# Are we being misslead?



## mr.t (Oct 1, 2010)

Just wondering what you guys think.....



Ive been using valet pro "soft" 3inch wheel brushes.....

Ive been using them on my brothers scirroco black wheels.....now ive nsow foamed the wheels,ive used bilberry wheel cleaner...sprayed liberally and brushed with the brush....


The wheels are covered in scratches grrr.they really show up. My wheels look fine bUt they are just grey diamond cut wheels,so scratches probably not visable.

So my question is.....are we being misslead?


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## SkyRocket (May 20, 2015)

Were you using them to agitate the dirt? It seems quite likely that if you use a brush to move dirt around on painted surface, it will get scratched.


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## mr.t (Oct 1, 2010)

Well yeah but isnt that the whole point of using billberry wheel cleaner?to soften the dirt with brush?or are you supposed to spray on and pressure wash off?


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## SkyRocket (May 20, 2015)

It definitely helps to loosen the dirt, but I don't know if it makes it less scratchy.

Personally I like to apply a product, let it work, then pressure wash off. If there's still dirt visible then I apply again, and step up to a MF cloth or maybe a brush.

I don't really understand why brushes are so often used where a MF cloth could be used. I think that brushes are best saved for things that can't be cleaned with a cloth.


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Speed and efficiency Skyrocket. You can't clean your wheels properly with a cloth depending on alloy style.


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## Benfr16 (Dec 3, 2016)

I have always wondered this and therefore don't have a wheel brush for my gloss black alloys. The strange thing is that lots of professionals use them but I don't trust myself and just use a lambswool mitt dedicated for wheels. It does make the job a bit tedious and as a result wheels are not often super clean!


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## SkyRocket (May 20, 2015)

Brian1612 said:


> You can't clean your wheels properly with a cloth depending on alloy style.


Absolutely, sometimes a brush is essential, because you need the reach of the bristles to get in to the nooks and crannies.

Here's a good example of where you _don't_ need a brush though*:






* Apart from around the wheel nuts.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

A lot of brake dust is just tiny bits of iron. Rub these around on a glossy painted surface, no matter how soft the bristles of the brush are, and you'll get fine scratches and marring.

Now, on grey powder coat or painted wheels you don't really see these scratches, but on gloss black as the OP has observed you surely will.

The wheels on my car are sealed so are a bit easier, but even working on cars where this is not the case, a good blast with the PW (I'll go to about six inches off the paint for this) after soaking with Auto Foam gets a lot of the worst of it off.

Then wheel bucket, strong suds (but still using "normal" bodywork shampoo) and an MF glove like this one to get as much as possible off whilst providing lubrication with plenty of water.

Then do the barrels with the Speedbrush. Only bust out the stiffer bristled brushes for the Car Chem Revolt or Auto Glanz Alkalloy (exception being the wheel nuts as already observed).


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## Crafty (Aug 4, 2007)

As steelghost says, I wouldn't use a brush to try and remove ingrained brake dust at all, if your car got covered in sand (near a beach say) you wouldn't use a sponge/mitt/whatever to try and rub the sand off would you ? Same applies to the wheels. 

If the wheel cleaner can't remove stuck on brake dust you need to clay or use an aggressive cleaner - at worst fallout remover. 

As suggested, if you can protect the wheels it reduces how much crap will stick.


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## LeeH (Jan 29, 2006)

No absolutely not. 

You wouldn't use it on your gloss black roof and expect it to be flawless afterwards. 

Common sense has to be applied, bog standard wheels the marks won't really show. Gloss black, well it's the colour from hell as far as detailing goes. Especially soft paints like Honda. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


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## Tim662 (Aug 19, 2014)

Black wheels are a tricky one, very easy to scratch when cleaning. Best you can do is use a coating like Gtechniq C5 or Carpro Dlux, then wash carefully with a dooka wheel mitt.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Yep, even a coat of FK1000P, or one of the dedicated high temp wheel waxes, or the spray and wipe sealants from RaceGlaze, CarChem or TDG (and I'm sure others) will make cleaning the wheels a lot easier (and hence less likely to harm the finish).


