I believe in preventative maintainence, some call it O.C.D.

I have the stock pads now so I have to clean regularly, like every other day, whether it's 30 or 90 degrees. I use this brush, purchased at Wal-Mart, which helps when it is cold on the hands and it also cleans the inside of the wheel very easily, so I have totally clean wheels....YeP! That's probably O.C.D.


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As soon as I get my money's worth out of the factory brake pads I will be purchasing the "Green Stuff" brake pads, everyone I have talked to that uses them say way less brake dust.

As far as the original post here and using gasoline, that is too harsh to clean wheels with. Since you have used gasoline already I would try Eagle One Wadding Polish pictured below or Mothers wheel cleaner.

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It takes some elbow grease and not sure it will work once gasoline has been used but I would give it a shot, and definitely keep the wheels waxed once you get the dust removed since the gasoline has most likely removed some of the protective coating the wheels have from the factory!

Good Luck!

 

Where exactly do you get the "green stuff" brake pads out of curiosity?

 

Brake dust I thought that was a myth...no matter how much I clean my wheels...they're still black

 

Nevermind, I answered my own question....

 

I believe in preventative maintenance too. I mean to look at my MINI after weekly wash day the wheels look sparkling clean & new. When you walk up & really look close up you will see that the out-of-reach areas have some black. I have no desire to scrub the out-of-reach areas on my wheels weekly so I am looking for something to do say monthly that won't damage my wheels. Also once I get em clean I am going to try the wheel wax to see if it helps any. The P21S gel is sounding like what I will try 1st. I will give it the true test on built up dust & let you know how it works out for a monthly wheel cleaner like me .

 

Our weather was finally warm enough Sat. to do the first handwash since late last fall. That first good wash of the year I've used Meguiar's Gold Class instant wheel cleaner. That and a wheel brush takes the built up dust right off my X-Lites. With the warmer weather it won't have time to build up again until next winter. I've used this process for two years now and haven't noticed any issues with the finish at all.

 

To elimate the cleaning i have installed Mintex Red Pads and am happy with the results.I have had them on my VW for years,same results.Q

 

As a chemist, I've got to recommend against using it on your hands. You even said in your post that you wouldn't consider using it on anything valuable... that stuff contains some very harsh substances. We had a guy at work int he production department who liked to wash his hands in the solvent baths. Not the same solvents as brakleen, but not entirely dissimilar from the naptha ingredients. He didn't make it past his early 50's.

 

figured it had to be bad, but I really didn't consider long term absorption problems. I just figured if it irrated my skin there was a problem, and it didn't so never really thought about it. Good thing someone did , guess I'll have to scrub a little harder with the gojo from now on. It's kinda expensive as a hand cleaner anyways.

 

Nevermind the wheels, do your hubs stay nice and clean like that? I don't like my center caps, but I use them anyway because I don't want exposed grungy, rusty hubs either.

 

To keep them from rusting, paint with Rustoleum. I rarely wash the hubs but then, I don't drive in the rain either

 

My routine: EBC Greenstuff brake pads; two layers of Zaino (Z2) car polish every 4-6 months;
Eagle One wheel cleaner. I still get brake dust, but less of it.

 

Funny you mentioned that, I had a full bottle of S100 motorcycle cleaner from my last bike and I used that on the wheels, then rinsed all the black dust off without scrubbing. Most of the comercial wheel cleaners I tried didn't work as well as the S100. It's expensive stuff but it works great. I think the trick is to get all the dust buildup from the inside of the wheel as well, which is one place you can't scrub, but you can spray & rinse...

 

You can use a brush like the one I posted a pic of in this thread and I am able to easily scrub all of the insides of the wheels. With the factory brake pads I clean them about every other day to avoid future buildup of dust inside the wheel. $4 at Wal-Mart or probably any auto care store as well. I use it with Zaino Car Wash or Meguiars Car wash to clean the wheels.

Will soon start using Zaino Wheel polish as well, but the brush works great for cleaning inside the wheels.

 

i had the same black specs. i suspect they are excess wheel weight adhesive, not brake residue.

after trying many things, i finally got them off using a claybar and mineral spirits.

 

You just want to show off your wheels and HUGE brakes-----show off!

 

yep - I echo the changing of the pads...but use Simple Green to clean the wheels - works great, it's non-toxic, and biodegradable

 

The real solution to the problem is to change out the stock brake pads, especially on the front. I use Greenstuff pads and even with polished aluminum wheels I can hardly see the dust.

The rears don't have brake dust problems as bad as the fronts. I still have the stock pads back there, but I'll put on Greenstuff pads soon with ~40k miles on the car.

 

Simple Green works pretty well. I hadn't "really" cleaned my wheels all winter and the other day when it got warm I used Simple Green and a little elbow grease and 98% of the gunk was gone. And I think if I hadnt been so tired already I coulda gotten the rest off.

 

another good idea: nitrile gloves. Or a medium thick latex if you're not sensitve yet. Automotive sludge tends to be rather carcinogenic itself. And it's a LOT quicker and easier to shed a layer of rubber than scrub out your fingernails at the end of the day. (they'll probably run about a dollar or two per pair if you buy a box of 50 gloves) And for what it's worth, they're more a barrier against physical debris than solvents. Most disposable gloves are fairly permeable to things like light ketones and aromatic compounds such as the constituents of solvent cleaning sprays and fuels. But they're excellent against almost all powders and waterborne chemicals.

 

mmmm....could be But I'm surprise no one's acknowledged my perfect solution for brake dust though

 

Keeping a good coat of Carnuba on the wheels helps with getting the brake dust off at the wash.
A little more elbow grease but worth the effort.

 

I thought that the commercial said that those products were for use on Chip Foose wheels only???

Didn't Gabe of White Roof Radio fame suggest wheel tear offs?

 

Once you get them clean apply Wheel Wax twice (as per directions). I have no problems with brake dust now. You will have to add another coat periodically, but its easier than tackling the dust. Order it from:
www.wheelwax.com

 

Agreed (about changing the stock pads). Except I changed to Hawk ceramic pads. Virtually no dusting and it seems the rotors have no wear. I definitely don't do the obsessing about weekly cleaning/waxing/etc. If that is your "thing", have at it. I prefer to drive the car.