Ways to clean inside of wheels

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imported_series1

New member
Hey guys I was just wondering what your tips and ways of cleaning the insides of wheels are. I did do a search and found 2 ways that I'm thinking of. The 1st one is using 0000 steel wool and A2Z and the 2nd is using an acid cleaner with a stiff brush. I could try A2Z with a stiff brush also. What do you guys think?
 
I just use A2Z with a terry. I do a spray and rinse first, to get the soft stuff off and then spray and wipe with terry to get the bad gunk off, then finish with either a terry or a "bad" MF. That usually does the trick. You can use a stiff brush if you have to, but I would try the lesser-abrasive terry first.
 
Wheelwax is supposed to work both to protect and to clean wheels. I have it on my brand new wheels but have not used it on dirty wheels....yet. That might happen tomorrow.
 
Long bristle brush...similar to a bottle cleaner brush for the kitchen to clean the inside and drum portion of your wheel. Works great.
 
PB's spray+rinse plus tire brush, cleaned off with a pressure washer. If that doesn't work, then PB's S+R plus 0000 steel wool. If that still doesnt work, aluminum brightener followed by abrasive rouge on buffing wheel. I've never had a wheel stand up that that that didnt need total refinishing.



-Tim
 
Using products such as P21S or Sonax which can be allowed to soak on the wheel helps as lot. I would agitate with a soft brush. On the worst wheels it may take several attempts but I would rather do this twice before using stronger abrasive methods
 
I have polished wheels that looked great on the outside but had a heavy brown buildup on the inside. I decided to give it a thorough cleaning. The most obvious easy way, using EO A2Z, did little. So I brought out some heavier stuff. I used a drywall sanding block made of composite so I don't get rust marks that steel wool would give. I used it to get the bulk of the crud off. I then used NevrDull, Brasso and Wenol red and blue to see what kind of cleaning power they had. The best results I got were when I dipped a wad of NevrDull in Brasso. It enhanced the softening of the brake dust and increased the "cut" of the NevrDull. I also trieda steam cleaner with a brass brush attachment. It worked up to a certain extent but I eventually preferred using the sanding block. I also used a Dremel with a stainless brush to get at the really stubborn stuff. It made short work of it but it was so small that I wouldn't get a uniform finish if I used it on the whole backside and would have been very tedious. After I was satisfied, I gave the tires and wheels a cleaning with EO A2Z. Once dried, I used 2 coating of AIO and 2 of SG. Done. Install wheels.
 
I use a wheel brush with P21S wheel cleaner, and if that won't work, I break out the #0000 steel wool to use with the wheel cleaner.
 
I got my 0000 steel wool at Home Depot. For the spring clean on my wheels before going back on the car to change out snow tires, I have excellent results with Costco APC diluted 1:10 followed by PB's Pro Polish with a cotton cloth. Glossed it up a bit with VM. Exterior surfaces are maintained with PB's wheel sealant. This product has turned out to be an excellent investment! I didn't need the steel wool, as the wheels weren't that dirty. I've never had the need to try Pro Polish with steel wool. Maybe Poorboy's could chime in here on that.
 
Hit the dollar store, they have these little sticks made out of plastic with stringy sponge material on the end that are used for cleaning bottles/glasses. I get 6 for a buck. I put two together and they fit nice inside the spokes of my wheels to get inside. Its a cheap, low tech solution. They even rinse clean when they are soaked in AZ.



Be careful of the type that have abbrasive material, just get the simple sponge material type. Its made my BMW wheel cleaning a breeze.



There is a lot of good things you can adapt to detailing at the dollar store!
 
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