Wheel Cleaners: Worth it?

R

racingbeat

New member
I clean my Porsche wheels once a week and apply NXT. I usually just use Eagle Car Wash Shampoo and my Meguiar's Gold Class Brush (minus the handle), ocassionaly clay bar if tar or rubber get on there. THe wheels are 18" five spokes and clean very easily.

I've been tempted to try P21S wheel cleaner but I don't really see where plain old car wash shampoo isn't doing the job.

What's the advantage of a wheel claner?
 
You say you wash your car once per week, and I bet it's not your daily driver--so soap should be enough for you. Wheel cleaner is used for daily drivers, that aren't meticulously washed once a week, the ones that gather tons of crud on their wheels. Most people who really care for their cars, like you obviously do, use soap and a brush, but pro detailers doing all sorts of cars need wheel cleaner for the wheels that have lots of brake dust and are very dirty.
 
I might give it a shot. getting in the lug holes is a trick with the spoke brush, maybe a more concentrated liquid wil clean that and the barrell a little better, without so much elbow grease.

p.s. it used to be a five minute daily driver and would then sit in an outdoor parking lot.

So despite owning a Porsche I now ride a $80 Kmart mountain bike for my weekly commute, sometimes in the rain while motorists laugh at me. :D

Weekends are still tons of driving (10,000 miles this year).
 
The wheel cleaner will almost certainly compromise the LSP on the wheels.



Since I started using LSPs with decent durability on my wheels, the only time I use a wheel cleaner is when I pull them off for the annual "big cleanup", usually when I switch to snows or put the good cars away for the winter. I use the wheel cleaner (diluted) to clean the tires at each wash (diluted, it doesn't strip off all the tire dressing). But I keep it off the wheels.



No problems at all using regular shampoo, mixed up sorta strong in a spray bottle, for my wheels, with clay as needed. I use swabs and boar's hair brushes around things like exposed lugnuts and clean the "insides of the rims" and backs of the spokes at every wash. Even with the brakedust that I get with the S8 it's just not a big deal.



Maybe try a more durable or slippery LSP, like KSG or UPP.
 
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