...about just using car wash soap to clean the wheels. I've come to realize two things:

1) I like my wheels spotless.

-and-

2) Any wheel cleaner that's truly spray-on/hose-off and leaves the wheels spotless is probably too harsh for frequent use.

I just finished a gallon of Griot's Wheel Cleaner and bought a five-liter canister of the P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner. Both products work fairly well, but I still have to wipe the wheels by hand to get all the road grime/brake dust off - it doesn't completely hose off with water, even if there's only a day or two's worth of accumulation.

Since I use the two-bucket wash method, the leftover soap in the soap bucket when I'm done washing the car is still clean enough to use on the wheels, and the car wash soap does as good a job on the wheels as anything else, if I'm willing to wipe it by hand (like I have to do anyway, even with the dedicated wheel cleaners).

So, I think when the P21S is gone, I'll give the car wash soap a try for a while. Although if I end up doing it that way on a permanent basis, I'm going to feel like a chump for all the hundreds of dollars I've spent on wheel cleaners over the last twenty years or so...

Scott

 

beginning to think??!!

NANZOYA!!

 

The soap works just fine if you are cleaning regularly. I relized the same thing and stopped buying wheel cleaner.

 

Me too.

After using a lot of Griot's Wheel Cleaner, I waxed my wheels with Epic and have been just QDing them. But today I just washed them with my microfiber mitt (which I DON'T use on my paint) using the remnants of my wash water and it all came right off (boy, was the water gross after THAT).

I do have the 5-stars and I know that makes it easier. But as long as the wheels are waxed, about half the accumulated brake dust melts off with just water from the hose, and the rest came off with a light wash, I didn't have to scrub at all.

 

Have any of you used one of those long soft bristle brushs by Maguirs for the wheels? I love mine. Makes it a heck of a lot easier to clean those wheels.

 

..wait. people use wheel specific cleaner?
haha where have I been?

three cheers for kenchan!

 

As long as my wheels are stone cold, the brake dust washes right off with soap and water. But if the wheels are warm, it's not so easy.

 

do you have a picture of this brush or a link? I couldn't find it on the meguiar's site.

i've been using the brush on the left in the picture (the right one is for tire cleaning and too hard).... with the brush on the left, i use the leftover soap from the car wash, dip this brush in and then run it over the wheels... it's a soft brush and gets the visible dirt off. I still have to go in with a sponge, though and get all of the dirt in the the v-spokes... i like the look of them, but they are a pain to clean. I also try to reach back in and get the dirt on the inside of the rim, but that's pretty grimy and hard to reach.

I did take the car once to a wand spray car wash (NO BRUSHES!) and found that the hi-power wand cleans the rims pretty well. don't know if this is sacrilege or dangerous for the brakes, etc. but i've only done it once.

 

Check this link....http://autopia-carcare.com/meg-x-1160.html.

I have been using it for almost 2 years and love it.

 

Can you tell what the bristles are made of? I would have a hard time bringing myself to use a wheel brush with nylon/plastic bristles on a painted & clearcoated wheel, even if the brush came from someone like Meguiar's.

Right now, I'm using the Griot's three-finger wash mitts to clean my wheels (Web-spokes), and they're just about the right size for getting in the nooks and crannies. I'm always open to trying new products, though. (Which is why I have about 30 linear shelf-feet of detailing products in my garage right now )

Scott

 

i use the Griot's boar's hairs brush with the long handle. works great.

wheel wax of choice is Prima Epic.
QD is Prima Slick.

i'll probably try the roach juice next spring.

 

Meguiar's discontinued all of their brushes but you can probably still find them at Big Lots.

I just use a generic body brush--the bristles are flagged--feel very soft to the touch--and some car wash soap to wash off the wheels.

Wheel cleaners are great for people who

1.) Never ever clean their wheels such that brake dust builds up and won't come off with just water or soap.

2.) Driving in conditions where you don't have the ability to frequently clean your wheels of road gunk.

Otherwise, soap and water and a brush or even your own hand work well to loosen and remove brake dust. But when I use the Meguiar's professional Wheel Brightener---I can spray it on a clearcoated wheel, and within 10 seconds hose it off and its 95% clean--almost don't even need to touch it to finish it off.

In some cases a wheel cleaner is just great for removing the really difficult to remove stuff.

Richard

 

I use wheel cleaner to clean the wheels while the car is in the garage(winter) I spay the wheel cleaner on, then use my bug sparyer(filled with water) to spray them off. Helps keep them clean, takes 5 min and uses less water than two bucket method.

