StephenK

Anyone found a good product for cleaning brake dust off our rims???? I have used the wheel cleaner product offered thru MBUSA, and had good results, just curious what the detailing fanatics have found out there.

vraa

I wax my wheels every few months. That helps with brake dust -- you can also just do a quick wipe of the wheels during your weekly wash.

Greg@DI

I absolutely love is the P21S Metal Polishing Soap for it's ability to quickly clean and shine the rims. Just wet the sponge that’s supplied with the soap and wipe it once across the soap and you'll have a rich lather. Then just wipe it on the wheels and watch as it cleans and polishes the wheels in one easy step. Another option is to apply a sealant to your wheels like the Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant. This sealant provides a micro thin barrier between your wheels and brake dust, road grime, etc. It helps prevent contaminates from bonding to the wheel and makes future cleanings much easier. While there are many great products out there, this is my "go to " combination that works exceptionally well in my experiences.

Greg @ Detailed Image

OCKlasse

Do you use a wax or a sealant? If you are using a wax, it melts off as soon as your start driving...you need the high temp durability of a sealant.

TOGWT

You are correct that wax (180oF) has a lower melting point than a polymer
(350oF)

Melting Point (Fracture/evaporation temperatures): Polymers 350oF – 176oC, Acrylic Resin 265 - 285oF -130 - 140°C, Silicone oil 350oF - 176oC, Mineral oils 200oF - 93oC, Synthetic blends (Carnauba wax / polymers) 200oF - 93oC, Carnauba wax 180oF -82oC, and Bee’s wax 130oF - 54oC.Melting Point (Fracture/evaporation temperatures): Polymers 350oF (176oC),
Acrylic Resin 265 - 285oF (130 - 140°C), Silicone oil 350oF (176oC),
Mineral oils 200oF (93oC), Synthetic blends (Carnauba wax / polymers) 200oF (93oC), Carnauba wax 180oF (82oC), and Bee’s wax 130oF (54oC)

In actual practice the high temperatures frequently encountered by vehicles from the radiation causes wax compounds to melt, for example, a painted surfaces exposed to ambient temperatures of 85oF in direct sunlight, will obtain a temperature of 195 degrees or more. It should be noted that there is a range of temperatures at which melting begins and that the 'melting point' is the end point of that range

Information resource- Relevant Material Data Sheet (MSDS)

Nickc0844

The P21S and Poorboy's Wheel Sealant is an excellent combo in my detailing regimen!

lxl_Jeffro_lxl

I took off my passenger side wheel to inspect the brakes, and then i decided to clean that rim because it was flat black on the inside. I rub my finger on the inside thinking it is the color because nothing rubbed off, then I took some of that poorboys cleaner and sprayed it on after applying water. Scrubbed a little bit and the true color of the rims shined. I was amazed how it turned out, now I'm going to remove the other 3 wheels 2marrow morning and clean those as well. Thanks for the tip on the cleaner! I'll post pics of my drivers wheel before, and the wheel after. To show the TRUE effect.

Greg@DI

Nice work Josh, sounds like the wheels came out really well. The Poorboy's World Spray and Rinse is a great cleaner that can even be diluted for an even better value. I look forward to seeing some pictures of your hard work.

Greg @ Detailed Image

tex07

I saw this just the other day on my friend's 560 SEC. He's actually on this forum too...+1 to this post. This stuff works.

Do get a toothbrush though if its really caked on and brush away...you'll have to with any cleaner you get.

Greg@DI

Glad to hear that you got to witness this combinations effectiveness. Its pretty quick and easy to use and I get the shine and protection I want so it's a great set of products to have.

Greg @ Detailed Image

SA Detailer

Simple Green works fast and easy for me.

















This is my car's wheels that get Simple Greened every time I wash it, twice aweek since new.

tex07

P21S wheel cleaner...simply spray it on about 15 minutes before driving it to the wash (or washing it yourself)

if the stuff is caked on, use a non-abrasive rag to wipe it in.

its a gel-like substance that you actually spray...kinda weird huh?

