Wheel Cleaner?

The brakes on the Cadillac are dustier than Oklahoma in 1936. I can clean them by hand with soap and water the old fashioned way, but when I walk into the local parts store I'm visually assulted by the wide range of products that promise me a life free of that task.
Any suggestions on what I should try?

simple green and water

also once super clean apply a coat of wheel wax and buff. prevention is better then magic cleaner

I've tried a lot of them, and the only one that works somewhat decent that's available everywhere is the Eagle One A to Z cleaner. It's safe for pretty much everything, and you can spray it on the tires too. But even that stuff won't get it all off. I have a microfiber rag that stays in the wash bucket while I wash, and I use that after I do the body on the wheels.

Also, if the wheels are painted, use spray wax on the wheels when they are cleaned up. It will make the dust wipe-able with just a rag the next few times.

I've always been impressed by Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner: http://www.autogeek.net/sonax-wheel-cleaner.html

before (after a HPDE weekend)

After (spray on, let sit for 3-5 minutes, blast off with a pressure washer/hose)

I do try to throw a coat of wheel wax onto the rims once a month or so which also really seems to help with cleanup effort

waxing helps, as well as keeping on top of them. If the dust build up for too long it will stain. I changed my BMW to ceramic pads and it makes night and day.

Pad material definitely makes a difference. I put StopTech Street Performance pads on my 3 about 8k miles ago, and they dust like a SOB. I have to clean the wheels weekly.

For keeping the dust from sticking once the wheel is clean, this stuff works well but it's expensive:

http://www.kleers-usa.com/the-alloy-wheel-protector

Spray wax works decently though. Even washing with a soap that includes dissolved wax has the same effect.

I use whatever regular ole car wax I'm using on the paint on the wheels, as well. It doesn't last forever, but it helps. For wheel cleaner, I think I have some Meguiar's stuff at the moment, but I buy whatever's on sale.

I'll second Sonax. That stuff is great.

Thanks everyone. I have a set of track wheels on the way that will get waxed before they go on. Once they are on I'll completely wash and wax the stock wheels off the car and then see what I can do about keeping dust from sticking and cleaning it off.

+1 on the Sonax. Can't cheap out on this stuff, I've used dozens of wheel cleaners and Sonax was really the stand out. I find the cheapers ones end up requiring a lot of more effort. If you really want to get crazy, I used to remove the wheels and clean/clay/wax my wheels every 6 months, especially in the winter (throw away the clay bar after this...or dedicate a clay bar for it)

I'll thrown in my vote for Eagle One A to Z. When I need a wheel cleaner, it's what works best for me. Wheel cleaners will usually strip wax though, so be mindful of that.

Another option that I like to use is either an electric pressure washer, or coin-op car wash. The high pressure rinse is enough to remove the dust from the wheels on my 996 as long as it hasn't rained on the dirty wheels.

Richard Nixon wrote: I'll second Sonax. That stuff is great.

it probably does for most folk … but don't let the brake dust get ahead of you … I have a set of white Rota Slipstreams … I let an entire season of brake dust (Hawk DTC 60 and Carbotech XP 10) go … nothing would get it off … it laughed at anything I tried (sonax included) …

the only solution was blasting and re-painting

wbjones wrote:

Richard Nixon wrote: I'll second Sonax. That stuff is great.

it probably does for most folk … but don't let the brake dust get ahead of you … I have a set of white Rota Slipstreams … I let an entire season of brake dust (Hawk DTC 60 and Carbotech XP 10) go … nothing would get it off … it laughed at anything I tried (sonax included) … the only solution was blasting and re-painting

I'm trying to avoid this situation. It's where the 911 is. I can get the outside mostly clean, but the barrels are gone. As of right now I can wipe off the Cadillac wheels with little effort. Because they're wide and the brakes are so big, there is only so much of the barrels I can reach. I can see the dust, but I can't reach it. I'm going to need to adopt a "only put clean wheels back on" philosophy.

Another vote for Sonax.

Where's the cheapest place to buy Sonax?

A buddy has a z28 a while back that had bad stains on the wheels. We couldn't get then off with anything.

Well we were bsing with a friends dad about cars well when we were talking about the wheels, a neighbor walked over and heard and told us to let him try it. We told him we had tried everything. He brought over a translucent jug of wheel cleaner. I think it was pink or purple or blue and the stains wiped right off. He said he got it at Wal mart. Looked really cheap but worked great.

Sorry it's been years and mine have never got dirty enough to need more than simple green. I wish I could remember the name of it.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: Where's the cheapest place to buy Sonax?

probably Amazon …. http://www.amazon.com/Sonax-230200-755-Wheel-Cleaner-Full-Effect/dp/B003UT3S6Q

captdownshift wrote: simple green and water also once super clean apply a coat of wheel wax and buff. prevention is better then magic cleaner

I tried this yesterday before waxing the ATS DTCs for the Miata. Worked very well.

Simple Green is great stuff, but over time it can attack the clear coat on aluminum wheels if you just spray it on and let it soak. Put it on, scrub the wheels clean and get it rinsed off right away.