How-To: Clean Your Wheels

[NCZ13]

Wheel cleaning is of my favorite parts about detailing cars. Clean wheels i feel is what makes the car stand out. Heres my process for cleaning wheels.

Products used:
Assortment of brushes
Megs APC+ diluted 4:1
DP wheel gel wheel cleaner

Here is the wheel. Its not in terrible shape, but the inner barrels were pretty nasty.

Here are the brushes and products used. Yes the brushes are dirty, i had cleaned the drivers side wheel before i cleaned this one

Step 1: Rinse off wheel, tire, and wheel well.

step2: Spray wheel cleaner. I use a gel wheel cleaner, because it sticks to the surface of the wheel, and doesnt run off as fast as a regular wheel cleaner. This allows you to agitate it longer, as well as lets it sit on the wheel and break down some of the caked on grime.

Step 3: Spray wheel wells and tires with APC

Step 4: Agitate the cleaner

Step 5: I love clean barrels of the wheels, Having just a clean wheel face doesnt matter if the insides are still black with grime.

Step 6: Clean wheel wells and tires. While this mothers brush does alright, i do need a better tire brush.

Afters:

Comparison:

I also use Megs Hyper dressing 4:1 on tires, but that isnt shown in this shot. I also have p21 gel wheel cleaner, but have yet to use it. Im pretty much done with this bottle of DP wheel cleaner, so im excited to see how they compare.

 

[altspace]

Awesome work and write up. Thank you.

 

[nolig2278]

Now after you have it clean, what product will keep it clean? Like what was will help to allow dirt to just not stick or to fall off easier?

Thanks

 

[ThrillRide]

Now after you have it clean, what product will keep it clean? Like what was will help to allow dirt to just not stick or to fall off easier?

Thanks

Wax. You can buy a wheel specific wax, such as wheel wax or poorboys. Both work fine. I also use the same wax/sealant that I use on the paint. I often use opti-seal.

 

[SilverSquish]

Is it ok to use the same wheel wax/sealant on the barrel of the wheel? I plan to take my wheels off to clean them really well and I wasn't sure what kind of product would be the best to protect the inside of my wheels.

 

[altspace]

Yes, perfectly safe. I use my Poorboy's wheel sealant on the entire wheel. What I find with this product is that it's much thicker than any wax product for body panels, thus lasts longer due to the abuse wheels take.

 

[mylady'scar]

Ahhh! Where can I find these fun cleaners? Any retail stores? Autoparts stores? Wal*Mart (cough, cough)?

 

[lasermp5]

this poorboys stuff sounds good! I give my wheels a goooood cleaning every time I have them off to rotate every 3k. At least one a year I'll claybar the face and lip and wax at that time as well. Had my wheels for almost 5 years now and I'm happy with their condition.

 

[ThrillRide]

Ahhh! Where can I find these fun cleaners? Any retail stores? Autoparts stores? Wal*Mart (cough, cough)?

Best wheel cleaner I use is S100 wheel gel (aka p21s). You can pick it up at your local Harley Davidson store.

 

[crug75hid]

thats interesting on your side. but whats the fun when you can find a mud pit just driving out your garage.

 

[SRH_3GT]

Best wheel cleaner I use is S100 wheel gel (aka p21s). You can pick it up at your local Harley Davidson store.

P21s is what I use on almost all of my clients vehicles. It's very safe to use and can remain on the rims for a while without harming them.

 

[starmagic]

Very nice documentation. May I ask has anyone tried chemical guys Diablo wheel cleaner? How does it perform compared with other wheel cleaner?