I got a new set of wheels and wondering what would be the best product for cleaning them. My plan is to do a regular wash and then either Slick or Hydro them.

The wheels are partially painted. Just wanted to know if there were any must have wheel cleaners out there.

Thanks in advance and here is a picture of the wheels.

 

Great-looking wheels! I heartily approve of the five-split-spokes.

Once you've got your favorite sealant on the wheels, you shouldn't need anything more than your usual car shampoo to remove normal grime. If I've gotten lazy and haven't done any maintenance on the wheels for a while, a touch of Griot's wheel cleaner typically removes most stubborn brake dust buildups. For wheels that have brake dust baked-on, though, I call in the heavy-duty P21S wheel cleaner gel formula.

 

just use your carwash soap and a boar's hair brush... rinse like usual.

then wipe down using Hydro. that's all. very simple.

 

I agree with Ken. There are no (*) wheel cleaners out there that are truly "spray on/hose off" and get the wheel totally clean (except for some that are too caustic for regular use), so you're going to have to physically brush the wheels anyway, and if you're having to do that, car wash soap works as well as anything else.

(*) I say there are "none", but I obviously haven't tried every single wheel cleaner on the market. That being said, I *have* tried all of the ones you find at the auto parts stores, along with Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner, P21S, P21S Gel, and a few other mail-order / internet-only brands, so I'm pretty confident.

 

i think OG and ML will say try wheelbrite or watever it's called by meguiar's.

personally carsoap works fine for me.

 

i agree, i usually do it last with car soap, and an old wash mitt i got lying around that's shedding sheep hair off it

that said, if its winter wheels or track wheels that's got heavy brake dust, i use meguair's wheel cleaner

 

Thanks everyone...... Now if someone could fix my typo in the subject line

 

Jeffc, I love your new wheels!

It really depends on how bad the brake dust is. If it's just a light coating, then car wash soap is fine, but if it's baked on there and no amount of rubbing with soap will get it off, then something stronger is helpful. As Ken mentioned, Meguiar's Wheel Brightener from the Professional Detail line is excellent. It's diluted with water and truly is a spray on, and rinse off deal. It was designed for use and is safe on clear coated/painted wheels--its not for polished wheels as it will fog them up.

Although even with light brake dust, WB makes a huge difference--there was no wiping here. Just spray on, grab hose, and rinse off.





Take a look at these pix--this is of an RV that had years and years of baked on brake dust. The wheels were originally white and were being prepped for painting. Took only about 15 minutes of actual brushing. Water from a hose along with the brushing helped clean it quicker. Yeah the painting wasn't perfect--it was a quick and dirty job for the company RV.

 

+1 on Wheel Brightener.
This stuff rocks. I have not had the problem of bad baked on dust but it makes day-to-day cleaning easy.

 

What would you use to clean multispoke wheels to get in the tight spots and the bottom of the spokes?

 

Use a bottle brush

 

A what?

 

i thought you were just trying to be cute or something.