Greg@DI

Simple Green is an acidic wheel cleaner that will work well on alloy wheels. However like any acidic cleaner you have to be careful what you spray it on. The P21S Wheel Gel is a great solution to cleaning any kind of wheel. It's a pH balanced wheel cleaner so it's safe on any wheel (uncoated, chrome, polished, painted, etc.) There are very few other wheel cleaners that are this universally safe yet still such a strong cleaner. Wheel cleaning is just a matter of finding out what combination of products works best for you.

Greg @ Detailed Image

SA Detailer

Acidic???

I've used this on every wheel type available and never seen any damage.

Just another myth that product pushing pimps are saying all over the internet, to keep people from using this great and more affordable product.

lxl_Jeffro_lxl

I agree with Greg, I wouldn't let simple green touch my painted rims (If I had some)....its like mixing simple green in your car wash solution. That would be the most unintelligent thing to do...

TOGWT

Quote: Acidic???
I've used this on every wheel type available and never seen any damage.
Just another myth that product pushing pimps are saying all over the internet, to keep people from using this great and more affordable product."
San Antonio Mobile Wash
San Antonio, TX

Chill out man "product pushing pimps"

Perhaps we should be more respectful of other's opinions, especially when they differ and use it as a learning experience Healthy debate isn't a problem as most opinions are at best subjective anyway, and there is always an opposing and often equally valid response, which should be encouraged.

This is what the mfgs say about there product.
Is it safe to use Simple Green on aluminium?

http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_faqs.php

Simple Green products have been successfully and safely used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminium items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: Aluminium is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green or Crystal Simple Green can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times of All-Purpose Simple Green and Crystal Simple Green with unprotected or unpainted aluminium surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green/Crystal Simple Green residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminium cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

One should never assume that aqueous solutions could be disposed of down the drain. Your local water treatment authority or publicly owned treatment works (POTW) will have information on treatment and disposal of these cleaners. Adjustment of pH and dilution are usually required before disposal to a drain.
Simple Green is corrosive and will react with bare aluminium causing hydrogen embrittlement (this is also known as stress cracking corrosion).

As the cleaner gradually ferments it reduces the pH from its normal mildly alkaline state to acidic. Slow corrosion of the aluminium results, generating a little hydrogen on the surface. Anaerobic conditions also generate hydrogen and hydrogen sulphide bio chemically, producing small amounts of methane. The aluminium probably has sufficient residual stress to be susceptible to hydrogen stress cracking, and this can be accelerated by the sulphide.

From Simple Green’s FAQ-

Simple Green products have been successfully and safely used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: Aluminium is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green or Crystal Simple Green can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times of All-Purpose Simple Green and Crystal Simple Green with unprotected or unpainted aluminium surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green/Crystal Simple Green residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminium cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision Cleaner - http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_prod_ext_mor.php
Meets Boeing Specs –D6 – 1748-7P (Water - based, no Hydrocarbon solvents)

Extreme Simple Green®, Simple Green’s new aircraft and precision cleaning product, cuts through tough, built up grease, oil, dirt, pollution, insect residue and impact soils. We’ve found no other aircraft-approved product on the market that matches Extreme Simple Green’s cleaning performance. Yet, it causes no harm to aircraft structural metals, plastics, paints, or coatings. How does it do this?

Extreme Simple Green gets its superior cleaning from a unique “triple play” cleaning formula. Two high performance surfactants and a new generation grease lifter/cutter combine to get the soil away from the aircraft surface quickly and then keep it away so that it can be cleanly rinsed away. Extreme Simple Green’s speed of grease cutting and its high capacity to hold grease, oil and soils in solution during cleaning and rinsing time are the keys to performance. This equals fast cleaning and no re-deposition, but Extreme Simple Green is also able to go into oil/water separators and have oil break from solution.

Extreme Simple Green’s safety upon aircraft materials and precision cleaning surfaces comes from a combination of proven anti-corrosion agents. A time tested coupling agent allows these to work together to battle corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement. These same qualities make Extreme Simple Green safe to put through pressure washing equipment, rack wash systems, dip tanks and parts washers, without any equipment damage.

