What do you do to make your Wheel Cleaning Easier

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chefwong

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I gotta ADMIT....I HATE cleaning wheels...
Maybe it's because I'm hunched over
Maybe cause it's boring.

I DO like having clean wheels though.

Between having them coated, even an Pressure Washer doesn't really knock out the film on some of these softer pads and the film it may leave behind

On one set of wheels, it's got alot of -spokes- design so it's just work getting the wheel mitt in and out of every crevice or curvature

Maybe - just maybe one of those EZ detail brushes might speed it up....but it's not scratch safe for me.

What methods do you employ to clean your wheels or make your wheel cleaning experience a breeze.
K
 
I pray for a whèel cleaner that clings to the wheel and truly safely cleans any type of wheel surface that has any kind of coating without agitation. Basically spray on,dwell,rinse off with no tools. I have found there seems to be some shortcomi ngs to products that come close to accomplishing this at the moment.
 
I do primarily use shampoo

Not decon, but when I do use stronger stuff like BrakeBuster, etc - it does clean the wheels abit more thorough with less-lesser agitation than shampoo
I only do the coating on a wheels off approach and dread the notion of having to -top up- a coating in a wheels on approach, hence I don't user wheel cleaners as often as I use shampoo. I'm slightly concerned I may diminish the life of the coating more with the higher alkaline product
 
I want a wheel cleaner that's like everything I said above but as gentle as a shampoo. I don't think chemistry allows for it
 
I still have *alot* of Hydr02 . Easily 32oz +.......

I used to love doing a Wheel Cleaner cleaning....followed by Hydr02. Easy to apply, gets in all the nooks and crannies and application wise, it's a whole lot easier than coating a wheel with high solids.....to some degree.

Somehow I got it in my -head- about Hydr02 overspray on tires and whether or not that may affect how Tire Dressings may adhere better or worse due to the potential overspray from the runoff of it - when applying to wheels.

Just short of the rubber concern, I was okay with stronger wheel cleaners as I knew I was going to Spray and Seal the rims afterwards regardless.
 
I still run around like a mad man with an old MF wiping up any drips from wheels onto tires. It does affect tire dressings if not taken care of first
 
Bill D said:
I still run around like a mad man with an old MF wiping up any drips from wheels onto tires. It does affect tire dressings if not taken care of first
Click to expand...

Are we discussing spray and seal overspray on rubber.
Kinda hard to mitigate that is the overspray of the rinse of wheels generally does touch a good majority of the tire to some degree - lower halves of the rubber being the obvious.

Eh, wishful thinking

My buddy is a car guy but he's not a DIY sort guy.
He has a mobile guy come around to wash his cars
Maybe I need to be like him and have a mobile guy come and clean just the wheels ;-)
 
If they offer cleaning just the wheels,maybe it's an attractive option for you
 
I start by giving them a good cleaning with a good wheel cleaner. Like TW Foaming wheel & tire cleaner. Then I use a spray coating like TW FLEX WAX or SPRAY COATING. Then I just maintain them with a ceramic infused soap when I wash them. EASY. If I want to boost the protection, I will use a spray on rinse off product. Like flex wax.
 
I'm not a fan of washing wheels and find it a necessary evil.

I use shampoo or wheel cleaner depending on the state of the wheel. I always start with blasting them off with the hose. If I'm using wheel cleaner I'll spray it on and then go after the wheel barrels with an EZ detail brush and then finish the facing surfaces with a wheel brush. If I'm using shampoo, I just grab the soapy brushes and clean the wheels the same way. After each wheel, I rinse off the brush and keep going.

On a wheel without too elaborate of spoke patter, it doesn't take me more than a minute or two per wheel. On something like my mother-in-laws Genesis G9, it takes a lot longer and I have to break a third, much smaller brush to get into the little areas. Those wheels take me forever.
 
Wheels tend to take the longest part of the whole wash for me. I'm obsessed with cleaning the barrels and this takes the most time per wheel. Thank God for low dust brakes on one vehicle I wash. Washing its wheels is a breeze.
 
When I owned German cars, it was a lot harder because I was having to go after brake dust in all of the recessed lug nut areas. That was a pain and the only way to get it perfect was to remove the wheel.
 
If I want the barrels spotless I have to put the car on my lift and clean wipe from the underside
 
Nah. Showoff is making a whole thread about it with pics. Not my style
 
I don't have a benchmark - usage time enough on this ....but BH Touchless or even Auto Foam.....at some point, that high PH will start making a dent in whatever LSP is on the wheel - unless one prescribes to spray and seal, in which sealing it back up is not a issue. (The thought has crossed my mind to try it to see if it removes not the road film but the soft pad film....)

I love that it is fairly touchless but that high PH comes with a price on the LSP
 
Bill D said:
I pray for a whèel cleaner that clings to the wheel and truly safely cleans any type of wheel surface that has any kind of coating without agitation. Basically spray on,dwell,rinse off with no tools. I have found there seems to be some shortcomi ngs to products that come close to accomplishing this at the moment.
Click to expand...

Do you use a pressure washer?
 
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