[BentZero]

About to run out of my current supply. I've been using chemical guys extreme body wash and sonex full effect wheel cleaner. The soap has been good, but as usual it's on to the next when I run out. Thinking about going with Adam's next.

Wheel cleaner is pretty cool, but it doesn't last long. After like 4 washes I feel like I'm getting close to needing a new bottle. I thought this would leave my rims cleaner too. i still have to scrub them. I'm really thinking about getting some better wheel brushes since it's clear that I'll be scrubbing the rims a lot. Anyway, I'm looking for a good wheel cleaner that won't eat too much into my mod budget. :/

[Tpeterson]

I've used Griot's Garage products for the last 12 years or so with good results.
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...fType=&from=fn
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...fType=&from=fn

[pz619]

I use Adams wheel cleaner. Great stuff and I believe slightly cheaper.

[NEUE02]

Out of curiosity, how often to you clean your wheels? Is the dust baked on? Do you really need a wheel cleaner? I wash my car weekly and the wheels get pretty bad thanks to the wonderful soft OEM pads we all have. But I never use wheel cleaner. I use a fairly concentrated ratio of my auto shampoo mixed with water in a spray bottle. I swish that with a small open cell sponge for the outside, a Wheel Woolie for the barrels and a 1" foam paintbrush for the inside channel and the lug nut recesses. I've never needed anything stronger. Never. I wax my wheels twice a year with a polymer, including the barrels and since I'm not using chemicals on the surfaces the polymer doesn't get degraded.

I used to be a die hard wheel cleaner chemical proponent, and that may be fine for the masses that wash their cars semi-annually(!), but if you are a detailing oriented guy who loves and cares for his car (thats you, I know it is ) you may not really need it. Try it once and see.

[overcoil]

^^^^^
That's what I do, except I use spray wax not sealant or polymer.

[BentZero]

Originally Posted by NEUE02

Out of curiosity, how often to you clean your wheels? Is the dust baked on? Do you really need a wheel cleaner? I wash my car weekly and the wheels get pretty bad thanks to the wonderful soft OEM pads we all have. But I never use wheel cleaner. I use a fairly concentrated ratio of my auto shampoo mixed with water in a spray bottle. I swish that with a small open cell sponge for the outside, a Wheel Woolie for the barrels and a 1" foam paintbrush for the inside channel and the lug nut recesses. I've never needed anything stronger. Never. I wax my wheels twice a year with a polymer, including the barrels and since I'm not using chemicals on the surfaces the polymer doesn't get degraded.

I used to be a die hard wheel cleaner chemical proponent, and that may be fine for the masses that wash their cars semi-annually(!), but if you are a detailing oriented guy who loves and cares for his car (thats you, I know it is ) you may not really need it. Try it once and see.

Yup, that is me for sure. I wash my car (and wheels) once a week. I had been reapplying powerlock to the wheels every other month since I assumed that the wheel cleaners were eating away at that as well.

I'll give the soap only thing a shot since I pretty much do this already. Wheel cleaner alone doesn't get the results I'm looking for haha. Looks like I can just invest in better wheel brushes instead of the revolving cost of cleaner.

[Saab Story]

I highly reccomend looking into coatings. After coating my wheels with C-Quartz I've never needed a wheel cleaner; soap & a little agitation with a boar's hair brush always does the trick.

[tux2005]

I apply DP Wheel Coating (probably now replaced with 37 McKee's Wheel Coating) on my wheels and with regular car soap in my foam cannon and bucket all the brake dust comes off pretty quickly. I am washing weekly though too, I just use a plain mitt for the faces and wheel woolies for the barrels. I do occasionally also use my Sonax wheel cleaner but it doesn't have anywhere near as much colour change as on uncoated wheels that go 2+ weeks between washing.

I use Chemical Guys Mr Pink in my foam cannon and Meguiars Gold Class or Ultimate Wash & Wax in my wash bucket. I'm pretty happy with the combination. As mentioned I occasionally use the Sonax cleaner but the coating means I rarely need it. I mostly just use it for end-of-season and start-of-season cleans before coating to make sure the wheels are super clean.

[Beartato]

I just use my wash soap and mitt, and as I dry the car I lightly wipe the wheels with a clean mircofiber cloth to get the remainder off. Seems to work well enough, and I'm running bright silver Enkei RFP1s so you can definitely tell.

