# Wheel Cleaning Method



## Dan_ (Mar 6, 2014)

What's your step by step wheel cleaning method guys and girls?  - techniques, products and equipment...

Cheers!


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Tfr, hose, wheel brush with shampoo and hose again 

Spray wax, buff off. Done


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Are your wheels coated?

Mine have got C5 on them, so I don't need anything aggressive at all for standard weekly washes

My technique is:
Cover the wheel in whatever prewash I'm using for the car (generally angelwax fastfoam snowofam)

Fill a bucket with whatever shampoo im using on the car this week (say carchem 1900:1)

With a spray trigger bottle full of snowofam solution, spray it all over and inside the wheel

I use a set of straight and angled wheel woolies to clean the barrel and behind the spokes

Then using a standard envy detailing brush clean out the wheel nuts and valve areas of the wheel

Using a WO-WO wheel mitt, clean off the face of the wheel

If I want to apply new tyre dressing that week, I'll usually scrub the sidewall with a brush and G101 apc @ 10:1 dilution to remove any old dressing

Then PW off and proceed to wash the car as normal


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## FallenAngel (Oct 24, 2015)

Hereisphilly said:


> Are your wheels coated?
> 
> Mine have got C5 on them, so I don't need anything aggressive at all for standard weekly washes
> 
> ...


I dont think you need a coating with that wash routine :doublesho. I just wash mine with pressure washer and a shampoo and water solution with an old mitt. They always look great. They are coated in gyeon rim.


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## DrH (Oct 25, 2015)

before going any further I use all Angelwax products at the present time.

Snow foam the car and the wheels.
Rinse with PW

Or 

Rinse with the hose first.
If the wheels are really dirty then I will use some Bilberry wheel cleaner and agitate it with a detailing brush.
If not so dirty then they are cleaned with the shampoo using the detailing brush around the wheel nuts and the valve.
I use a Dodo mitt to clean the wheels inside and out where I can reach which is most of it.
I have just got some wheel woolies for Christmas and have tried them which seem to make cleaning inside easier.

Then rinse 
Dry with a microfibre cloth
Sometimes a quick spritz with QD

Every couple of months they get a polish and wax with products as mentioned above.
It is fair to say that they get the most attention


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## Pittsy (Jun 14, 2014)

Heres how i do it if its any help.... 

1) spray the wheels and tyres with a diluted wheel cleaning solution through a pump sprayer (currently AS smart wheels but changing to AW Bilberry) 

2) leave to dwell for 5-10 mins whilst preparing a separate bucket with a shampoo solution (normally a cheaper shampoo) 

3) return to the car armed with the bucket, wheel woollies, stiff brush, detailing brush and WoWo wheel mitt. 

4) using the detailing brush agitate the mixture that has been dwelling on the wheels and get into the nut recesses etc. 

5) pressure wash the wheels (at this point they should be pretty clean looking) 

6) spray the tyres with a 5-1 dilution of APC and scrub with a stiff brush 

7) clean the wheel barrels with wheel woollies and shampoo mix. 

8) clean the faces using the WoWo wheel mitt and shampoo mix 

9) repeat x4

10) pressure wash off to rinse x4 then dry using a alloy wheel drying towel when i dry the rest of the car

And there it is, i find this works for me.... 

My wheels are sealed but i find that sometimes the brake dust etc just doesn't shift properly with out the use of a dedicated wheel cleaner as a kind of prewash (dilution rate of 5-1 so not too aggressive) :thumb:


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

Hereisphilly said:


> Are your wheels coated?
> 
> Mine have got C5 on them, so I don't need anything aggressive at all for standard weekly washes
> 
> ...


I have C5 on my wheels and my routine is almost identical - just some different products here and there. I always scrub the tyres down every time I wash the car because I always apply a fresh coat of tyre dressing.


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Blueberry said:


> I have C5 on my wheels and my routine is almost identical - just some different products here and there. I always scrub the tyres down every time I wash the car because I always apply a fresh coat of tyre dressing.


I find I'm nearly spending as much time on the wheels as I am shampooing the rest of the car!

Haha, oh well, least they always look mint and C5 just stops anything bonding so harsh chemicals aren't needed


FallenAngel said:


> I dont think you need a coating with that wash routine :doublesho. I just wash mine with pressure washer and a shampoo and water solution with an old mitt. They always look great. They are coated in gyeon rim.


Yeah I know it's a but overkill but my fiesta ST's wheel design is really open so it bugs me if i can see any sort of dirty on the barrel of the wheel. I like them to look shiny!


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## A&J (Mar 4, 2015)

I have fk1000p on mine. I just rinse them and use a some car shampoo (some old sonax thing that i want to get rid of) and water and a mitt reserved for wheels, rinse again and wipe with a microfiber towel. If they are bad i spray on some korrosol and repeat with shampoo. No fuss needed.


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

Hereisphilly said:


> I find I'm nearly spending as much time on the wheels as I am shampooing the rest of the car!
> 
> Haha, oh well, least they always look mint and C5 just stops anything bonding so harsh chemicals aren't needed


Likewise. I can spend 30/45 minutes cleaning the wheels. I like my alloys to be absolutely spotless. Dirty wheels let the car down so much. This scent I can't do a "quick" wash. It slwYs takes me 2-2.5 hours for a quick wash


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

With badly marked wheels I spent quite a long time with wolfs brake duster, bilberry, iron-x and elbow grease. I never did get rid of all of the marks.

If your wheels are badly marked in the long run it would be beneficial to get them refurbished and then get a good coating on them.

I am currently using FK1000P and now I just need to use soapy water to get the wheels spotless.

