[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

I'd love to help you out, but my wheels never get dirty enough to use a brush.

Back when I had iron brakes I would blow the wheels off with a leaf blower after every drive, and that worked very well to keep the dust from accumulating.

Now that I have CCB's the brake dust just isn't there to begin with, but it sucks that I can no longer blow them off.

Before and after rear by Andrew Thompson, on Flickr

Gee, thanks, way to make me feel like my cars look like they are rode hard and put away wet. lol. Very nice pic and you do a great job keeping her clean!

[Game]

Originally Posted by TboneS54

I have Gyeon Pure Evo (entire car, wheels included).

Like other coatings, it has good chemical resistance; a spread of like 2-12 ph.

Iron decon sprays don't damage the coating, they enhance it be removing fallout - you'll see better water behavior return after application/rinse.

I use iron remover (Griot's right now, I have nano skin, Megs, used to have Adams, all very similar) on my paint and wheels. I don't apply it to the whole car every wash (weekly), but I do hit the fenders right around the wheels where there's likely to be more brake dust, and bumper above exhaust. Then every so often, I'll spray the whole car. It's not cheap, but you can buy a gallon of iron remover and you'll fare better than buying a 16oz bottle every month.

But I've heard to avoid some of the strong wheel cleaners as part of your maintenance wash. I guess that has more to do with being acidic rather than containing an iron remover.

[TboneS54]

Like Chris said, that might be the case with a certain wheel cleaner, but not an iron remover spray.

You might be able to infer the strength of a wheel cleaner by the language used by the manufacturer - sometimes they say safe for factory clear coat, but not powercoat or spray paint or unpainted alloy etc... Some wheel cleaners are more mild. Some rely on the iron removal compenent, and don't have much else in the way of cleaning that would be overly strong for car paint or wheel paint (coated or not).

The action here isn't so much cleaning - the wheels' surface being coated (and the frequency of your wash) means not much is sticking thus not much cleaning is needed. The iron removal portion is just to aid in encapsulating brake dust and carrying it away, or possibly pulling it (iron) out of the paint, whatever might be embedded. To my eye, all of it is just sitting on top of the coating. Literally just blasting the wheel with water gets them 98% clean.

I suppose it's a similar thing with car soap for a coated car - you don't need super strong (descale or acidic wash), and you don't want much left over (wax/polymers/fillers/glossifers) that will "plug up" the coating. By being coated (wheels or body), it's so much easier to clean that you don't need strong products.

[sammyj]

Chiming in here, I've got ceramic coated and have used Meg's Ultimate Wheel Cleaner. It's PH neutral and seems to do a great job. Unsure about how long the coating will last thought, but I like using it.

[TboneS54]

Originally Posted by sammyj

Chiming in here, I've got ceramic coated and have used Meg's Ultimate Wheel Cleaner. It's PH neutral and seems to do a great job. Unsure about how long the coating will last thought, but I like using it.

I'm onto using Griot's cause I can get a gallon for $30 versus 24oz of meguiar's for about $12. But, I do think Meguiar's ultimate wheel cleaner is the best out there! Griot's isn't worse, it's just that Meg's was the first iron removing product I used and nothing ever beat it for me. I have 3 cars so i have to buy the gallon, and Meg's doesn't make it in a gallon,though they do have a gallon of another wheel cleaner (detailers line) - I just don't know if it's the same concoction as the 24 or 32 oz sprays of Meg's ultimate.

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

I recently had my wheels ceramic coated, will using a brush to clean them wear down the ceramic prematurely?

i've never had to scrub my wheels with a brush, typically sonax (dwell for <10m) and then Pressure wash does the job, i will however clean them again with my wash mitt (but this is after i've taken all the brake dust off)