Alloy Wheel Cleaning / Restoration

HandyJay · Post by **HandyJay** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:55 am

I've always said i need to get some new alloys, mine were all scabby and dirty, tried all sorts of cleaning products to get the muck off but to no avail.

Best £4 i've ever spent on a cleaning product - and i bought it for my exhaust, not the wheels.

AutoSol Metal Polish

A Before shot: (Old photo, wheel was even worse when i cleaned it yesterday)

I know its not 100% immaculate, but a hell of a lot better than it was. I am going to take the two front wheels off when i get a nice day i'm free and try get the bits in the corners sorted.

After Picture: (It started to rain)

thescruff · Post by **thescruff** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:16 am

That's not the same wheel in the second pic.

Hope it isn't a spam attempt.

Raf · Post by **Raf** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:30 pm

i bet your arms are aching!

what i normally do is spray on Autoglym alloy cleaner.... jet wash off.... and then cover in alloy polish to protect from brake dust.... makes cleaning very easy.

with autoglym you dont miss those hard to reach areas.

scruff; not same wheel but on the same car

thescruff · Post by **thescruff** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:41 pm

Maybe RAF

It started to rain and as you can see the wheel is very wet, paving slab it's stood on is dry.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:00 pm

Autosol is also great for polishing perspex

When I had alloys I used to use wonder wheels to clean them, that used to work well.

thescruff · Post by **thescruff** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:11 pm

An electric tooth brush is good for getting into parts that other can't reach.

Raf · Post by **Raf** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:47 am

wonder wheels has a nasty acid in it that dulls the clear coat on alloys after a while.

scruff; you have a sharp eye!

chippytom · Post by **chippytom** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:51 pm

dont you it to much a Autosol is a abrasive and will take the paint off your wheel than your alloys paint will start to flake and the metal reacting to water and air will start to form white powder looks bloody awful

EJJ150847 · Post by **EJJ150847** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:02 pm

I have heard that Lemon CIF cream cleaner is just as good as proprietary goods for cleaning alloy wheels, might be down to the Lemon.

John

ereitiz · Post by **ereitiz** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 7:23 am

EJJ150847 wrote:I have heard that Lemon CIF cream cleaner is just as good as proprietary goods for cleaning alloy wheels, might be down to the Lemon.

John

DONT DO-IT !

It will destroy the coating !!

Best I have seen is either the autoglym (as already mentioned) or surprise surprise "Skoda alloy wheel cleaner" - Brilliant stuff, even adds a coat of polish at the same time at about £5.00 a bottle, it does a set of 4 about 6 times (I say about cause Ive done mine twice in 2 yrs and the bottle is still 2/3 full !

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:06 am

I use Albanian car cleaners who do a nice job for a fiver

DWD

ereitiz · Post by **ereitiz** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:42 pm

dewaltdisney wrote:I use Albanian car cleaners who do a nice job for a fiver

DWD

Good option !!

MindMyThumb · Post by **MindMyThumb** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:02 pm

I bought a tube of Autosol about, oooh, let me think, maybe 5 years ago, for my fleet of motorbikes and am proud to say I still have some of that same tube left!

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:58 pm

I bought a tube of Anusol about four years ago and I am proud to say I still have the tube too.

DWD