Cleaning Factory Alloy Wheels

Any car soap should be fine. It's just a paint surface with clear coat like a body panel.

 

Ditto

 

Do you take your wheels/ tires off the car to clean them.? Edward

 

Sonax wheel cleaner and Adam's wheel cleaner are two very good products for removing the oily film and sintered on brake dust. Both are safe on all types of wheels/finishes.

http://store.sonaxusa.com/sonaxwheelcleanerplus.aspx

 

If you have carbon fiber brakes do not you anything other than car wash soap.

 

I use Simple Green and a soft kitchen bottle brush.
After 7 years, they still look new.

 

Dear David,

A dozen or more years ago the Army banned the use of Simple Green on their helos. About the same time NAVAIR banned Simple Green from being used on any aircraft after some problems on the Hornets. As I understand it the company reformulated the product and is now considered safe to use if it is Extreme Simple Green Aviation. Apparently the original product caused hydrogen embrittlement on steel and was destructive on aluminum. Hope you are using the right stuff.

Best regards,

Robert

 

Sonax wheel Cleaner- Ph neutral, Acid Free. Intend to use it on my 458 with carbon breaks. Now new Sonax plus is out. Contact Auto Geeks or Chem guys if you have selected Issues regarding safety of this product with your wheels/brakes. Can now also by this product on Amazon.

 

And a Boar's hair brush (for the purists!)

 

Just looked on Amazon for the Sonax ... There is a wheel cleaner, wheel cleaner plus and wheel cleaner full effect .... Which is the one you are using now with success?

 

Can confirm Simple Green will react with bare aluminum. The rims are clear coated but there's lots of bare aluminum in the wheel area. If it sits long enough it will harm the raw aluminum finish on parts. Regular car wash for the wheels but you'll have to remove them eventually to get them new again. The wheel hangers sold on this site will make a good stocking stuffer.

 

The Full Effect is the one to use, all three work, but the F.E. is faster acting and does the best job on the oily grime/brake dust. All the while the product is safe on all wheels, don't rinse your wheel prior to applying F.E. to achieve the best results.
Use a Wheel Woolie and a lug brush to lightly agitate, rinse and admire your clean wheels.

 

Do not use wheel cleaners on carbon ceramic rotors! At worst, they can damage the surface of the delicate rotors by being too harsh. At best, your rotors will squeak alot more than before.

Carbon Ceramics produce very little brake dust anyways - wheel soap or even car soap is more than enough to clean everything.

 

I think that Sonax "Plus" is stronger than "Full Effect".

First post here has some info on Sonax line and also buying in bulk -> https://www.autopia.org/forums/car-detailing-product-discussion/181203-wheel-cleaner-2.html#post1992893

 

Beautiful 360. Those rims are gorgeous.

 

Liquid soap and plenty of warm water.....regularly.
A customer of mine, sprayed alloy wheel cleaner onto his front screen thinking it would clean off traffic film.
Phone rings...goes to answer...makes coffee..etc etc goes back to car 15 mins later...........needs new screen.
If you wouldn't wash your face with it.....why spray it onto your wheels.....a corrosive substance isn't selective...Ford/Fiat or Ferrari ! makes no difference

 

Agree with the above, for cars that are are babied and washed regularly, you never need anything more than car wash soap. For a DD that has brake dust sitting for a while, that's when you need chemicals.

A lot of people treat wheels with "Rejex" polish, which really helps repel brake dust as long as you let Rejex cure fully (12-24 hours) before driving. Any car polish will help reject brake dust a bit, but Rejex is better than most. Rejex used to be considered by many to be the "best" product for brake dust rejection, but Rejex has been out for a long time at this point, so I don't know if there is something better now.

 

Wish I read this one before I used a cleaner. Never had squeaks on my FF, but now I do