# Safe way to clean wheels?



## xero (Jan 27, 2013)

Hello all, I'm a bit scared these days to use anything other than the car shampoo (megs) and mitt to clean wheels, as after I had a set of OEM wheels powder coated gloss black on my focus last year I had the car washed at a hand car wash... Big mistake, their wheel cleaner ate straight through the topcoat destroying all 4. No amount of polishing/swearing would remedy it, they were shot..

So I had them powder coated again and only ever cleaned the car myself with bilberry wheel cleaner properly diluted, but a few months in and it happened again. Long story short the cars being sold on Tuesday (lost my rag with it all to be fair) and the car I will be picking up has a set of RIAL alloys on it. They are standard silvery colour as they were made, and I know they're going to be dirty... because I know the previous owner..

Obviously im incredibly nervous about cleaning them with anything other than unicorn tears, but that gets damned expensive, so what should I do?

I intend to wash, clay, super resin polish, and super gloss protect the car in the week, but as for the wheels... I don't know whats best to use. 

I have some autoglym tar remover, megs clay, autoglym QD and tonnes of megs shampoo at my disposal. I just know those wheelnut recesses are going to be setting my OCD off like crazy haha..

I also have a tub of poorboys wheel sealant from a couple years ago.. Incidentally I haven't used it since the gloss black alloys were destroyed.. 

So, whats the safest best method to get these aftermarket wheels clean, and then should I apply poorboys to them?


Thanks all..


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## xero (Jan 27, 2013)

Oh, and would anyone recommend polishing the alloys with Autoglyms super resin polish? I don't want to cause any damage at all...


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## xero (Jan 27, 2013)

Just seen autoglyms custom wheel cleaner.. Anyone got any experience with it?


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

just bear in mind some wheel cleaners are acidic and can cause damage.

Also bear in mind that a lot of other wheel cleaners that market themselves as "acid free" are highly alkaline (bilberry being one) and can also cause damage.

Both have their place and are useful if used correctly.

The best option for wheels is once they are cleaned, to seal them. This will keep them cleaner for longer and make it easier to clean when they eventually do get dirty. Sealed wheels can be cleaned easily with normal car shampoo, which is often a lot milder than wheel cleaners.

Poorboys wheel sealant is probably not one of the best lasting but is better than none.

Finally if you want a safe wheel cleaner carchem do a ph neutral wheel cleaner. Just be aware that it will require a bit more work than an acid or alkali cleaner as they have more "bite"


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

xero said:


> Just seen autoglyms custom wheel cleaner.. Anyone got any experience with it?


This is an alkali cleaner (ph12) like bilberry. Again like most wheel cleaners marketed as acid free (which I believe can mislead people into thinking it is "safe")


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Once cleaned just keep onto of them with a weekly wash, factory wheel finishes tend to be sturdy coatings until they get damaged but even then regular washing will keep corrosion at bay.

If they are really terrible caked up then i have no issue using wonder wheels yes its acid just to get onto of them as long as the wheels are sound and it really is heavy heavy contamination baked on brake dust from years of neglect, even if only to do the wheel backs.

You can polish the wheels up if you wish but a good cleaning dear, you can use lighter cleaning products that need more effort or scrubbing but you could then be inflicting marring from too heavy a scrubbing.

You can use an apc to clean the wheels if not to bad or even as a monthly wash other than the weekly shampoo wash of the wheels or such as the autobrite non acid wheel cleaner that i have often used for the tyre walls and the wheels at the same time.

Just get them clean you can use up your probes wheel sealant and then just put a durable wax on them when thats used up such as bilt hamber finis or the colonies or the fk1000p.

As stated once clean a weekly wash of the face of the wheels with say a detailing brush or old wash mit and get a wheel brush to get to the wheel backs to reduce whatever is back there leading through to the front of the wheel and the wheels will look cleaner longer.


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## OvEr_KiLL (Mar 2, 2015)

bilt hamber auto wheel!!! spray it on, let it change color say a few mins and then rinse. and make sure to seal your wheels after you dry them  works fine on my polished rims, no problems ive also tried car chem revolt which i now have 5 litres of and thats fine too! when you have sealed them and want a gentle cleaner try autofinesse citrus power which wont affect the sealant much or if you snow foam then autofinesse avalanche as it has citrus power in it!


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## jackzx84 (May 9, 2015)

Yes use bilt hamber auto wheel, this is ph neutral so wont damage the wheels and it has got unbelievable cleaning power!


