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From my experience, there is a place for more aggressive cleaners but if you coat the wheels with a nano or ceramic coating, a regular, mild car wash solution should take care of 99 to 100% of the cleaning needs.
If there happens to be a stubborn spot, then you can break out the wheel-specific cleaners or I simply use my polish to take care of it. I am not entirely in support of using a wheel-specific cleaner every time when a much more mild cleaner will work. I have never bought a wheel cleaner and the only wheel-specific products I have ever bought are coating products.
One of my sets are bright polished aluminum coated Spyders so these are up there in tough to clean. I always give them a shot of foam cleaning solution (DIY Detail Rinseless Wash) then a scrub with the microfiber cloths and a quick spray rinse with deionized water followed by a ceramic spray coating as a drying aid. Essentially the same process as the whole car.
I have always liked products from Griot’s Garage, but I rarely, if ever, see them mentioned here. Anything wrong with those products? Thx
I like Griot's quick detailers and Ceramic spray wax. Optically clear, while adding considerable gloss and hydrophobic properties. I use the quick detailer on my race bike too.
Whatever you use, it should be pH neutral. Otherwise you'll be harming the finish over time.
Dawn is alkaline - 8.7 - 9.3
pH neutral is 7
There are far more effective / suitable cleaners for use on wheels. Particularly wheels of the quality used on Porsches.
The pH of Dawn you listed above is the full concentration from the MSDS. As you add water, the overall effective pH of the solution will adjust to be closer to water. I'll test out the pH if I can find my stock of litmus paper.
If you have to scrub a lot or use harsh chemicals, you are waiting too long between cleanings. My Audi SQ5 and VW Golf R both laid on HEAVY brake dust, fairly quickly, but as long as you are washing somewhat regularly, it comes right off with very basic washing with a microfiber mit. CarPro Reset honestly worked super well even there. It can be mixed stronger for jobs like wheels. There are other pH neutral cleaners out there that are solid as well, but the bottom line is no bristle brushes, no harsh chemicals, etc. Just take care of the vehicle more frequently.
I have been tempted to ceramic coat my wheels, but the idea of getting them fully polished for coating sounds a bit daunting.
I have been tempted to ceramic coat my wheels, but the idea of getting them fully polished for coating sounds a bit daunting.
I'll admit mine were freshly powdercoated before ceramic coating but I have polished wheels quickly and effectively using a Meguiars foam cone drill attachment. I take a realistic approach and realize these are daily driver wheels so I dont't need to use a full rotary polisher setup with 1" 2" and 3" pads. A good compound such as Sonax CutMax or even a polish such as Rupes DA Fine should work. Once that is done, you can use something easy like McKees 37 Ceramic wheel coating or before that, I used DP (formerly McKees 37) Wheel Coating without any polishing and it worked great.
DIY’d Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour on my 22S wheels and only needed water and a sponge to clean them for over 1.5 years/15k miles. Plan to retreat them soon.
Go with the gallon Griots Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner. Smells good, cheap, ph balanced and works as good as much more expensive wheel cleaner. On sale on Amazon sometimes for $25-30 a gallon.
I've tried a lot over 20 yrs and honed into this now. Using this on the among hardest to clean Macan Sports Design Wheel. Cheap enough for more frequent wash with just pressure washer, and strong enough for caked on dirt with plain old elbow grease.
