Before a touchless car wash

[mis3]

In winter months, I have no choice but to use the local automatic car wash. I used only the touchless washes and while they typically do a good job, they are not so good on the wheels.

What can I do to "help" to clean the wheels? Is there any Meguiars product I can use before going into the wash; maybe UQD?

[ChevyNick]

I would think you would want to use one of their Wheel cleaner products. Or All Purpose Cleaner

[Murr1525]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

Even try getting them real then, then try some Brake Dust Barrier.

[mis3]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

How about UQD?
Maybe UQD helps if I spray the wheels before entering the car wash. I can see that the water jets do reach the wheels.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

UQD doesn't really have any cleaning ability so it's not going to help you in this situation. A good all purpose cleaner is probably your best bet. Wheel cleaners may seem like a good idea but you'd have to spray it onto all four wheels and then roll into the wash bay and wait for the sprayers to do their thing. That would put you way outside the dwell time recommendation and may lead to problems on certain finishes so we highly suggest NOT doing this.

[Marc08EX]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

I would be cautious when using APC on wheels. In the OP's situation, he's going to drive his car to the car wash station which will make the wheels hot. I'm not sure if the wheels will get hot if the temperatures are really low. That will depend on the distance traveled and of course the temperature. In any case, I wouldn't spray APC on the wheels when they're hot to touch. I did this when I first got my hands on APC (out of excitement) and it damaged the finish. I think it's because of the heat.

[mis3]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

Too bad. I guess I will leave them alone.

[Meticulous-Detail]

Throw the guys at the car wash a few bucks extra and tell em to do a good job on the wheels.

[mis3]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

Nothing the guy can do. It is a touchless car wash.

[jfelbab]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

I use touchless in the winter as well and I found that Meguiar's Quik Wheel Detailer works great to keep the wheels looking like new. The product is very slick and leaves the wheels very easy to keep clean.

[mis3]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

Do you spray the wheels right before the car wash?

[Detailing by M]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

use and acid base product, hot rims/wheel brightener and the like.
it's the only thing that you can spray on and wash off that does a great job.
just make sure it's all off

[jfelbab]

Re: Before a touchless car wash

Do you spray the wheels right before the car wash?

No, I clean and detail the wheels right after the wash using the QWD product.