I thought I would pass-on a tip for all who despise brake wheel dust on their wheels ... For the last two weeks I have been spraying the Eagle-One Keep Clean onto my wheels ...

Spray on & let dry to haze & wipe off manually with micro-fiber or with drill ... argh! Wiping the haze off is little difficult, drill works better ... The results of how the stuff works, I feel is worth the effort for my black wheels ....

 

Haven't really used anything on wheels yet but REJEX seems to be the Holy Grail from what I gather.

 

Armor All wheel protectant works pretty well too.

 

My "fix" replace with Enkei's, solved the Brake Dust problem!!

 

Please expain?

 

My Solution was EBC red brake pads. 75% less dust. The oem pads were horrible for dust. I could detail my Mini, go on a 40 mile drive, there would a layer dust! Arh! Drove me Crazy! Since I am an OCD cleaner.

Change your pads, you won't be disappointed 8-)

 

I just went to Kmart and bought a random wheel cleaner called Black Magic Titanium wheel cleaner (?) and it has done wonders. It has been three weeks since I last washed my car and the brake dust is just starting to show.

 

Eliminated all brake dust by getting Delco "lifetime" pads from my local shop. No more dust or cleaning for over a year now!

 

I replaced Molly's Wheels in April with 16" Enkei T Fork's, they are about the color of Brake Dust, so I don't have to be OCD anymore about how much Brake Dust is on her wheels!!

 

I have black wheels. No problems with dust.

 

I'm so glad you guys started this thread. I discovered, after owning my CM for just two months, that I had shiny wheels, not anthracite ones.

I know, I know. It's completely shameful. I think I was in denial.



But now that I've cleaned them, I want to keep them awesome. I just washed the car again today, about a month after the last wash, and they were pretty bad again (not as bad as the first time).

I wiped them down with the same wax I was using on the car, and I buffed them a little, and I'm hoping that'll make the brake dust rinse off a bit easier, but I'm not confident in that solution.

I used Black Magic cleaner both times, and while it's completely false that it's a "no scrub" formula, the stuff does come off easily with a wheel brush once it's been sprayed.

But this Rejex solution seems encouraging. I hope other folks chime in with their own way of keeping their wheels clean. (particularly people with gloss sliver wheels like mine).

 

I used to wipe them down every week with Windex wipes. Then I started using Wheel Wax...the brake dust came off easily with a power sprayer for about two weeks. I'm currently experimenting with Nu Finish on my wheels to see how that works...

 

My rims are coated with Opticoat v2.
They get sprayed down with Zep APC with a mixture ratio on 1 to 3 and rinsed with a pressure washer. If you want dust free get different pads.

 

To clean Wheels use I've used Sonax Wheel Cleaner, I now use Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner, for waxing I use WheelWax, I've used Prima Wheel Armour, for wheel protection I've used Prima Hydro, I now use Griot's Garage Speed Shine. It's really a matter of preference on what product manufacturer you wish to purchase your products from.

 

So you think they're all roughly the same in their ability to keep dust from accruing and/or making it easier to clean once it does?

One thing I've also noticed, while we're on the subject, is little black flecks that don't clean off as easily as the brake dust. I actually have to go after them with a fingernail because the wheel brush is useless on them. Anybody know what those are, how to clean them, or if some kind of wheel wax or polish will help make them easier to get off?

 

When it comes to wheel care (and detailing products in general), there aren't many products that really stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. I've used a bunch of different wheel cleaners and found that none are truly spray-on/hose-off (although Meguiar's "Wheel Brightener" is the best I've found so far.) But truthfully, if you're going to have to use a brush/mitt in conjunction with the cleaner anyway, then most of the cleaners on the market work equally-well.

For wheel protection, I've used Wheel Wax and Wheel Armour, but neither one "wowed" me. I'm trying the aerosol "Wheel Protectant" from Armour All now, but haven't cleaned the wheels since applying it, so I don't have an opinion yet.

For a quick detailer, I've moved away from Speedshine to Prima's "Slick" and have actually noticed significantly better results. I think Hydro is tough to beat for a "wax as you dry" product, and I use it full-strength as a quick detailer on the black A-pillar covers because it's wonderful for filling the minute scratches that always seem to pop up on the covers no matter how careful I am.

As for the black flecks, it's probably road tar. I get the same stuff on my wheels. Rather than using your fingernail, you can actually wipe them off with mineral spirits or a dedicated tar remover, but you'll strip off any wheel protection you've put on the wheel in the process. To keep the tar from adhering so tightly in the first place, you can try some of the wheel waxes and see if it helps you. You can also clay bar the wheels to get them as smooth as possible and that should help keep the tar from adhering.

 

+1 for the incredible wheel-cleaning education you just gave me in a single post.

 

You're welcome. I'm actually embarrassed by how many hundreds of dollars I've spent on wheel cleaners over the years. Maybe some of them would have been worthwhile if I ever let my wheels get completely filthy, but for routine cleaning, all of them still require wiping down with a mitt or sponge. Like I said before, if I'm going to be wiping the wheels anyway, leftover wash water works just as well at a small fraction of the cost.

Going back to what I was saying earlier about there being very few "standout" detailing products, I think I'm going to start a new thread to share my experiences and see if anyone else has found particular products that really put the others to shame.

 

So it sounds like my current strategy of cleaning them and then waxing them with the same wax I'm using on the car is probably roughly equivalent to any of the other products, though some may be slightly better.

 

Yep. In the end, caring for wheels isn't significantly different than caring for the rest of the painted surfaces on your car - get them clean, get them smooth, then apply a protectant that will hopefully stick around for a while. Repeat often enough that the accumulated contaminants don't have a chance to attack the finish.

The biggest difference with wheel-specific protectants is that since a wheel isn't a vast unbroken expanse of painted metal like a hood or a door, shine isn't quite as important or noticeable, so products like Wheel Wax and Wheel Armour can sacrifice some gloss in favor of durability. But with a slightly shorter maintenance interval, the same wax that you use on the rest of your car will work just fine on your wheels and serve the same purpose.

 

Griot's Garage also makes a Wheel Cleaning Clay that will help with removing the Black Spots...


I have not used this product, but because I believe in Griot's Products if I needed to remove Black Spots from Molly's Wheels this is what I would use.

To further boast Griot's Products they also make this...

I purchased it to use on Molly's OEM Take-off wheels, just have not gotten around to doing them yet.

 

Thanks!