911mhawk

I'd always just used the same bucket from the car wash with soft brush or two.
Once in a while hit them with Sonax full effect, amazing for the tougher stuff and leaves the entire suspension/carrier/caliper like new.

Penn4S

This is the best stuff for matt wheels. Had matt HRE's on a previous 4S and this stuff worked great.

THE REFINERY

I was expecting this thread to mention the chalky finish that Simple Green leaves on wheels and paint work. I used it once 15-20yrs ago, and that was the last time.

For maintenance cleaning, we generally like to use the same soap that we use for the rest of the car when possible. P21S TAW is an excellent product to provide a bit more cleaning power. P21S has been our long-time go-to all-purpose cleaner for many years.

If the wheels aren't protected with ceramic coating or wax/sealant, we'll use a pH-neutral (ie NOT acid-based) cleaner like Sonax Wheel Cleaner or Gyeon Iron to safely dissolve the embedded iron-heavy brake dust. But if you're noticing that the brake dust is building up on your wheels and not washing off easily, you need to give the wheels a thorough cleaning and apply a quality ceramic coating (best) or wax/sealant (good, but needs frequent reapplication) to provide a protective layer on the surface. After this, you'll notice the brake dust will accumulate much more slowly and you'll be able to wash the wheels clean without any harsh cleaners or scrubbing.

Hi Pete - we generally try to keep the chemicals off the rotors and pads as much as possible by aiming any spray product away from the brake components and when cleaning the calipers we apply the product to our brushes to control where the cleaners go. I wouldn't fuss too much over this if you're using the types of cleaning products I've suggested above, but I would NOT suggest using any of the "wheel acid" products. Those do get things incredibly clean, but they're incredibly aggressive on the materials exposed to it. It's kind of like using a chemical sand-blaster. You can get exceptional results without using noxious chemicals.

In terms of damaging your PCCB components, brake systems are designed to be exposed to a lot of things: heat, chemical and physical contamination, debris. The pads have some iron ingredients, but even if the pad surfaces start oxidizing slightly from the wash process you'll find it rubs off immediately when you use the brakes again.

I hope this helps!

- Gerard

Upscale Audio

I bought a PH meter and checked few things. Note: It was not calibrated, but for the sake of comparison it's accurate enough.

I checked Simple Green, Simple Green Extreme which is supposed to be safe for aluminum, and Totally Awesome wheel and what's interesting is Simple Green measured 9.2 and the Extreme which is supposed to be aluminum safe was 10.54 and Totally Awesome was 11.46





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Jack F

P&S Brake Buster seems to be a decent product unless everyone on YouTube drank the koolaid. It foams super well and diluting it for use in a foamer will make it go a long way. A gallon for $22 and diluteable and nonacid and with rust inhibitors, seems like it worth trying.