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## mr.t (Oct 1, 2010)

i have sealed them lads , with raceglaze i think it is...Not sure how much it does.

Annoyingly he has a gloss black roof too..lol....

Next time ill try and spray billbery on....leave it longer...and pressure wash off..il see how they come out without brushing/adjitating.


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

Crafty said:


> As steelghost says, I wouldn't use a brush to try and remove ingrained brake dust at all, if your car got covered in sand (near a beach say) you wouldn't use a sponge/mitt/whatever to try and rub the sand off would you ? Same applies to the wheels.
> 
> If the wheel cleaner can't remove stuck on brake dust you need to clay or use an aggressive cleaner - at worst fallout remover.
> 
> As suggested, if you can protect the wheels it reduces how much crap will stick.


If you crack out the clay this will induce fine scratches! If you tell me I am wrong then you are not looking at the surface with the correct lighting.


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## BaileyA3 (Jun 14, 2015)

Crafty said:


> As steelghost says, I wouldn't use a brush to try and remove ingrained brake dust at all, if your car got covered in sand (near a beach say) you wouldn't use a sponge/mitt/whatever to try and rub the sand off would you ? Same applies to the wheels.
> 
> If the wheel cleaner can't remove stuck on brake dust you need to clay or use an aggressive cleaner - at worst fallout remover.
> 
> As suggested, if you can protect the wheels it reduces how much crap will stick.


I may be taking what you've said the wrong way but surely fallout remover would be the best option before using clay or aggressive wheel cleaners. Personally I would opt for fallout remover before the other two, as has been said with the clay inducing fine scratches and the potential of damage being caused by aggressive wheel cleaners.


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## Crafty (Aug 4, 2007)

Yeah agreed, fallout remover is probably best in terms of touch free removal but I wouldn't use it regularly, it is basically an acid (of some sort) after all. I understand that regular use of fallout remover can dull the surface of paint.

I've used clay to remove specific spots of brake dust and then thrown it away (done the same for tar spots), you guys are right, if there is removed iron (brake dust) in the clay and you're rubbing it all over the wheel you would cause damage.

The best way is to stop the stuff sticking to the wheel in the first place..


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## Kella09 (Sep 2, 2017)

I have gloss black alloys!

I use auto finesse iron out, spray each wheel leave for afew minutes then jet them off, then get yourself a decent mitt or wheel woolie and hand wash each wheel with your normal car shampoo, megs ult W&W or next gen is what I use, obviously gloss black show scratches really really easily but if you use enough iron out or fallout remover then you shouldn't get any scratches (at least I haven't)
A decent sealant will make it a million times easier on your next clean my wheels have just had gtechniq c5 and it is a must have on any alloys!! 
I got a mate to put the c5 on as I have no experience but it seemed easy enough to do myself if I'm being honest!
Take time and pride if you want nice alloys and bodywork!


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

You say you used snow foam and bilberry wheel cleaner? I assume your wheels were dry and caked in brake dust before hand. I think you should have power washed the wheels first, spray on Citrus pre wash, power wash rinse then snowfoamed the wheels then let them dwel before washing with bilberry. I carry out those steps but use auto finesse wheels soap instead of bilberry. Most of the brake dust would have been rinsed away before my brush even touches the wheels. I have gloss black alloys too and no marring what so ever.


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## wish wash (Aug 25, 2011)

A wheel brush for nuts, a microfibre mitt for the faces and wheel woolies for the rest. It helps massively if your alloys have a coating on them. You can get 90% of the dirt off just with a jet wash. The less touching the better.


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## Tykebike (Mar 27, 2016)

It just makes me wonder if using a jet washer is the best idea in these circumstances as the powerful blast disturbs all sorts of abrasives: underbody rust, dust, grit not to mention the grit that is on the drive, tyres etc. and this probably gets sucked into the jet stream forming a nice grit blaster.
I do use the jet washer so I don't get hung up on this theory, but then again I haven't got nice glossy black wheels.


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