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

*Bye the Way this was my testing of the Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel...*

*Old Test...*

*Ok Folks been testing a few Products from Bilt Hamber Over the Sunday.

First up the Revised fragranced Bilt Hamber Auto-Wheel.

So one 12 year old Toyota Yaris Wheel... Having done 62k and is only washed once a year by me personally and thats only been for the last 2 years....:lol: Never done a wheels off and backs washed before.










Now im going to apply to the rear of the wheel first...










Bottle weight with trigger attached... 1133grams.

Fragrance...

Having not smelt the first version although AutoExpress and others stated it stinks....:lol:

Im thinking Iron-X realms here.....:lol:

I rather like this aroma from the latest version....:lol:

It has the Battenburg Cake smell think Autobrite's Cherry Glaze...
However unlike the Bilt Hamber Korrosol that smells just like the mentioned cherry glaze and cake.

The Auto-Wheel has a very and i do mean very slight and mild touch to the fragrance of the Iron-X Smell original Iron-X.

Most folks would be hard pressed to pick up on it but its there, however in use its simply Battenburg cake smell....:lol:

Making it a pleasant smelling product to use provided you dont find that smell too sickly sweet...

In use i only got the odd whiff of cake...

Now states to leave for 2 to 5 mins dependent on temp and colour change and yes it does change colour.



















Instruction on site and not on the bottle state to then wash off without need for agitation unless very heavily soiled.

I used the supplied brush that comes with the bottle... Personally i would find this brush fine for general wheel front cleaning but for heavy stuff on wheel backs where you cannot get into properly without removal a much firmer brush would be my call.

But its whats in the kit so its what ill use...

Agitation turned the Auto-Wheel solution and brakedust deposits etc to a sludge...










Powerwash off gave me this...










Now its certainly given a darn good clean and most if of the deposits left are Tar... Would have come up better with a stiffer brush im sure.

What may seam like finger swipes in dirt on the alloy are in fact the reflections of the spoke backs on the inside of the rim.

I then did the front of the wheel...










Rinsed off...










Weight remaining... 1102grams

so...31 grams used to do one rear and front of a very dirty and contaminated wheel.

Now lets see whats left with Iron-X...










A bit of a reaction in the hot spot areas, nothing to the general face just the areas of most fallout contact.

This is not the general way i would use a dedicated wheel cleaner for heavy soiling i would use a cheaper product to get most easier to remove dirt and fallout off... this way ensuring the dedicated products get to use there dedicated formula where its most needed.

So to that end...

The other wheel...










Hit with a front and rear wheel brush in fact the front with the bilt Hamber supplied brush and the rear from poking through the valet pro long wheel brush, both agitating the sprayed on solution of Autobrites non acid berry wheel cleaner at the 1 part to 10 water... then power washed off...










Wheel removed and showing the back...










Now One half Iron-x and the Other Bilt Hamber's Auto-Wheel Cleaner.










Got instant reaction from the Iron-X and slightly slower reaction from the Auto-Wheel... Iron-x instructions are 2 mins contact and the Auto-Wheel is 2-5 mins.

The Auto-Wheel side did actually look a bit dirtier than the Iron-x side i walked off to rub and rinse a rear tyre and came back to find the Bilt Hamber had reacted a bit more but got talking and took the Supplied brush to the wheel before taking another picture....:wall:

So both sides agitated and rinsed having been careful not to cross contaminate.










Again cleaned up very well to leave Tar removal required, again would have used a stiffer brush personally for this amount of soiling.

Front Face.. Reaction...










Rinsed off...










Followed with Iron-x to see if anything left behind...










Still some reaction again the hot spot areas that could well have done with a stiffer brush agitation but certainly less of a reaction... and no reaction to the spokes or the face of the wheel.

Not bad for a years motoring with no wheel clean over that period.*


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

*This is another old test i did on some very manky wheels... testing wheel cleaners...*

*Ok Folks... while cleaning my good lady's car, i got a phone call to tell me i was not needed in work that day.....:wall: Just had another today saying you know we said you would be in the rest of the week, well they say not today but then rest of the week yeah Right.....:wall:

The Pleasure of been an agency worker......:wall:

So Did a wash mit test and cleaned my car and then decided the wheels i got from a dismantlers need a clean ill have a bit of a test on them.....:lol:

As You Do....

So Wheels...










Think this one needs some filling for refurb.....:lol:










Anyways the wheel backs...










