Wheel cleaner for WORK wheels or 3 piece wheels.

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Ryanmckinley

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I have a pair of work vs xx on my car and I notice they get dirty really fast compared to my old wheels, and would like to know a good cleaner because I spent too much on these and would like a strong but safe wheel cleaner. I really like eagle one wheel cleaner but it says not safe on painted wheels :/ any suggestions?
 
If your wheels are getting dirty enough to require a strong cleaner, you're not cleaning them as often as you should. I have a custom made set of wheels on my daily driver. Part of each wheel is rough cast aluminum that's painted. The rims are bare polished aluminum. Over the past 10 years I have never used anything stronger than Meguiar's HyperWash which is a car wash soap - the same stuff I use to wash the rest of the car.

Get off your butt and don't let the brake dust and dirt build up on your wheels. Or, just get black wheels that look the same clean or filthy.
 
Ryanmckinley said:
I have a pair of work vs xx on my car and I notice they get dirty really fast compared to my old wheels, and would like to know a good cleaner because I spent too much on these and would like a strong but safe wheel cleaner. I really like eagle one wheel cleaner but it says not safe on painted wheels :/ any suggestions?
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If you want to protect your investment, which seems true being that you said you "spent too much on these" spend an extra 100 dollars and coat your wheels, your wheels will be a breeze to clean. My coated wheels have never needed more than a coin-op rinse to get 95% clean in the winter months with all the salt.
 
Or another option is to upgrade your brake pads. That way your wheels will be much easier to clean with less brake dust.
 
And I clean my car 3 times a week, I'm not lazy, just brake dust sticks to these more and I have ceramic pads on my car from factory they don't generate that much dust.
 
Yes use a ceramic coating like 22 ple for rims and metal. It works great and I only use soap and water to keep my wheels clean once a week.
 
Ryanmckinley said:
And I clean my car 3 times a week, I'm not lazy, just brake dust sticks to these more and I have ceramic pads on my car from factory they don't generate that much dust.
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I'm calling BS. In your first post, you ask about a strong wheel cleaner. Now you claim you wash your wheels three times per week. No matter how much dirt and brake dust get on a wheel, two days isn't long enough for it to bind to the surface. If you're washing 3x per week, all you need is regular car wash soap.

I can water hose 98% of the brake dust off my wheels after two days after running a hard 80 miles on twisty mountain roads and my car has semi competition brake pads.
 
Sonic Mustang said:
I'm calling BS. In your first post, you ask about a strong wheel cleaner. Now you claim you wash your wheels three times per week. No matter how much dirt and brake dust get on a wheel, two days isn't long enough for it to bind to the surface. If you're washing 3x per week, all you need is regular car wash soap.

I can water hose 98% of the brake dust off my wheels after two days after running a hard 80 miles on twisty mountain roads and my car has semi competition brake pads.
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I said I want a solid wheel cleaner that won't harm my wheels finish. I didn't want all your assumptions of what I do or say.
 
OP, I dunno if you are driving a Bugatti or something, but the best investment you will make in this situation isn't coating your wheels or buying a certain wheel cleaner - it's switching to low dust ceramic brake pads.

These pads will eliminate your dirty wheel issue, especially if you clean your wheels frequently. Wagner Thermo Quiet and Akebono are two very good brands of these type of pads.

It's amazing what switching to low dust pads will do.

You can trust me, I'm the Hall Monitor here.


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I went to the effort of removing the wheels and cleaning them, iron-x, clay, polish and waxed with collinite 476... took most of aday to do.. BUT...
They only ever need car wash soap and wheel wollies to get them clean again weekly...
I use Optimum Car wax to top the wheels after drying..

They are Merc Piano black and CNC silver face multispoke 19's and without this keeping them clean was a PITA....
 
You
Ryanmckinley said:
I said I want a solid wheel cleaner that won't harm my wheels finish. I didn't want all your assumptions of what I do or say.
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You wrote "strong but safe." You only need a strong cleaner for caked, baked and etched in deposits and you only deal with those if you don't clean your wheels often. I don't want to deal with your reinterpretation of what you originally wrote.
 
Then stop replying to his posts if it's bothering you so much that way you "don't have to deal" with it.
 
Sonic Mustang said:
If your wheels are getting dirty enough to require a strong cleaner, you're not cleaning them as often as you should. I have a custom made set of wheels on my daily driver. Part of each wheel is rough cast aluminum that's painted. The rims are bare polished aluminum. Over the past 10 years I have never used anything stronger than Meguiar's HyperWash which is a car wash soap - the same stuff I use to wash the rest of the car.

Get off your butt and don't let the brake dust and dirt build up on your wheels. Or, just get black wheels that look the same clean or filthy.
Click to expand...

Sonic Mustang said:
I'm calling BS. In your first post, you ask about a strong wheel cleaner. Now you claim you wash your wheels three times per week. No matter how much dirt and brake dust get on a wheel, two days isn't long enough for it to bind to the surface. If you're washing 3x per week, all you need is regular car wash soap.

