Wheel cleaning
 

What is your method for cleaning break dust on the wheels? Any secret recipe to slow the dust build ups on your wheels?

Brake dust can be avoided either by not driving, or by coasting instead of braking to a stop.

The two best cleaning methods I know are spray Griot's Wheel Cleaner and use their Boar's Hair brush, or use a microfiber towel. The brush is faster, more convenient, and a quick shake will get rid of almost all the dirt and water. A microfiber towel will do a better job, with less scratching (if you're careful to avoid using too much pressure) but is a pain to rinse between wheels and clean afterwards. If you want concours wheels the thing to do is use two or three per wheel and forget rinsing just throw them in the wash. For a daily driver the Boar's Hair brush is hard to beat.

On clean wheels, Rejex wax. Topped with Armor All Wheel Protectant.

Drive & get dirty.

Wash with warm soapy water. Don't use wheel cleaners.

Repeat.

I wash my wheels as part of washing the car, and use a dedicated brush then finish by wiping them down with a micro fiber towel. I use a wheel wax pretty regularly, including the inside of the wheel whenever I have the wheels off, as this keeps them much easier to clean. I have not needed to use anything but water and a towel as long as they are waxed.

Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner. It's magic.

http://www.detailersdomain.com/Sonax...0ml_p_324.html

Just apply, wait a few minutes and wash away. It'll get rid of 95% of what's on the wheels. I also use a pressure washer which gets it to about 98%, and then a wipe down with a microfiber and they look like new. No brushes, no scrubbing.

Yes, bought Sonax 2 weeks ago & it does work like magic. Great stuff.

I've had good results with P21S wheel cleaner (the gel formula, which seems to cling to the wheels better) but have not used the Sonax product. For those of you that may have used both, how do they compare?

I've had awesome luck with the P21's wheel cleaner. It's PH controlled, non-acidic cleaner and is approved by the worlds for-most wheel manufactures. I just used it to clean some spots off of the GF's car and it worked wonders.

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/24030_x600.jpg

+1. Poor boy wax and a coating of armor all coating

I am pretty much a noob regarding car detailing as for my previous cars, I mostly use touch-free car washes and occasional detailing services... Now that I have a Cab, I can't trust anyone else to wash my car as they can easily ruin the fabric top.

I tried Meguiars Brake Dust Barrier as per their instructions but somehow over saturated a little bit with the spray can. After that stuff dries up, my wheels had white patches here and there and that stuff won't come off. I had to use rubbing alcohol to clean. Needless to say,I looked like an idiot in front of my family spending the entire afternoon cleaning my car and then some more cleaning the wheels at dinner time. My wife had a good laugh though as she had never seen me slavering like this over a car.

Nothing beats glass coating technology at the moment.

Have used both Sonax and P21s (Gel). For best results I apply wait a few minutes then brush each wheel with a good soft brush. Both prods work very well for sure - but I prefer Sonax.

But have a question - does Sonax strip the wax off wheels??

Yes. That's why I don't use wheel cleaners. If you wax (like Rejex) your wheels, all you should need to do a proper clean-up is warm soapy water.

Soap, water, and a big sponge works for me. Seldom use any other chemicals. Really not needed. Too caustic and a waste of cash that could be used on Scotch. Heck, you can remove brake dust even with a dry towel in one pass/motion. Keep it simple.

Reminds me of a good friend in Stuttgart, who asked me as I was fresh off the boat, why I used a bra on my car. I said to keep the bugs off. He laughed and said sarcastically, "just wash your car." He was right. :) Some marketing genius convinced me I needed a bra. I burned my bra later. :)

Good quality, PH balanced wheel cleaners like P21S have their place. Car wash soap and a wash mitt or soft wheel brush work great and are my usual tools for a thorough wheel cleaning. But when the wheels are lightly soiled (say, every other wash), and are like the "busy" wheels on my Cayenne in the pic below, I give a spray of cleaner, let it sit while washing the rest of the car, and then rinse. It gives a very good result and saves the 15-20 minutes it would normally take to get into the nooks and crannies of all 4 wheels.