I'm starting to see the value of wheel and tire cleaners

[Desertnate]

Years ago when I owned a BMW, I learned the meaning of dirty wheels. In an attempt to keep ahead of German Break Dust plague, I used P21S wheel cleaner and P21S Gel. At the time I found those products worked no better than the soap in my wash bucket, so I quite buying wheel cleaners. I wasn't about to try anything stronger and risk damage to the clear coat on the wheels.

Fast forward nine years and I decided to try a wheel cleaner again, so I picked up a bottle of Mothers Foaming Wheel Cleaner, just to see what would happen. My first application was to fairly clean wheels, so again I wasn't too impressed and a little miffed at using nearly half a bottle on one car. I did however, like the way it cleaned up the tires.

Everything changed this past weekend. I took advantage of some warm weather to wash the family cars for probably the last time until Spring. When I got to my daughter's car, I saw that several weeks of commuting to college, rain, and two snow storms had not been kind. The wheels were surprisingly filthy. On a whim I broke out the Mother's wheel cleaner again with the intent to kill off the bottle and free up shelf space. After applying to the wheels and tires, I was again impressed by how well it cleaned the tires, but also very impressed by how well it broke through the grime and break dust on the wheels. It took far less agitation and effort to get the wheels clean and they appeared cleaner and felt slicker than when using wash soap in the past. This was the "ah-ha" moment.

I now realize why folks swear by their choice of wheel cleaner. It not only make them easier to clean and reduces effort, but it also provides a "deeper" clean than I was probably getting from a gentle car wash soap, yet I still don't have to worry about damaging the wheels if I use it right.

Now, if I could only a bottle go farther...

[swanicyouth]

Wheel cleaners have their place, but if it's your own vehicle - the real trick is to come up with a system so dirt doesn't stick to the wheel in the first place and there is just less brake dust to begin with:

1. Switch to low dust / ceramic brake pads.

2. Coat wheels with a coating. Top off with Permanon / Hydro 2 every so often.

If you do those two things it's really a non issue. The wheels are as easy to clean as the paint. Now I know not everyone is working on their own vehicle, but purely from a cost perspective ceramic pads will pay for themselves sooner than later in money saved from not buying bottles of wheel cleaner.

The coating of the wheels just makes it faster and easier, as you don't want to have to clean off dirt that can be just rinsed off.

[Setec Astronomy]

Now, if I could only a bottle go farther...

Mothers Foaming Wheel & Tire Cleaner, chrome wheel cleaner, aluminum wheel cleaner, Mothers wheel cleaner (http://www.autogeek.net/mothers-wheel-mist-cleaner.html)


It's funny back in the day when I used to use P21S on my wheels at every wash, I would scrub around what ran down onto the tire, and it did a pretty good job as a tire cleaner, and I've recently tried using the regular Griot's which is a similar product to the P21S (in concept), as a tire cleaner, and it did pretty well, too.

Agreed that a dedicated wheel cleaner really helps for neglected wheels, but if you clean them regularly and they have some LSP on them (and you had prepped them properly for the LSP so they were good and clean), then car wash soap seems to do fine, unless you have a car with really nasty brake dust (and as Swanic noted, you can usually do something about that with your pad selection).

[aim4squirrels]

Ever tried diluted APC? On coated wheels this seems to work great to get the last 10% that pressure washing alone doesn't get, and I don't need a dedicated expensive foaming product when a 1:10 ratio of OPC does the trick for me.

[expdetailing]

I do like the color changing ones for bad wheels, but for everything else I use APC in a recycled tire cleaner bottle due to the foaming trigger.

[jmsc]

Switched to dedicated wheel coatings 2-3 years ago.

Switched to tire coatings last year.

Threw away all my wheel/tire cleaners (kept 1 of each just in case) and never looked back. When I need that final 10% cleaning of the wheels a MF + UWW or a QD does it for me.

[Desertnate]

Lots of great feedback. Thanks, guys.

In the warmer months, maintaining the wheels really isn't an issue. In the winter when washing is less frequent and the weather is bad for long periods of time, they get pretty dirty. What has surprised me is the brake pads on that Mazda dust more than my Toyota or VW. They don't dust to BMW or Audi levels, but more than other Japanese cars I've owned. I will certainly use ceramic once this set of pads wear out. There was night and day difference on that old BMW.

I currently use either 845 or Klasse SG on the wheels, but may look into a coating. Heck, I'm thinking of a coating for that car anyway since it gets driven so much. Only applying an LSP once a year...or longer...would be nice.

I may try using APC. I've got a couple of bottles of Poorboys APC mixed to different ratios. I'll give it a shot the next time I get a chance.

[expdetailing]

Threw away all my wheel/tire cleaners...

ATROCITY!:nomore:

[Desertnate]

Switched to dedicated wheel coatings 2-3 years ago.



Do you use a dedicated wheel coating or just any paint coating? If it weren't for the heat I could see any paint coating being workable.

[Bill1234]

I usually go for brown royal as it is very cheap and works well. Dub by meguiars is also good for a deep clean.

[Desertnate]

I usually go for brown royal as it is very cheap and works well. Dub by meguiars is also good for a deep clean.

I'll have to look for Brown Royal. The Dub line is not available in my area.

[jmsc]

expdetailing: yep, trashed them!

Desertnate: used wheel coatings per se but read that any paint coating will protect/cleanup wheels well. as long as I get 1 year or close to that I'm pleased.

[Blade]

+1 on diluted OPC. But I use anywhere from 1:3 to 1:1 dilution. Even on tires and wheels that's been neglected, it works wonders.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

No need for a dedicated wheel cleaner unless you're dealing with an aluminum or other delicate finish. A quality APC will clean wheels every bit as good as the mother's foaming wheel cleaner.

[Crispy]

I don't have much probl with painted rims (I coat with Permanon which is not affected by heat and easy to apply). My problem is the tires. I've been using different products with my DA and a fabric brush. They all seem much the same (have not used the Brown Royal that I have used very successfully on the rims-have to give that a try). Tire dressing seems to be the key item. What dressings would recommend for the satin black finish?