Where it could take several hours to get your wheels clean a coating of wax or other coating will reduce that to just a few minutes. For that reason the cost of refurbishment will pay for itself.


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## OvEr_KiLL (Mar 2, 2015)

if my wheels are still looking ok with raceglaze nano wheel seal spray sealing them then i just use power maxed jet wash and wax through the lance on the whole car and wheels and i dont dry them.
if the wheels are looking bad after a few months then i will use car chem revolt fallout remover then rinse. then spray the car and wheels with jet wash and wax. rinse and then dry the wheels and seal 2 layers with the raceglaze 
i have a small spoke back wheel woolie to try out aswel sometime


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

PW rinse, apply your chosen product, agitate in to a soapy larther with my EZ wheel brush and hogs hair brush and angled spoke brush then PW rinse again. Happy days


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## Rascal_69 (Sep 20, 2009)

I snowfoam the car and wheels and arches. 

Then rinse and start the wheel cleaning process 

Do backs first with ez brush - with smart wheels or shampoo mix
Then face with dooka mitt and swissvax wheel brush

X4 

Then turn the wheels half a turn back and do it all again. I just watch the valve cap and turn it till its at other side. 
Scrub tyres with apc sometimes 
Done. 

Sometimes iron x after above 
Glue and tar remover 

Clean tyres with glue and tar remover


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## Dan_ (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks for all the replies guys - great info!  

I've just got a new car and wanting to really keep on top of the wheels (along with everything else).

So have been spending money on wheel products and equipment and have a basis to go on now - cheers!


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

The key is to give them a clean so they look perfect and get and coating on there, makes all future cleans so quick and easy 

Pre wash and a blast off and my wheels are almost done


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

> I've just got a new car and wanting to really keep on top of the wheels


If new as in brand new then give them a good clean now and get a coating on them and they will not need any exotic cleaners ever again so long as you clean them regularly with soap and water. Using the polythene bag method if they feel rough then clay them first.

You will not need a pressure washer either to keep them clean. In fact the high pressure water may actually cut through a wax coating.


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## rob267 (Nov 27, 2015)

Nothing fancy for me.
Snow foam with bilt hamber foam whilst doing the rest of the car. 
Leave to dwell. 
Pw off then clean with dj born to be mild shampoo. 
Then rinse. 
Dry with the rest of the car.

Will be removing all 4 wheels during my spring detail and sealing with fk1000p after a full decontamination.


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## Crackers (Mar 31, 2011)

My wheels are coated in C5 too, makes for a much easier time cleaning them. I just use good old shampoo and wash mitt and woolies. They've been on nearly a year now but I'm wondering if a quick lick of iron X would be an issue just to make sure they're super clean?


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## Dan_ (Mar 6, 2014)

Andy from Sandy said:


> If new as in brand new then give them a good clean now and get a coating on them and they will not need any exotic cleaners ever again so long as you clean them regularly with soap and water. Using the polythene bag method if they feel rough then clay them first.
> 
> You will not need a pressure washer either to keep them clean. In fact the high pressure water may actually cut through a wax coating.


I have some gyeon rim but currently don't have garage or that to put the car in and apply so was gonna get a good wash routine together until such a time I can apply the gyeon stuff


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## Joech92 (Nov 25, 2011)

Here's my method:

How to: Weekly Wheel Wash - YouTube

Click here to read more:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=367570

Joe


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## Dachshund (Dec 23, 2015)

I clean mine every few weeks they are newly powder coated wheels

I find Autosmart smart wheels at 5/1 dilution and a few mins soaking

Then power wash off and wipe over with any quick detailer leaves them spotless

No need for sealants IMO if you clean regular and dont let the brake dust and dirt build up

Then dress tyres and you are done!


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## Tim662 (Aug 19, 2014)

Dachshund said:


> I clean mine every few weeks they are newly
> No need for sealants IMO if you clean regular and dont let the brake dust and dirt build up


If you added a sealant, C5 , FK1000P , mint rims, autobahn etc etc then you wouldn't need the smartwheels! Just normal shampoo does the job for me on 1-2 weeks driving using FK1000P.


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## DrH (Oct 25, 2015)

*Rust spots after cleaning still there*

I think I am on top of my cleaning regime for my wheels,

However on the insides on the front I have small brown marks which I think are rust from the discs once they have been gotten wet?

Any advice on removing the marks??


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## rob267 (Nov 27, 2015)

Bar keepers friend removes rust marks.


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## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

My wheel cleaning method.
Fill bucket with :ez detail brushes large and small,
Dodo wheel mitt,
Swissvax wheel brush
Tuf shine tyre brush
Vikan arch brush
Add warm water and some shampoo

Spray DRY wheel with sonax full effect , dwell 5 min, power wash removing up to 80% dirt.

Spray arches and tyre with APC and give the arches a brush with vikan, brush tyres.
Clean alloys and calipers front and back with various tools dipping brushes into bucket ,rinse

Spray with car pro hydro2 and rinse

That's my method . 
Clean wheels make the car stand out IMHO 
Cheers


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## turbosnoop (Apr 14, 2015)

I try to keep a wax or sealant on the wheels, even a qd that gives protection, anything. Then use a foaming spray head and spray on a thicker than normal mix of carchem 1900:1. Agitate with a valetpro brush, rinse off. Wolla. Occasionally use a fallout removing wheel cleaner.


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## shine247 (Mar 1, 2010)

Joech92 said:


> Here's my method:
> 
> How to: Weekly Wheel Wash - YouTube
> 
> ...


Liked that. Similar to what I do but I spray foam, shampoo or whatever into the barrels. 
Could not help but notice the watch, Citizen Eco drive. Never have to touch them. :thumb:


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