on those?
 
Polygon said:
Well, that does help. My brake calipers are going to be powdercoated black. You think Griot's would be fine on those?
Click to expand...



Don't see why not :nixweiss I dunno what's on my S8's calipers, but I use BF or UPP to seal them and wash them with regular shampoo mix.



Por2geezSupra- I dunno *what* to use on the uncoated lips :confused: It's been forever since I had wheels like that (Epsilons in the early '80s).
 
I use a boar's hair brush and car wash soap. Maybe once a month i'll use griots wheel cleaner. I have 2 buckets (one wash, one rinse) that are dedicated to wheels. I usually get my bhb's from griots or autogeek. I prefer the ones from griots because they have longer bristles. Smells like a wet dog though.



What type of wheels are they?
 
Accumulator said:
Don't see why not :nixweiss I dunno what's on my S8's calipers, but I use BF or UPP to seal them and wash them with regular shampoo mix.



Por2geezSupra- I dunno *what* to use on the uncoated lips :confused: It's been forever since I had wheels like that (Epsilons in the early '80s).
Click to expand...



Thanks for everything, I'll give that a try. :)



NickelPlated.45 said:
What type of wheels are they?
Click to expand...



Mine are 5Zigen FN01R-C. The set that was messed up were silver machined. I'm getting them replaced with the gloss black set.
 
NickelPlated.45 said:
.. I usually get my bhb's from griots or autogeek. I prefer the ones from griots because they have longer bristles. ..
Click to expand...



That's funny, my Griot's ones have *shorter* bristles than my AG BHB for wheels :think: In fact, the AG one's bristles are so long and flexible that IMO it's a little too gentle for some jobs. Sheds like crazy too...maye we got our AG ones at different times (forget when I got mine), this stuff probably changes from time to time.
 
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