Some have some peeled paint from the spoke backs so please focus more on the dish of the rim for cleaning purposes please in your viewing of the pics...

So Typical of the wheel grime in this one...










So we know there are a lot of good products for wheel cleaning as in the face of the alloy and a suitably sealed wheel can be cleaned with just a shampoo solution all dependent on contamination.... Yadda... Yadda....

But Wheel backs can be neglected for decades and are more likely to have loads of contamination from brake dust etc..

So lets get rolling.... All wheels were sprayed or spread with the wheel cleaner agitated with an Envy type brush and rinsed only with the mains pressure through the garden hose....

So a pair done...

The Right hand one with Very Cherry non Acid Wheel Cleaner... @ 1 to 10 product to water.

Left Wheel with Surfex HD @ 1 to 10 Product to water...










Again focus on the Dish Here not the Centres please...

Ok lets try one of these wheels 50/50 ... so starting wheel...










Now G101 left hand and Surfex HD Right Hand Both @ 1 to 10 Mix...










In this instance the G101 Cleaned a little better although the Surfex i find Superb as a De Greaser...

Now Some Mer Alloy Wheel Cleaner on Minging Wheel...

So Before application...










After Application and Rinse Off...










Remember the 50/50 wheel???










So this time some Maxolen Fallout Remover... So after Rinsing.....










Now somethings here i would not normally use as a wheel cleaner in the same respect i would not imagine using the Maxolen however majority of the wheel contamination will be Fallout from the brake pads... Could these 2 products possibly do the trick....

So Iron Cleanse V Iron-X again....:lol:

These again applied to partially cleaned wheels i only have so many wheels here to test on....:lol:










These were dispensed from there respective bottles and what i feared did happen as the Iron Cleanse is from a sample bottle with pants atomiser type pump the density of the liquid and delivery system hampers its ability...










You may not tell in the pic but after rinsing seamed to remove slightly less with the iron Cleanse, suspected as much at the application stage only due to how it was been laid down.

So test on another this time both the Iron Cleanse and the Iron-X dispensed from the same type of head as is on the Iron-X Bottle much better delivery and spread from the Iron Cleanse... in both the tests of the Iron Cleanse and Iron-X they had been left for between 3 and 5 minutes... as from other tests i have done the run is slower on the Iron Cleanse and so Clings longer...

So Sprayed on...










Agitated and rinsed off again always done with just cold mains pressure through the garden hose...










Now how about trying some Autosmart Tardis???? HHHmmmm

Well lets see....

Tardis test wheel Minging...










Applied and agitated and rinsed off...Yes recycling bin contents come in handy....:lol:










Now what shall we have a bash with now..??? I Know....

I Know Bilberry @ 1 to 10 Ratio....

So Minging Wheels... (not the Detailing World Member)...:lol:










Applied Agitated and Hose rinsed...










Now an old Boy Product Now....

Wonder Wheels... The original version not the Wonder wheels U... the original version is not recommended for damaged or polished alloy..

So onto what bilberry had left i think...










Agitated and rinsed...










HHHHMMMM im liking that result....

Lets try again...










Agitated and rinsed once more...










Right i am liking the speed of removal of contamination with that, it may be acid but gets the job done fast then just keep ontop of the wheels....
So off to do all the wheels with it....

I know they need some more cleaning but...










So from...










To This... at the point that time and light issues stopped play...










Faced with the same condition wheels again i know what ill reach for... that is until i can find something just as good or better....

Thank you all as ever for viewing...:wave:*


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## xero (Jan 27, 2013)

Thanks all. Is it safe to clay the wheels and use autoglyms intensive tar remover to aid in removing imbedded dirt and tar?

Was going to SRP then Autoglyms gloss protect them, as that's all I've got in the way of wax/protection at the moment except the poorboys. Didn't know if polishing them with SRP or claying/using tar remover would be asking for trouble..

I imagine the RIAL wheels are to the same standard as OEM finish wise anyway. I would hope..


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## TonyHill (Jul 28, 2015)

I've been using Automart Smart Wheels for years without any issues. It can be diluted to different ratios for the level of cleaning required, although i have found it can struggle with heavily soiled wheels.


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

The smart wheels is a popular choice.

Use the tar remover before the clay.

Your free to use the autoglym and then the gloss protect but wheels are exposed to a hard life and cannot see it lasting long on there so not sure its worth the effort.

You don't have to seal the wheels a weekly wash won't take long to keep onto of them, you have the poorness so simply use it up.


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