I can water hose 98% of the brake dust off my wheels after two days after running a hard 80 miles on twisty mountain roads and my car has semi competition brake pads.
Click to expand...

Sonic Mustang said:
You

You wrote "strong but safe." You only need a strong cleaner for caked, baked and etched in deposits and you only deal with those if you don't clean your wheels often. I don't want to deal with your reinterpretation of what you originally wrote.
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When I read through your total posting history it's simply more of the same hostile and demeaning attitude towards our forum members.


People join forums for typically one of three reasons...

1. To ask questions and get help.

2. To answer questions and help others.

3. To cause problems.



Here's the link to our forum rules,

Forum Rules



Here's the rules your broke....

3. You are welcome to disagree but you must be polite.

4. No bashing any company or their products. No bashing other people. If you can't say anything nice about someone, then don't say anything at all, this also includes talking to others in a demeaning manner.

12. Continuously breaking the rules to disrupt the online community will result in you being banned from the forum.

15. No personal attacks toward members or non-members will be tolerated.



After discussing your posts to our forum with management it was decided that you joined this forum for reason 3 I listed above.


3. To cause problems.



Now under your name it correctly states,

SELF BANNED


We don't want and we don't need people acting like you on this forum.


:nomore:
 
Thanks guys for all the feed back, any of you tried CG wheel guard? I tried it on my previous wheels and didn't notice a big difference...
 
Ryanmckinley said:
Thanks guys for all the feed back, any of you tried CG wheel guard? I tried it on my previous wheels and didn't notice a big difference...
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I'm not familiar with that particular product, but I tried their Smart Wax Rim Wax years ago. It was a nice product - but there is stuff out the that is much better an easier to use IMHO.


I'm going to call this "Everything I Know About Dirty Wheels"...... This is all based on my experience and some opinions as well.


To me, wheel coatings / wheel waxes are a TON of effort that isn't necessary any longer. You could spend a day pulling your wheels, getting them surgically clean, waxing/coating them - only having to do it again in a year (or less).


The reason I feel this is a waste of time is because today we have AWESOME spray coatings like CarPro Hydro2 that are easily renewable, repel dirt and brake dust well, bead excellently, and significantly reduce the time & effort it takes to clean and coat wheels. I would highly recommend this product.

All you have to do to use it is clean the wheels with whatever, rinse well, spray them with a fine mist of Hydro2 and rinse off. That's it....

You have 3 months + of awesome protection for an extra 5 mins of work - and you are getting all the nooks and crannies of intricate wheels that are difficult (impossible?) to get with waxes and coatings. It also adds a nice glow to the wheels.

After this, you will only need car wash soap to clean your wheels, especially if you are doing it once a week or more. Every once in a while - just top them off with Hydro2.

Almost all of the brake dust will rinse off with Hydro2 coated wheels. I recommend using a pressure washer - it really works significantly better than a garden hose to blast brake dust off of dirty wheels.

There is no "magic" and very safe wheel cleaner. The more aggressive a wheel cleaner gets - the more likely it is to damage delicate wheels, or if the directions aren't followed perfectly.

One common way manufacturers' make their wheels cleaners "more aggressive" or "work better" is to use cleaners as ingredients that are very high pH (basic) or low pH (acidic). While this does make them work better - it has been shown to damage some sensitive wheels and brake parts on some vehicles.

Another way manufacturers' make wheel cleaners more aggressive is to use oxalate based ingredients that "chelate" or bind to iron (think IronX). So, these type products tend to work well on vehicles that use semi-metallic type pads or aggressive pads on iron rotors. The metal particles coat and embed in the wheel and it looks filthy. These cleaners actually bind to the embedded / surface iron and make it easier to remove.

But, while the cleaners are relatively safe, there has been instances of them discoloring some bare aluminum wheel and brake parts.

P21S and Griots Garage (green formula) make some very safe pH neutral wheel cleaners that will not damage any wheel. However, IME, they are only slightly better than concentrated car wash soap.

Take an oz or two of your favorite car wash soap, dilute with DI water to 32oz in a spray bottle - and add a foaming sprayer....and...BAM! You just made a pH neutral wheel cleaner that is safe on 100% of the wheels out there; and it cost like 40¢.

Since you have a Lexus, I'm guessing it is a performance model that has semi-metallic brakes... These are the brakes that usually make the worse mess. As I mentioned before, simply switching to low dust ceramic pads would solve your problem in an instant. You would go from having the dirtiest wheels to clean, to wheels that only get as dirty as the paint with this one modification.

Semi-metallic pads tend to have more initial "bite", but ceramic pads are more rotor friendly and stop just as well. I made the switch on my BMW M years ago and never looked back...
 
I'd like to try the hydro2. The faces of my wheels are painted but the lips are polished aluminum so is it safe on the polished side?
 
Ryanmckinley said:
I'd like to try the hydro2. The faces of my wheels are painted but the lips are polished aluminum so is it safe on the polished side?
Click to expand...

It's safe on everything. It a coating / protectant type product.


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