The components of Extreme Simple Green are all low-toxicity compounds and the product contains no “solvents”. This leads to an excellent worker’s safety environment. All of the components are biodegradable, so Extreme Simple Green won’t accumulate in the environment and rinse-waste can be handled by standard waste water treatment methods. Extreme Simple Green meets or exceeds current and reasonably anticipated VOC requirements. It also contains no Clean Air Act Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP), nor is it a RCRA hazardous waste in and of itself when disposed.

Industrial Equipment
Simple Green offers a multitude of ways to ensure proper use, dilution, mixing, and application of our outstanding cleaning products, including 30-, 60-, and 80-gallon capacity parts washers, a multi-dilution foamer, and a 4-way proportional. Click here to view Simple Green's industrial equipment.

Alternative product - Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision Cleaner: http://industrial.simplegreen.com/ind_prod_ext_mor.php
Meets Boeing Specs –D6 – 1748-7P (Water based, no solvents)

lxl_Jeffro_lxl

Here are some pictures of my rims that I took after cleaning it with Poorboy's World Spray and Rinse. Sorry I have no overall shot, deleted some pictures on my camera by mistake. But hey no one is perfect!

ProV1

what can i use to remove the stubborn "caked-on" brake dust spots on the wheels?

also, i just use my car soap & a sponge to clean the rims. as long as i clean them once a week, they come out great? is there a true "spray on, hose off" product that completely removes ALL the brake dust from our wheels??

lxl_Jeffro_lxl

Well, I used that poorboys thing....it wasn't exactly spray on wipe off. I took off my wheels and they were caked on so I used that spray. I let it soak in, then scrubbed it with a hard bristle brush because a sponge didn't effect it at all. I compared the power of the poorboys spray vs. simple green and the simple green didn't quiet clean everything as well as the poorboys. It's a good product and will help with the caked on effect, good luck and happy scrubbing lol

Greg@DI

The wheels look very clean Josh, I'm glad the Poorboy's World Spray and Rinse worked well for you. Sorry to hear some of the pics got deleted. The ones you posted looked great!

The Poorboy's World Spray and Rinse is a pretty strong formula that if you use regularly you can probably remove 75% or more of the contamination with just spraying it on and rinsing it off. It depends on your wheel and driving conditions too. I have several customers who rave about how they don't do any scrubbing just spray this product on and rinse off and the wheels look perfect. I haven't removed everything but it typically cleans about 85% of my brake dust and road grime off. That's with me being overly critical too with brake dust caught in lug nuts, etc. This product is so effective some people dilute it to a 3:1 ratio of water to cleaner and it still works great. In summary it's not perfect but it has really helped me reduce the cleaning time.

Another product that helps reduce cleaning time is applying a Wheel Sealant. These products are designed to help reduce the amount of brake dust that accumulates on the wheel and primarily make future cleanings easier.

Greg @ Detailed Image

ponch_a_rallys

I use PRESTONE's wheel cleaner with BRAKE DUST REPELLANT lol. I sprayed it on my wheels and it sure did the job. You can really notice the difference when you clean the rims a second time around. The brake dust comes off rather quickly. No more hard scrubbing. I simply use a small brush for the tires and the brake dust comes off easily.

chairman

on cleaning wheels and the types of product out there, it is a good read

m_berman

If you just want to get the dirt of your rim without regards to removing the wax from the body-- it will do the job.

The point of this group is time honored quaility of making your car shine. Even though you have a clean rim, what about the shine? The degreasers remove all layers of polish, glaze and wax. The purpose of a cleaner is to remove the contaiminants on top of the wax without remove the wax, glaze and polish.

Leave the degreasers to $2.00 wash stall guys!

market000

I just use a seperate cloth and pour some of my wash water out of the bucket onto the rag when I wash the car. I never dip the brake dust rag into the wash water. If you wash then rims when you wash your car you shouldn't need harsh chemicals to clean the brake dust.

BlackLiquorish8

how do you guys clean the inside of the wheels??? i want to clean the inside of the wheels but dont want to take off the wheels to do so. Besides using great products do you guys just use a sponge to do the inside???? I'm personally always afraid to use brushes b/c i feel like the brush will scratch up my rims esp b/c i just got new chrome wheels.