Just thought I'd do a quick write up of how I clean and protect my lovely alloy wheels. If you follow this method then all you will need to do to clean your wheels is wash your alloys with shampoo and rinse to remove all brake dust, dirt, etc. This will last about 3 or 4 months when you should treat the alloys again in the same way.
For the best results you should remove your wheels completely from the car - I did mine one at a time. It's time consuming but well worth it.
1. Remove alloy wheel from car
2. Stand against an old blanket, towel or something soft so that you don't damage the paint or scrape the wheel (lesson I learned 1st time around
)
3. Rinse the wheel with a a pressure washer or garden hose if you don't have a pressure washer - it makes no odds what you use just to remove any loose surface dirt/contamination
4. I spray the entire wheel inside and out with Valet Pro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner. I do the face first and then the inside. Depending on how dirty or how much ingrained brake dust/contamination there is will dictate the dilution ratio of the product I use in this first stage. I personally always use it neat without any dilution applied using a chemical resistant spray bottle. It is non acidic so won't damage painted alloys.
5. Once applied I agitate the Bilberry Wheel Cleaner with a damp soft bristle brush or wheel woolies - wheel woolies are one of the best purchases I have ever made. They are about £34 for a decent set of 3 brushes but are well worth the money.
6. Rinse off the Bilberry with pressure washer or garden hose
7. Next I apply Car Pro Iron X spray over the entire wheel and leave to sit for 5 or 10 minutes. Again you can agitate it if you wish depending on the level of dirt/contamination. Iron X is another fantastic product (but quite expensive - about £11 for a 500ml bottle) and what it does is opens up the paint's pores to release ferrous particles and to neutralize caustic compounds that have developed in the paint's subsurface. It is a clear spray when applied but it will turn red/purple and this is the product bonding on to the sintered ferrous particles. It can be used on car paintwork as well and is good to use before clay barring.
8. Rinse off the Iron X thoroughly with a pressure washer
9. Hand dry the alloy wheel with a microfibre towel
10. I then apply a wax/sealant to the alloy. I use Finish Kare FK1000P Hi-Temp car wax sealant and I also apply to the brake calipers as well (once they have been cleaned of course). It comes in a big 412g tin which will last for ages and is another amazing product. It's about £18 a tin. It is applied with a round foam applicator. There are other products out there that I have used like Chemical Guys Wheel Guard, but they aren't as good as this product.
11. Leave the wax to dry for about 15-20 mins or so until it hazes over
12. Wipe off the hazed wax with a soft microfibre cloth (same for the calipers if you've done them too)
13. Buff the wax to a shine with another clean soft microfibre cloth (same for the calipers if you've done them too)
14. Put your wheel back on and get the next one on the go
Not the best picture of the end result but gives you an idea of the result
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Once all done then the brake dust, dirt and contamination is easily removed at wash time with just shampoo and this will last about 3 or 4 months before you should re-treat the wheels.
Hope this is of use to someone as sad as me
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