Cleaning wheels?

CymruPolo · Post by **CymruPolo** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:54 pm

My wheels are in a right sorry state to be honest. I've had them for over 2 years and all they've ever been washed with is hot water and whatever car shampoo I've had at the time (currently Meguiars). The problem is now I've have some brown like patches and some tar spots that won't shift with just water.

What's the best thing to use to get them off? I'm hoping there's a quick method 'cos I'm not a fan of cleaning my wheels due to how many spokes I have the damn things

Tim_GTi · Post by **Tim_GTi** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:57 pm

I've got a few similiar blemishes I'd like to see gon also Alun.

I'm gunna do some research on it, I'll let you know if I find anything

CymruPolo · Post by **CymruPolo** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:59 pm

Cool, thanks matey

Tim_GTi · Post by **Tim_GTi** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:01 pm

There's a few products mentioned here:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... hp?t=80516

I may try claying it first

CymruPolo · Post by **CymruPolo** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:03 pm

Clay does get it off, BUT it takes ages just to do one patch! I'd rather pay someone to sort them tbh

Tim_GTi · Post by **Tim_GTi** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:06 pm

How bad are they?

Polo96CL · Post by **Polo96CL** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:09 pm

I wash down with "The suds" first, leave for 1 minute to soak. Wash off with water and wipe down with the mitt, then use intensive tar remover on the brake dust (taking extreme care not to get any on the polished lip of my RXii's). Wash that off with water and dry with microfibre cotton towel. Finally use some Luster Pad to polish the lip of the alloy back to prime condition and then finally buff it up.

Not sure what you mean by "brown patches"?

CymruPolo · Post by **CymruPolo** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:21 pm

Tim_GTi wrote:How bad are they?

Not that bad. I mean, you can't notice anything unless you go right up to them. What I have is random small patches on the lip at the bottom of the spokes, and generally the wheels feels abit rough when you run your finger over them.

@Polo96CL: With brown patches, I think it's just brake dust that seems to have stuck and turned brown with time.

Tim_GTi · Post by **Tim_GTi** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:29 pm

Yeh, I've had a search around, seems like a good clay will get it out. I'll try it out soon.

If you know it works Alun get on it! It's all about commitment

CymruPolo · Post by **CymruPolo** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:40 pm

I may have to commit one afternoon to my wheels then, and then another for the rest of the car lol.

Tim_GTi · Post by **Tim_GTi** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:10 am

That's all it will require

. You'll be glad you didn't splash out for someone else to do it after

CymruPolo · Post by **CymruPolo** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:29 pm

I will let you know if that is the case after I've finished them

CTR · Post by **CTR** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:18 pm

Just my 2p...

As a last resort, (note: "last") use a slightly diluted solution of Wonder Wheels. This stuff shifts pretty much everything off your alloys, but it is VERY acidic and may damage the lacquer on your alloys. So use with care. I've used it several times on my civic, it works very well but I've heard of cases where it eats into the lacquer.

Tim_GTi · Post by **Tim_GTi** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:46 pm

I tried clay on mine on Tuesday, didn't work

don't fancy the Wonder Wheels method, anyone else got any other ideas?

CTR · Post by **CTR** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:49 pm

Ok, in that case try a scratch remover polish like Meg's Scratch-X.