Cleaning Alloy Wheels

[black999]

Hi Guys

Decided, cos the weather was nice , to give my car a good wax and clean.
I know that Audi recommend Autoglym products, wax etc but has anyone any recommendations regarding the cleaning of alloy wheels ?

My Audi dealer said use "hot soapy water" but to be honest that doesn't seem to do the trick.
I'm a bit wary of using anything acidic for fear of damaging the wheels themselves.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[golfgt140]

Unfortunately hot soapy water is the best way (imo).

I would give them a really good clean- taking them off the car. De-tar them with Tardis or similar. Clay them, polish if need be, then coat with a durable wax or sealant. If you are really into it Iron-X is a brilliant product after the de-tarring stage that will remove iron based particles- amazing what comes off!

After this all you will need is a weekly wash with your mitt & some hot soapy water. There are loads of wheel cleaners out there- some safe some not. If you go to the bother of a good sealant twice a year, hand washing works a treat.

Also, I learned the hard way not to go too close with the pressure washer! I have removed paint on 2 of my wheels. Strictly hand washing & low pressure rinsing for me from now on.

[Crazyfool]

Jet wash then soap and water. I used to use Wonder Wheels on my other car, but these wheels are easier to clean.

[ScottyUK]

I just use Autoglym's Extra Gloss Protection to seal mine. I'll be honest and admit I've nto cleaned them for about two months or so but the brake dust just wipes off with a finger tip i.e. when checking the pressures it gets totally smudged off around the valves.

I learnt my lesson many years ago on a company car fortunately!

[Crazyfool]

I just use Autoglym's Extra Gloss Protection to seal mine.

The only way I can protect my wheels is to stop the wife driving the car. She scratched two of them within the first couple of days of buying the car!

[black999]

Thanks for all your help guys , much appreciated :)

[SunnyBard]

has anyone any recommendations regarding the cleaning of alloy wheels?

For removing the copious amounts of brake dust I had been using one of the trigger spray acid based cleaners, does a reasonable job, but still leaves a couple of those "radioactive particles" per wheel that seem to firmly embed themselves into the coating ... but I found they were needing cleaning more once a week.

So, I thought I'd try some Wonder Wheels Alloy Sealer, about £7 for a little bottle from *********, the product itself is nothing short of amazing, the dust barely settles on the wheels at all, and the little that does comes off with either a little blow or a waft from a dry cloth, a week after sealing them and they look better than they used to a day after cleaning without sealing ...

Once the stuff has dried it does give the wheels a slight "dry whitish" look, like freshly chopped sodium, rather than their natural silver, perhaps I went a little OTT with it, but with the awful trigger spray which jammed after every single squirt I was cursing the bottle for not letting me apply it evenly, rather than worrying about how much to apply.

[kite]

I use Virisol to clean the wheels then Poorboys wheel wax.

[ScottyUK]

Virosol (and what ever it's other name is) is what I use too when it's really bad. Spray it on and leave it whilst I get all the car cleaning stuff out.

It's good stuff.

[Big Bird]

I use Meguiars wheel brightner every so often and protected with poorboys sealant.