Wheel cleaning help

If they are not clear coated, then you should use the mildest of soap to minimize any reaction with the metal surface. Griot's wheel cleaner is pretty mild: http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=11106

But to bring back the gloss, you may need to use a metal polish first. Like Flitz, MAAS or Wenol...which all seem pretty interchangeable to me.

 

For a quality wheel cleaner, you cannot beat P21s wheel gel. It has incrediable staying power, but is very mild, so it works by clinging to the surface, where you can let it dwell for up to two hours before rinsing away. The down side is that it is very expensive, 25 dollars for a little spray bottle, and up to 100 dollars for a half gallon. However, it is considered the industry standard, and considered top of the line.

To test if your wheels are clearcoated, take a little metal polish and rub in lightly on a spot. If the towel turns black, then you have uncoated wheels. If it does, your wheels are clearcoated. Clearcoated wheels should be treated like paint, with a mild paint polish used to remove scratches and restore gloss, then a quality sealant (such as Zaino) to protect.

Here are two sets of Ferrari rims. The first are painted and clear coated. A mild polish was used to restore gloss, and Zaino sealed it in. The second set are custom rims that featured clear coated centers and metal barrels. The spokes where treated as above, the metal was hand polished with Meguiars NXT All Metal Polysh to a high gloss, then Zainoed to protect the metal.

Once protected with a quality sealant, the rims will be very easy to clean with regular carsoap, and generally just spraying the wheels with water will cause the brake dust to literally flow off!
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Nice ! What did you use? Most of the metal polishes I mentioned have a protectant in them, so as mentioned by TD, you can just use normal wash mit and soap to clean them. An additional coat of wax wouldn't hurt though.

 

Tropicaldetail: the 3-piece Ferrari wheels that are available as a 360 upgrade...do you know if they are clearcoated or not? I THINK the are not, but I'm not 100% sure. Appreciate any input.