[NEUE02]

Originally Posted by BentZero

.....Looks like I can just invest in better wheel brushes instead of the revolving cost of cleaner.

Either way any excuse to get more tools is all we detailing fanatics need!

[BEM-S4]

A bit off topic but I ran out of my usual stuff and tried Griot tire shine. Really pleased will be switching to that full time.

[BentZero]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

A bit off topic but I ran out of my usual stuff and tried Griot tire shine. Really pleased will be switching to that full time.

Oh nice. i still have a bit of Meguiar's tire gel that works pretty well. Tires stay black for weeks to months. I'm sure I'll give something else a shot when I run out though.

[pz619]

If you like the matte/non wet look try VRT by Adams. Love that stuff.

[Pparana]

303 aerospace for the Matte, natural look. That stuff is the wd40 of the detailing world.

[crbalch]

Wash - Chemical Guys Honeydew Snow Foam
Tools - Pressure washer with foam lance
Wheels - Sonax Wheel Cleaner with a brush (stuff is too expensive to keep up with though)

And a bit off topic:
Wax - just bought Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze from Autogeek, heard its really good stuff and I don't really care if its not Carnauba. Comes in on Tuesday so I can report back, has great reviews for durability and shine though!

[tux2005]

Last weekend I took a few photos of the cleaning process on my wheels after a track day. The track day ended up putting quite a thick layer of brake dust over the wheels.

My wheels are coated with DP Wheel Coating, I applied it when I changed my wheels over for the summer. I've mostly cleaned them with the Meguiars soap and CC Mr Pink. Before my track day I did use Sonax to make sure they were thoroughly clean.

I cleaned the passenger-side front wheel with Sonax first and then compared it with using my normal soap approach on the driver-side. I then Sonax'ed the driver-side afterwards to see how much colour change would still occur.

The one problem with my testing was it was done around dusk so the lighting doesn't highlight things as well.

Passenger-side Dirty:


Passenger-side after rinse + Sonax:


Passenger-side close-up:


Drivers-side Dirty:


After cleaning with soap & brushes:


Sonax to see the colour change after:



The Sonax approach definitely got the wheels cleaner but for most maintenance washes I will still stick with just soap & brushes. If I had been a little more thorough with the brushes I probably could have gotten the wheels cleaner before Sonaxing.

I really highly recommend applying a coating to wheels though, it makes the washing process so simple. I had left the brake dust on for 5 days after the track day and it came off very easily. I've battled many times trying to get brake dust off some unsealed & uncoated wheels and it much more work. I use a cheap synthetic wool mitt for the face and spokes and wheel woolies for the barrel and they do a great job.

[BentZero]

Originally Posted by tux2005

Last weekend I took a few photos of the cleaning process on my wheels after a track day. The track day ended up putting quite a thick layer of brake dust over the wheels.

My wheels are coated with DP Wheel Coating, I applied it when I changed my wheels over for the summer. I've mostly cleaned them with the Meguiars soap and CC Mr Pink. Before my track day I did use Sonax to make sure they were thoroughly clean.

I cleaned the passenger-side front wheel with Sonax first and then compared it with using my normal soap approach on the driver-side. I then Sonax'ed the driver-side afterwards to see how much colour change would still occur.

The one problem with my testing was it was done around dusk so the lighting doesn't highlight things as well.

Passenger-side Dirty:
Attachment 1463210

Passenger-side after rinse + Sonax:
Attachment 1463211

Passenger-side close-up:
Attachment 1463212

Drivers-side Dirty:
Attachment 1463213

After cleaning with soap & brushes:
Attachment 1463214

Sonax to see the colour change after:
Attachment 1463215
Attachment 1463216

The Sonax approach definitely got the wheels cleaner but for most maintenance washes I will still stick with just soap & brushes. If I had been a little more thorough with the brushes I probably could have gotten the wheels cleaner before Sonaxing.

I really highly recommend applying a coating to wheels though, it makes the washing process so simple. I had left the brake dust on for 5 days after the track day and it came off very easily. I've battled many times trying to get brake dust off some unsealed & uncoated wheels and it much more work. I use a cheap synthetic wool mitt for the face and spokes and wheel woolies for the barrel and they do a great job.

Thanks for the comparison. I've since switched to a hybrid wheel cleaner plus soap/wash approach. The biggest difference though is that I now wipe my wheels dry afterwards as well. I noticed that my wheels look cleaner for longer now. I've been using power lock on my wheels once a month. That seems to help a lot as well.