Alloy Wheel Cleaning & Protecting

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Buying alloy wheels for your car (or even spec'ing them on a new car) will usually be the most expensive addition. It costs very little, takes up very little time and is generally an easy task to look after your alloy-wheels properly to avoid common blemishes and corrosion.

The most common reason for alloy wheels to go bad is corrosion resulting from using harsh wheel cleaners. Using harsh wheel cleaners can also speed up wear on brake discs, pads and brake lines. There are three main types of wheel cleaners - Acidic, Alkaline and PH Neutral.

Which Wheel Cleaner?

There's alot of marketing BS surrounding wheel cleaners and the chemical nature at which they all live by. The likes of Wonder Wheels (available in most motor factors) is outrageously strong (on the acidic side) and will almost certainly cause damage if used long-term on a set of wheels. With it being relatively well-known that heavily acidic wheel cleaners cause damage, some companies have come out with 'Non-Acidic' wheel cleaners. Great? Not really, instead they are alkaline based, which is just as bad (worse in some cases).

The reality is that to work, wheel cleaners need to have a degreasing agent in them to work. The best you can do is choose a wheel cleaner which works well while not being overly acidic. We use Meguiar's Wheel Brightener diluted @ 4:1 or 10:1 and it comes in at PH3-PH5 depending on how you dilute it (PH Neutral is 7). Wheel Brightener is a touchless cleaner if the wheels aren't soiled too badly, but agitation with a brush on badly soiled wheels will usually clean things up nicely.

For machine polished (and other sensitive finished) wheels, there are a range of wheel cleaners which are PH neutral. You just simply can't put traditional cleaners near them or they will corrode. Because machine polished wheels don't catch dirt in the same fashion as painted wheels, the surfactants in the PH Neutral cleaners can clean while not being too aggressive. You can leave them on the wheels for up to 60 minutes and they won't stain.

The key to wheel care is not to use wheel cleaners often. The best way to keep your wheels clean is to apply a wheel sealant. Almost every car care brand will have a specific wheel wax. They're different to conventional waxes in so far as they're made from synthetic polymers (better for high temps) as opposed to natural waxes. When a wheel wax/sealant is applied the brake dust and dirt wont bond to the wheel so you won't need to use wheel cleaners as often, thus significantly reducing the wear on the wheels and associated materials.

Cleaning & Protecting

To clean wheels, the best way is to liberally spray on your chosen wheel cleaner, agitate with a wheel brush (Swissvax Wheel Brush is my preference) and rinse with a power hose. Don't hold the power hose too close to the wheel, you're really just looking to rinse, rather then using the water to clean the wheel. The wheel brush will help you get into knooks and crannys on the wheel.

When applying a wheel sealant for the first time, it would be advised to remove them so you can properly clean the insides. For optimal results from your wheel sealant, you could clay & cleanse the wheels before applying the sealants. You should apply the sealants using a foam pad moistened with a mist of water, and buff off with a microfibre towel.

When you use a wheel brush to agitate wheel cleaning solution, it foams up and breaks up the brake dust and dirt better.



Wheel Cleaning Products;

- Meguiar's Wheel Brightener - €30 for 1 Gallon (Dilutes 4:1 so makes 19 litres)



Mildly acidic wheel cleaner that tackles even the worst brake dust & dirt.

- 3M Wheel & Tyre Cleaner - €10 for 473ml (Ready to Use)



Mildly alkaline wheel cleaner, doubles as a rubber cleaner.

- Chemical Diablo Gel - €16 for 473ml (Dilutes up to 6:1 so makes 3.3 litres)



PH Neutral wheel cleaner, safe for all types of wheels.

- Swissvax Wheel - €35 for 250ml (Dilutes up to 3:1 so makes 1 litre)



Ultra safe wheel cleaning solution

- Swissvax Wheel Brush - €10



These are really hard-wearing. I've used the same one for about 18 months now and besides the wood handle being a bit dirty, it's still like new. The best €10 you'll spend on your wheels.

Wheel Protectants

- Swissvax Autobahn - €37 for 50ml or €120 for 200ml



Contains PTFE (Teflon). Lasts 15-20 washes depending on the driving conditions.

- Poorboys Wheel Sealant - €20 for 200ml



Lasts 6-8 washes

- Chemical Guys Wheel Guard - €16 for 200ml



Lasts 5 or 6 washes

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If anyone has any problems or questions with regard to wheel cleaning and protecting, I'd be happy to help.

Voodoomelon

Great post and lots of useful info.

If I can just add, one of the best ways to make wheel cleaning easier is to not let your wheels get filthy in the first place. Even if you commute and your car is dirty a lot of the time and can't be arsed cleaning it every week, at least give the wheels a light clean with regular shampoo and a sponge, takes 3-4 minutes and stops the build up of baked on dust and dirt.

Quick squirt of Autoglym machine degreaser would be too severe presumably?