APC that is safe near polished aluminum or delicate powdercoating ?

[mg6045]

hello all,

I'm looking for some suggestions.

I'm maintaining two sets of VERY expensive custom wheels on my friends vehicles, and then I will be sending them off with the products/chemicals to maintain on there own.

On both of these sets of wheels I do not want any damage. one set is powdercoated and one set is polished aluminum. For the powder coated wheel I would like to treat it as if was as delicate as the polished wheel.

For the tires I have been spraying an APC on a towel to clean them and avoiding the wheels completely. This works for now because there is new rubber on the wheels.

I'm looking to buy an APC for cleaning tires that is for sure polished aluminum safe. One that will not dull polished aluminum. I know this is a very demanding question as there are not many that will do so while being effective. I know P21S TAW is safe, but its really not that effective on tires IME.

Does anyone know if there is an APC that is effective and also safe on polished aluminum ? If it has to be diluted thats fine, but I dont want something that is diluted so much that it hardly works.

any suggestions ?

I was thinking OPC, and plan to email them after hearing some suggestions from the forum.

thanks.

[Rsurfer]

Power clean to clean tires and wheels. Opti-coat to protect both wheels.

[bmwgalore]

one set is powdercoated and one set is polished aluminum.

I was thinking OPC.

Yup, Optimum APC is the one. Just make sure you dilute it properly.
I have coated rims too in one of my cars and OPC is great. Just don't rub your brush against the rim, use a microfiber towel.

For the tires I have been spraying an APC on a towel to clean them and avoiding the wheels completely. This works for now because there is new rubber on the wheels.

That's slow and unnecessary, just wasting time really. OPC is safe on the rims, so go ahead an spray it on without fear. Scrub the tires with a hard brush, but don't let the bristles scrape the rim.

[mg6045]

Yup, Optimum APC is the one. Just make sure you dilute it properly.
I have coated rims too in one of my cars and OPC is great. Just don't rub your brush against the rim, use a microfiber towel.


That's slow and unnecessary, just wasting time really. OPC is safe on the rims, so go ahead an spray it on without fear. Scrub the tires with a hard brush, but don't let the bristles scrape the rim.

The wheels are NOT coated.

I disagree that I was wasting time. The car was on a lift and I was able to access the entire tire with the APC and folded towel. The rubber is new, so it worked fine.

thanks for your advice.

[mg6045]

Power clean to clean tires and wheels. Opti-coat to protect both wheels.

thanks.

as for the Opti-coat. The powdercoated wheels are not glossy, so I can not opti-coat them or I risk changing the finish on them.

And i'm not too sure how opti-coat will hold up on uncoated polished aluminum. I was doubting it would be as durable as it would on clearcoat or a non-porous surface. I wish this guy just got clearcoated lips on the wheels.

[mg6045]

Power clean to clean tires and wheels. Opti-coat to protect both wheels.

Will in not dull the polished aluminum at full strength ? this stuff is so delicate practically anything wants to dull it. the way the wheels are put together , they will have to be dissasembled to polish the lip, as the face (spokes) come all the way out on the lip and get in the way of polishing them effectively. which is why I want to be so careful.

[Rsurfer]

I would PM Chris @ Optimum just too be sure.

Will in not dull the polished aluminum at full strength ? this stuff is so delicate practically anything wants to dull it. the way the wheels are put together , they will have to be dissasembled to polish the lip, as the face (spokes) come all the way out on the lip and get in the way of polishing them effectively. which is why I want to be so careful.

[mg6045]

I would PM Chris @ Optimum just too be sure.

will do. thanks for your help though !