Cleaners for Chrome Wheels -- Which One?

[Pete-FWA]

Originally posted by 2hotford

By the way, what has happened to your website???

Tim

Not sure what you mean...are you talking about the home page link in my profile or something else?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Toady
Perhaps Mike or Tim can answer this question: What happens if you use the Hot Rims Chrome Wheel Cleaner on an clearcoated wheel? Will there be any damage or undesirable results?

I'd say chances are good. Only use chrome wheel cleaners on wheels you're absolutely sure have a chrome coating.

After reading through this entire thread, I think the best thing a person could do would be to contact the wheel manufacture and tell them the exact model of wheel you have and make them tell you what the surface is or what it's coated with and maybe even go as far as to ask them what their recommendations are for cleaning them and maintaining them.

Any quality wheel manufacture should have someone reachable by phone that can give you accurate information.

As to the question about clear coated chrome. I've been told there are some wheels that are chrome and also have a clear coating of paint on them but I don't no that I can back this up.

To tell you the truth, chrome is very durable and resistant to corrosion all by itself if you just keep it clean and dry. Why anyone or any company would want to apply some kind of clear coating over this is beyond me when chrome is so durable as it is.

Once you apply a coating to chrome, (and I think this would be hard to do also because how would you prep the smooth, glossy, slick finish to enable paint to adhere to in in a uniform manner?), then anytime, anywhere any of this coating becomes destroyed, the only true fix would be to strip the entire wheel and have it re-coated/re-painted.

First you'll have a hard time finding any painter worth his weight in beans that would take on this job versus work on an entire car for money, second... that's going to cost as much or more than the wheel.

Nope... doesn't make sense.

I'm not a betting man, but I would bet your wheels are straight chrome, not coated. Any takers?

If they are chrome and not coated in any way, then our new Chrome Wheel Cleaner would be a great choice to keep them clean, if they are coated then our new Multi Piece Wheel cleaner would be a safe option for maintaining the coating.

[Toady]

Update.

I tried using Hot Rims Chrome Wheel cleaner. I know this product contains acid, so to be safe, after cleaning the tire with Westley's Blech-Wite, I wet the wheel down and used only two spritzes total on each wheel. I also put two spritzes on a soaking wet body brush with soft bristles. With the cleaner diluted fro the water, I then cleaned the wheel. The Wheel Cleaner was on the wheel for no more than 2 minutes before it was rinsed.

The result was a sparkling clean wheel with no damage. While I've still not conclusively determined if my wheels have a clearcoat, my guess is that they do not.

I followed up with NXT metal Polysh, NXT wax, and 3M Tire Dressing on the tire. The chrome is like a mirror!

[93ZF6]

I've never seen or heard of clear on chrome

I agree with Mike, Chrome is so durable and smooth adding a clear would be both extremely difficult and probably not look any better.

I would treat the wheels as if they are clear coated if you want to be safe, CC is much more damage prone than Chrome, I can't think of anything safe on CC that would damage chrome.

Also I have never seen any discoloration from Chrome wheels transfer to a cloth. Polished aluminum with CC would act the same, raw Aluminum will blacken instantly.

[grover]

My chrome wheels are clear coated and I forgot they were and got the Hot Rims Chrome, I noticed they started getting a little hazy then remembered they're clear coated. I switched back to All Wheel Cleaner and they are sparkling once again. Here are my wheels (don't look at the splatters on the paint, that was for another thread).

[Ko-B]

I have factory chrome wheels also and I just finished a bottle of Meg's new chrome wheel cleaner and it cleans great. But it seems to be a bit harsh on brake components because it slightly stained my calipers and rotors. Not too bad though. I'm gonna try the multi piece wheel cleaner and see how that works on the chrome since its not as harsh. And I wouldn't use wheel cleaner every wash if you wax your wheels cause it'll strip the wax.

[Toady]

Good points, thanks.

I think for routine cleanings, I'll go with car was soap or diluted All Wheel Cleaner.

If the wheels are really dirty, I'll go with the Chrome Wheel Cleaner since its a bit more aggressive.