Polishing Stained Wheels?

[jkingaround]

Hey guys, I'm having trouble with my rims recently. I have a set of powdercoated satin black and everytime I clean them they come out with weird streaks and I thought it was my cleaner. So I switched from ArmorAll to Chemical Guys and had the same problem. I sent chemical guys a picture of them and they told me they were stained.

I'm wondering what I should do to fix this? Can I use M105/205 or Swirl Remover 2.0 to fix this or if I can't do that on powder coated wheels? Thanks for the help.

Here's the pic:

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

Welcome to MOL!

So you've used two different brands of wheel cleaner, but both of those brands have more than one type of wheel cleaner. That's pretty typical; we have three in our consumer line and the ONLY one of those three suitable for these wheels is our Aluminum Wheel Cleaner. There is a very high likelihood that our other two would, and many others on the market, would do this same sort of thing. And perhaps a bigger problem here is that, since these are a matte finish, there is no way to polish them without starting to make them look somewhat glossy. And that only gets worse when you realize you can't make that new glossy appearance come out very uniform.....often just making things worse than they already are.

Can you tell us specifically which wheel cleaners you used and exactly how you used them?

[jkingaround]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

Welcome to MOL!

So you've used two different brands of wheel cleaner, but both of those brands have more than one type of wheel cleaner. That's pretty typical; we have three in our consumer line and the ONLY one of those three suitable for these wheels is our Aluminum Wheel Cleaner. There is a very high likelihood that our other two would, and many others on the market, would do this same sort of thing. And perhaps a bigger problem here is that, since these are a matte finish, there is no way to polish them without starting to make them look somewhat glossy. And that only gets worse when you realize you can't make that new glossy appearance come out very uniform.....often just making things worse than they already are.

Can you tell us specifically which wheel cleaners you used and exactly how you used them?

I understand that not all are safe for my wheels which is why I shopped for a while. I ended up going with the "Extreme Wheel & Tire Cleaner" from ArmorAll which has the "Safe on ALL factory and aftermarket coated wheels" on it. As far as Chemical Guys I used the Wheel Cleaner Signature Series which has "formulated for all finishes" and then lists powdercoated underneath that. Here's the link to the chemical guys: http://www.chemicalguys.com/CLD_203_...cld_203_16.htm

[Detailing by M]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

Those look "dryed" out, try some wax first and next time don't use a "wheel cleaner"
Just soap and water

[jkingaround]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

Those look "dryed" out, try some wax first and next time don't use a "wheel cleaner"
Just soap and water

Next time doesn't exactly help me now... I'm trying to figure out what to do to fix this. Thanks though.

[Detailing by M]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

Next time doesn't exactly help me now... I'm trying to figure out what to do to fix this. Thanks though.

Those look "dryed" out, try some wax first and next time don't use a "wheel cleaner"
Just soap and water

sorry I wasn't clear, wax them. I wax all my cars with D156/X-Press Wax/Quick Wax

[jkingaround]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

sorry I wasn't clear, wax them. I wax all my cars with D156/X-Press Wax/Quick Wax

the problem is i dont think waxing them will cover up any issues they currently have. basically wanna take them to looking new then start protecting them the right way. thanks for any input

[Detailing by M]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

it's paint, treat it like paint.
I deal with rims like this all the time. If anything get a Dyna Cone and a cleaner wax.
You'll be amazed at that will do

[1994Gen1L]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

I learned the hard way, back in 2001, that all wheel cleaners are not made the same way. I now use car wash soap and warm water on my wheels. The above advice on cleaner wax is a great start. It may take two or three applications to clean them up. You may also try Ultimate Polish.

[Detailing by M]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

oh wait. I got you mixed up with another thread.
Don't polish these, just apply a spray wax like quick wax

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

I understand that not all are safe for my wheels which is why I shopped for a while. I ended up going with the "Extreme Wheel & Tire Cleaner" from ArmorAll which has the "Safe on ALL factory and aftermarket coated wheels" on it. As far as Chemical Guys I used the Wheel Cleaner Signature Series which has "formulated for all finishes" and then lists powdercoated underneath that. Here's the link to the chemical guys: http://www.chemicalguys.com/CLD_203_...cld_203_16.htm

The description on the Armor All product is very much like the description on our Hot Rims All Wheel & Tire Cleaner, with the important part being "coated wheels". In this case, you've got a set of powdercoated wheels that can very easily be damaged by this product, as well as many others. The Chemical Guys product sounds like the right product for these wheels, just as our Aluminum Wheel Cleaner would be, but the damage was already done.

While Mario's suggestion to wax them is correct (ignore his admittedly mistaken comment to polish them ), but that obviously is not going to fix them at this point. Since these are satin black any sort of polishing you do attempt is going to start creating some additional gloss, and you'll have a very difficult time making that increased gloss look totally even, which is we don't recommend polishing them. Now, you could look at this way: you've got nothing to lose by trying to polish them since the damage you currently have isn't easily fixed without stripping and apply a new finish to them - you're already basically at a point where that's the only real, serious fix. If you do attempt this you'll want to start with something very mild and work up from there. A cleaner wax would be the mildest option.

But, and this is extremely important for you to understand: we are not really recommending that you do this, and if any further damage should arise from attempting this, that's totally on you.

The problem isn't really AA's fault, either, as the product you chose is just not the right product for these wheels. It's a very common problem, and probably the one single issue that we get the most phone calls about. Yes, we know, the wording on these products can be a bit vague (and it's not just AA and us, there are others out there with the exact same wording) but we are making changes to ours in the very near future that should alleviate the confusion somewhat. And trust us, it pains us to have to break this kind of news to anyone whose wheels were damaged in any way from any product.

[jkingaround]

Re: Polishing Stained Wheels?

The description on the Armor All product is very much like the description on our Hot Rims All Wheel & Tire Cleaner, with the important part being "coated wheels". In this case, you've got a set of powdercoated wheels that can very easily be damaged by this product, as well as many others. The Chemical Guys product sounds like the right product for these wheels, just as our Aluminum Wheel Cleaner would be, but the damage was already done.

While Mario's suggestion to wax them is correct (ignore his admittedly mistaken comment to polish them ), but that obviously is not going to fix them at this point. Since these are satin black any sort of polishing you do attempt is going to start creating some additional gloss, and you'll have a very difficult time making that increased gloss look totally even, which is we don't recommend polishing them. Now, you could look at this way: you've got nothing to lose by trying to polish them since the damage you currently have isn't easily fixed without stripping and apply a new finish to them - you're already basically at a point where that's the only real, serious fix. If you do attempt this you'll want to start with something very mild and work up from there. A cleaner wax would be the mildest option.

But, and this is extremely important for you to understand: we are not really recommending that you do this, and if any further damage should arise from attempting this, that's totally on you.

The problem isn't really AA's fault, either, as the product you chose is just not the right product for these wheels. It's a very common problem, and probably the one single issue that we get the most phone calls about. Yes, we know, the wording on these products can be a bit vague (and it's not just AA and us, there are others out there with the exact same wording) but we are making changes to ours in the very near future that should alleviate the confusion somewhat. And trust us, it pains us to have to break this kind of news to anyone whose wheels were damaged in any way from any product.

So the damage was the product? These wheels were supposed to be clear coated would the AA cleaner still mess them up?