Best product to clean wheels?

[Buck91]

Whats the favorite wheel cleaner? Typically, I just wash them down with my soap bucket at the end of the wash- with the ceramics most of our vehicles have thats pretty good.

I've used the APC a couple times, but for when they get real dirty I'm still relying on consumer grade over the counter type products. Would like to get something in bulk to have on hand.

[The Guz]

Re: Best product to clean wheels?

D143 Non-Acid Wheel & Tire Cleaner is great. Similar to Hot Rims All Wheel & Tire Cleaner. It can be used on tires as well. Be sure to read the warnings on what wheels it can be used on. It works very well on OEM wheels, chrome and after market wheels that are painted and clear coated. Sealing your wheels helps future clean ups easier. Soap and water is all you need if you keep your wheels sealed. A wheel cleaner will degrade the sealant quicker than soap and water.

[DasBurninator]

Re: Best product to clean wheels?

Just to expand on what Guz said, make sure you don't let any type of wheel cleaner dry on the surface. It can stain wheels. D143 is a great product though. I especially like it for cleaning tires. I actually use it for that more than wheels.

You may also want to try DUB wheel cleaner if you are trying to stay within the Meguiars brand. It will dissolve brake dust and make really dirty wheels much easier. Though it doesn't come in gallons.
Adams Wheel cleaner is the same basic wheel cleaner type and does come in gallons. It also seems to be the most cost effective wheel cleaner in that category.

[Top Gear]

Re: Best product to clean wheels?

During a bucket wash, if the engine bay needs it, I run through it with an older mitt and plenty of UWW and GC Shampoo, then blow the bay dry and shut the hood. I then wash the wheels and tires and wheel wells with the same mitt. I then do the body with a fresh bucket of water and UWA/GC a newer and better mitt. This lets me get the harder to wash and greasier wheels out of the way early, and doing them first allows me to dry the entire car right after the last rinse, instead of trying to do the wheels quickly before water spots form on the paint or drying the paint and then trying to do the wheels separately. Just another trick learned the hard way. This method is by far results in the cleanest wheels inside and out.

During a waterless wash, I've learned to settle for wiping off the blades and rims of the wheels, the shiniest parts that are most visible, with some UWWA or QW, using an MF rag I don't care about getting very dirty with black brake dust. There is nothing I've found that will simply spray on and truly clean without creating a mess that itself has to be cleaned up again. Sometimes I'll use tire foam around the wheel wells and hubs, but not to clean the wheels, because of the mess it makes that doesn't actually do any good on the barrels of the wheels. It's better, due to the design of my wheels, to just leave the barrels dirty with brake dust until I can do a bucket wash or go through a coin-op sprayer.