 

On my next order, I'm gonna get some P21s liquid (not the gel), but that's just to help get in the nooks and cranies a bit better every now and then... It definately won't be an 'every wash' thing... maybe every 3rd or 4th wash.

I've got a soft nylon brush (flagged ends, as OG says... I woulda called 'em "frayed") that I use to clean the wheels and tires, to help get into the lug-bolt holes and the seams of the web-spokes. Normally I just use the left-over wash water and auto shampoo from the wash bucket after washing the body of the car and a cotton chenile wash mit to clean the face and spokes of the wheel. I've also got a nice finger-style brush to get to the inside of the wheel, but whenever I rotate the tires (every 5k miles) I clean the insides well and apply a coat of zaino.

 

Well these are the brushes I use for detailing an engine and wheels, atleast during the initial cleaning stages.



The blue one with the long handle is the soft body brush I bought from Autozone that I use on the wheels and engine. The compact blue one has stiff bristles and that's for tire side walls. The flat tan handled brush is for wheel wells and tight areas in the engine bay.

The other tool not shown are my hands! I actually like to just run my hand inside the wheels if accessible, and using a hose to flood the dust, a light rubbing cleans them up nicely.

 

Great pic. I'm using brushes very similar to #1 and #3, above. I like the look of that last one for a good scrub on the tires.

 

First off, "Any wheel cleaner that's truly spray-on/hose-off and leaves the wheels spotless is probably too harsh for frequent use" is absolutely true. But P21S (even the Gel) is not one of them.

Secondly, yes, soap is fine if you are able to wash your wheels every 100 miles, or after every day it rains, etc. But I would think it unreasonable for most people to wash their car every day or two. And especially with the mini's brake dust, it sure helps to have a cleaning product that makes that brake dust come off with a simple wipe instead of scrubbing like crazy with soap that is not even able to remove grease.

As for brushes, I too use that meguire's brush, but only after using the wheel face brush. Yes its bristles are plastic, but it is the only brush I know that is thin enough to get between the rim and the brake calipers. So you an say I use it to do the inside of the wheel.

As for the brushes that OctaneGuy posted, the top two scare me; and I had one waaay back in the day. The center is a rusty steel wire braid, and the bristles easily bend back and expose it, and it scrapes your nice expensive painted rim.

And yes, I too often use my fingers to get at spots the brushes can't. X-lites are a pain to clean!

 

Considering that often a part of my detail process involves washing a car that hasn't been washed in months, I choose which product is right for the situation. If soap and water doesn't remove the brake dust, then try something more aggressive. I don't think anyone said that you should wash your car every day.

If you need to scrub, then you're using the wrong method. People can use a degreaser. I like Meguiar's APC All Purpose Cleaner. It's mild and won't harm polished wheels.

I don't like the Meguiar's brushes. If I need to clean between the rim and the brake calipers---a spritz of wheel cleaner and my hand works great.

Agreed that X Lites are a pain to clean--I would definitely use a wheel cleaner!

As for the wire brush--I didn't say I used all of these brushes on my wheels, I said I use them for wheels and engine detailing. Always use the tool appropriate for the job.

Anyhow, I much prefer to polish than wash.

Richard

 

I use "Mothers" brake dust brush to clean in/around my S-Lites. Then I finish up with a large sea sponge. Use regular car shampoo. Works for me. Here's a picture of the brush I use. It has soft bristles and doesn't seem to scratch.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I thought the P21S gel was too harsh for frequent use. I've only used it once, but it seems to fall in the same category as the Griot's Wheel Cleaner - effective, as long as I'm willing to wipe it by hand.

The only wheel cleaner that I've ever used that was *truly* spray-on/hose-off and left the wheels spotless was a wire wheel cleaner by Eagle One that I used in the mid-eighties for the factory wire wheels on my dad's Cadillac. It would burn your eyes and your lungs something fierce if you accidently breathed in any of the mist, but it did make the wire spokes sparkle without any hand-wiping at all. The problem was, after several years of use, it played hell with the clear soft plastic logo in the center of the wheel, turning it a yellowish cast and putting spiderweb cracks all over it. What can I say, I was fifteen years old and didn't really know much yet.

Scott

 

Ken is right???

 

 

I too agree that my carsoap cleans my wheels just fine. I also use a Meguiar's Wheel brush (this one). I wish it didn't have such a long handle but the bristles are very soft & it only takes a few seconds per wheel to get em clean at the end of my wash routine