How To: Properly Clean, Protect, & Maintain Wheels & Tires

[Viper6]

Not sure if this is just me, but when I bleed the brakes or other maintenance 1-2x per year, I just remove the wheels from the vehicle and give them a full cleaning all over, then seal them with a good sealant. That makes it easier to maintain in the weekly washes by giving you a fresh starting point (same concept as on the car paint, easier to maintain once finish is corrected and sealed)... also way easier to remove left over weight adhesive from a wheel balance and tough tar nuggets with the rim off! Don't forget protecting inside tire sidewall and all over brake caliper cleaning... fun fun!

[dbobke]

I love the detailed write-up Nick! Thanks. One question...Typically, I like to do the wheels and tires first when washing the car because they are the dirtiest part of the washing job. However, after washing the wheels and tires you want to dry the wheels as fast as possible. What do people do to keep the wheels as dry as possible when washing the rest of the car?

[Nick McKees37]

Not sure if this is just me, but when I bleed the brakes or other maintenance 1-2x per year, I just remove the wheels from the vehicle and give them a full cleaning all over, then seal them with a good sealant. That makes it easier to maintain in the weekly washes by giving you a fresh starting point (same concept as on the car paint, easier to maintain once finish is corrected and sealed)... also way easier to remove left over weight adhesive from a wheel balance and tough tar nuggets with the rim off! Don't forget protecting inside tire sidewall and all over brake caliper cleaning... fun fun!

Great tip!

I love the detailed write-up Nick! Thanks. One question...Typically, I like to do the wheels and tires first when washing the car because they are the dirtiest part of the washing job. However, after washing the wheels and tires you want to dry the wheels as fast as possible. What do people do to keep the wheels as dry as possible when washing the rest of the car?

I continually rinse the wheels during the wash stage to prevent water spots from occurring.

[chri5tina]

Hi Nick, I'll chime in complimenting your article, well done!

I have large plastic hub caps on what I assume are aluminum wheels (2007 VW rabbit). The wheel is pretty much entirely hidden by the hub caps. Would you advocate removing the hub caps in order to clean the wheel? Otherwise the wheel is pretty inaccessible. Also, what product would you suggest for cleaning the hub cap vs. the wheel, and would you also suggest putting a sealant on the hub caps? Any other suggestions?

Finally, since I am fairly new to detailing, I am looking for products that can multi-task. I want something that I can use both on the rubber seals on the outside of the car AND the tires. What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!
C

[PiPUK]

A couple of notes worth considering...

You have addressed acid based cleaners, whilst I would be less concerned by their effects on coated rims, the general message is good - there are generally safer products which can achieve the same job. This strikes me as something central when it comes to high end car care - any idiot can spray on muriatic acid and have a fantastic clean but we know well that it can lead to damage which may not be visible until sometime after the work has been done. The only thing I would add to the acid discussion is that not all acids are the same. Muriatic acid (hydrochloric/brick acid) and similar (hydrogen halides) are very aggressive but (at least in the UK) the cheapest and most effective cleaners - these acids are a perfect example of the acid type you describe in your post. Beyond that there are all manner of other acids used which are generally much less dangerous and there are a select few which will come from citric and lactic acids which are really not going to do any harm unless you have bare metal.

The main thing to add, however, is to non-acidic cleaners. I am not yet familiar with the products you guys have in the US but there are 3 types here in the UK: pH neutral; caustic; (Alkaline) non-caustic. There is the belief that all non-acidic wheel cleaners are safer than acid equivalents. However, anyone with a chemical background will quickly confirm that this is not accurate. pH neutral products will indeed tend to have a lower risk for metals, that is OK. Then comes the complication - caustic or non-caustic. Caustic is going to be sodium or potassium hydroxide (typically the former, due to cost) and is extremely potent. Basically it reacts with any oils/grease to make its own soap, so not only does it dissolve the oils/grease but the resulting soap adds to the efficiency of the cleaning system. That is the basis of alkaline cleaning. However caustics react with other things. Caustics react quite strongly with metals, and very notably with aluminium which it actually dissolves quite rapidly. It should be clear that this presents potential problems with rims! You will get very similar effects to the strong acids - potential for heavy corrosion as well as the clouding/dulling of the surface. Like the acids, these products need to be used with care on any sort of sensitive rim. Thankfully there are safe alternatives to caustics, oddly enough, my non-caustic alkaline generalisation. Whilst the cleaning mechanism is the same, the reactivity with metals is reduced, as is the potency thanks to the size of the alkaline species. Some alkalinity providers will actually bond to surfaces temporarily giving protection. Industrially this can be seen in aluminium cleaners (and glass cleaners, although that is unimportant in this thread) - typically silicates are used in place of caustics. Of course there is a downside - cost effectiveness. Quite simply, you can have a dramatically higher level of alkalinity with caustics than non-caustics (it is about 2.5x for silicates). This has knock on effects on cost effectiveness and so caustics are abundant because they are cheap and because the potential dangers are not made clear to the consumer.

I hope that maybe adds a little bit to the understanding of anyone interested in the details!

[zmanjohn]

Nick, this is a fantastic write-up, thanks for all the detail especially the steps and the porducts used.
I have been using the products usually found in the autorepair stores and have not been thrilled with the results. I have used in the past "Super Clean" deluted 4:1 ratio and that seemed to do a good job getting clean as well as the tires, but have always had issues with staying clean.
As another note, when I rotate my tires, I will life the entire vechile and as I pull all (4) wheels and tires off, I will thoughly clean them off the vechile. I will do this usually just once a year, just to get everything cleaner. The brushes only really do so much.
Thanks again.. I will be using your tips from now on.

[theblob640]

Any idea when those brushes (Clean Wheel Lug Nut Brush) will be back in stock? I've been watching it and it has been in back order for awhile.

[SATracker]

The link to the "scrape-right" plastic blades works, but there's no "add to your cart" icon. Great write up. Thx

[Raiz3l]

Anyone care to recommend a tire sealant on alloy rims?

[Carlos89]

Has anyone used auto finesse wheel cleaner?