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I take the Macan to a car wash, brushless ....... ..... (911 gets dry washed) comes out clean, they do the jambs, blow out the crevices, clean the inside of the w/s. windows, vacuum.. etc BUT the wheels only get the outside faces clean.
After I get home I clean the wheels (5 spoke 20" Grey) again, 3 different brushes. I was using an expensive wheel cleaner. but about 2 years ago I ran out of it...wanting to get the wheels clean my wife suggested using a mix of DAWN dish washing soap,
so now after 2 years I am still using the 1 part dawn to 20 parts water in a pump sprayer... (and its really cheap )
It easily loosens the dirt and dust and slight brushing gets them really clean....( keep reapplying the soap mixture and flushing nt to leave it on too long...it does not seem to have created any problems with the finish !!
Dawn will work just fine, but it does strip off any wax or sealant that you have on the wheels or paint, so be careful not to get it on the quarter panels where you are more likely to have wax.
I picked up a nice little cone shaped scrubber (soft microfiber) that I now use for the wheels. I just use an old bottle of turtle wax car wash soap (I use Chemical Guys soap cannon soap for the rest of the car). It works great, and is long enough to reach behind the spokes and clean the interior surface of the wheels.
I have a feeling that many car cleaning products labeled as eco-friendly, non-toxic or ph-balanced are simply diluted versions of a standard soap or a Simple-Green style degreaser with their "proprietary" scent added.
I've been using diluted detergent soap to clean my leather shoes and household furniture fabrics for years. If they are fine on delicate stuff like that, some diluted soap is fine on a hardened polyurethane clear coat that is subjected to an assault of brake dust each day.
I always use whatever I wash the main car with. Right now, it's DIY Detail Rinseless wash in a foaming spray bottle.
Anytime I clean the wheels, I follow up with a quick ceramic or protectant coating spray. As long as you do that, stripping the existing protective wax/sealant/ceramic coat shouldnt be a worry.
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.
What would be more neutral?
I am diluting the Dawn about 40 or more to 1, and flushing it away very quickly..it is never on there more that a minute or 2...
Sonax is good stuff. Check out the website autogeek.com and look at their wheel cleaners. You want the least caustic option that will get the job done. Might have to experiment to find the one you like, but stick to the better brands like Sonax, or G-Techniq, Pinnacle, etc...
I've been using P&S Brake Buster for maintenance washes in an iK2 sprayer and Sonax Beast for when the wheels are really dusty and haven't been cleaned in a while. Jescar spray ceramic wax makes for a good protectant layer. I use three different brushes on my Spyders, which I admit is over the top.
I've been using P&S Brake Buster for maintenance washes in an iK2 sprayer and Sonax Beast for when the wheels are really dusty and haven't been cleaned in a while. Jescar spray ceramic wax makes for a good protectant layer. I use three different brushes on my Spyders, which I admit is over the top.
Not necessarily, small round one for the bolt holes, fluffy angled one for the barrel and tapered brush for the tight area behind the brake caliper
After trying a few different products I've settled on CarPro Reset. It's not super expensive and you only need a capful or two in a gallon of water. I really like this soap. It's super gentle but does a great job getting back to the foundation (for me it's a ceramic coat). It rinses really well and doesn't put anything back onto the paint so it looks like it did right after applying the ceramic. Highly recommend.
After trying a few different products I've settled on CarPro Reset. It's not super expensive and you only need a capful or two in a gallon of water. I really like this soap. It's super gentle but does a great job getting back to the foundation (for me it's a ceramic coat). It rinses really well and doesn't put anything back onto the paint so it looks like it did right after applying the ceramic. Highly recommend.
CarPro Reset certainly is a really excellent product for general car washing. Not the best for wheel cleaning in my experience though.
If you have stubborn, somewhat embedded or baked on brake dust (which is not uncommon on a Porsche), I've found that it is beneficial to have a wheel cleaning product that applies in more of a gel-like form - meaning that it will cling to the various wheel surfaces (horizontal and vertical) to help break down the filth.
Sonax makes another great product that fits this description...
20% stronger. This formula clings better to the wheel surfaces. pH balanced. Will not harm the wheel finishes with repeated use over time. Color-changing, yes. But the effective part is the application texture of the formula.
CarPro Reset certainly is a really excellent product for general car washing. Not the best for wheel cleaning in my experience though.
If you have stubborn, somewhat embedded or baked on brake dust (which is not uncommon on a Porsche), I've found that it is beneficial to have a wheel cleaning product that applies in more of a gel-like form - meaning that it will cling to the various wheel surfaces (horizontal and vertical) to help break down the filth.
Sonax makes another great product that fits this description...
20% stronger. This formula clings better to the wheel surfaces. pH balanced. Will not harm the wheel finishes with repeated use over time.
Color-changing, yes. But the effective part is the application texture of the formula.
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.
Not necessarily, small round one for the bolt holes, fluffy angled one for the barrel and tapered brush for the tight area behind the brake caliper
I just use microfiber towels. I soak 8 in my wash solution and use two per wheel, no redunking them in the wash solution. They work great for the tires and calipers too. I wear gloves when handling though, no need to get that stuff on your skin.
07-13-2024, 01:19 PM
Cleaning wheels
..... (911 gets dry washed) comes out clean, they do the jambs, blow out the crevices, clean the inside of the w/s. windows, vacuum.. etc BUT the wheels only get the outside faces clean.
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