I realized a few weeks ago why some wheels are harder to clean than others and it mainly comes down to the inner part of the wheels being smooth or rough. The smoother finish on the wheels inner makes for easier cleaning.
For example I recently did these CLS wheels which were heavily soiled. Using just some P21s gel along with an EZ brush and Swissvax brush I was able to get these wheels 100% perfect. The hardest part of wheel cleaning is getting the wheels inners 100% clean, IMO that makes the difference in really enhancing the look of a detailed wheel. For the most part the face of the wheel isnt very difficult to get clean.
Exibit A: Smooth wheel inners get 100% clean
another example just so happens to be a Mercesdes again
Now today I worked on an ML500 SUV with some very heavy brake dust inside and out. I used Megs wheel brightener 4:1 along with the DD spoke brush (non flexing) for the wheel inners and a Swissvax brush for the face. I noticed the inners would not get very clean because the finish was pretty coarse, almost like tiny ridges were holding in clumps of brake dust making it very difficult to remove, I have encountered these same rough type inner wheels on several Audis and BMW's as well. After lots of pressure washing and scrubbing I was only able to get the wheels about 60% clean on the inners. This really bothers me! Now if I took the wheels off im sure I could have gotten them cleaner but I didnt have the time today nor did the owner want that option.
Exhibit B: An Audi S4 I did several months ago, you can see here the inners are still fairly dirty even after the use of a strong wheel cleaner and intense scrubbing ( btw forget the fact that I did not dress the wells yet). These wheels had that rough inner finish, with the small ridges that hold in brake dust.
This may have sounded confusing and I may have worded things oddly, but if anyone knows what Im talking about can you give me some tips of how to get those rough inner wheel surfaces perfectly clean? Ive clayed with agressive clay and even used an agressive polish by hand but nothing seems to really do the trick Maybe a different wheel cleaner or brush is what I need.
For example I recently did these CLS wheels which were heavily soiled. Using just some P21s gel along with an EZ brush and Swissvax brush I was able to get these wheels 100% perfect. The hardest part of wheel cleaning is getting the wheels inners 100% clean, IMO that makes the difference in really enhancing the look of a detailed wheel. For the most part the face of the wheel isnt very difficult to get clean.
Exibit A: Smooth wheel inners get 100% clean
another example just so happens to be a Mercesdes again
Now today I worked on an ML500 SUV with some very heavy brake dust inside and out. I used Megs wheel brightener 4:1 along with the DD spoke brush (non flexing) for the wheel inners and a Swissvax brush for the face. I noticed the inners would not get very clean because the finish was pretty coarse, almost like tiny ridges were holding in clumps of brake dust making it very difficult to remove, I have encountered these same rough type inner wheels on several Audis and BMW's as well. After lots of pressure washing and scrubbing I was only able to get the wheels about 60% clean on the inners. This really bothers me! Now if I took the wheels off im sure I could have gotten them cleaner but I didnt have the time today nor did the owner want that option.
Exhibit B: An Audi S4 I did several months ago, you can see here the inners are still fairly dirty even after the use of a strong wheel cleaner and intense scrubbing ( btw forget the fact that I did not dress the wells yet). These wheels had that rough inner finish, with the small ridges that hold in brake dust.
This may have sounded confusing and I may have worded things oddly, but if anyone knows what Im talking about can you give me some tips of how to get those rough inner wheel surfaces perfectly clean? Ive clayed with agressive clay and even used an agressive polish by hand but nothing seems to really do the trick Maybe a different wheel cleaner or brush is what I need.