[Westside Guy]

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

[chris719]

Any mechanical abrasion technically will. I wouldn't worry though... if your brush is that abrasive then you have your clear to worry about more than the coating. Ceramic coatings on wheels are not really that helpful IMO. You still need to agitate or use strong chemicals which attack the coating anyway.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by chris719

Any mechanical abrasion technically will. I wouldn't worry though... if your brush is that abrasive then you have your clear to worry about more than the coating. Ceramic coatings on wheels are not really that helpful IMO. You still need to agitate or use strong chemicals which attack the coating anyway.

I would hope that high pressure water and a non abrasive sponge with the correct PH neutral cleaning product will do the job.

[John in VA]

I used Adam’s UV Ceramic Wheel Coating - supposedly providing a 9H hardness. A MF towel with the same car wash for the paint & water stream is all I need to clean the wheels, doing it monthly.

[chefwong]

Depends. A HP rinse with pressure washer is noticeably cleaner with coated wheels than without.

Regardless, depending if it's see road driver water, you still need to do some level of mechanical agitation to remove the -film- that will exist on the wheel after a HP rinse. Depends how picky your are....a HP will get it clean, but it will leave a film on it ...

[///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

[TboneS54]

No. I hit them with an Iron X type product (Meg's ultimate wheel cleaner or Griot's fallout remover), let it cling/dwell till well purple, then blast it off and they're 99% clean. Then I blow dry, so no touching. Stock brakes, lots of dust as I don't drive it easy, but wash it weekly, so not too much build up. The dust falls down and collects at the bottom of the wheel when stopped, that's how poorly the dust sticks to the coated wheels.

[BIGW0RM]

When I had my wheels coated, soap and water was all I needed. I would not brush them. Ceramic can scratch and its scratch is much harder to buff out than a normal clear coat scratch.

[pikkagtr]

I've used Adams wheel cleaner to let if sit
Slight agitation with the big wooly sponge
99% clean
Than blender with my mighty vac

[Frank_Zuccarini]

My entire exteriour is ceramic coated. Paint, glass, trim & wheels. If I had to choose only ONE component, it would be the wheels. Makes cleaning them SO much easier……… Frank

[retroviol3t]

Originally Posted by John in VA

I used Adam’s UV Ceramic Wheel Coating - supposedly providing a 9H hardness. A MF towel with the same car wash for the paint & water stream is all I need to clean the wheels, doing it monthly.

This is my process too. I will take the wheels off at least once a month for a deep clean with a wheel decontaminate and then I will use a ceramic booster on the wheels before they go back on the car.

[Game]

Originally Posted by TboneS54

No. I hit them with an Iron X type product (Meg's ultimate wheel cleaner or Griot's fallout remover), let it cling/dwell till well purple, then blast it off and they're 99% clean. Then I blow dry, so no touching. Stock brakes, lots of dust as I don't drive it easy, but wash it weekly, so not too much build up. The dust falls down and collects at the bottom of the wheel when stopped, that's how poorly the dust sticks to the coated wheels.

Wouldn't the iron remover deteriorate the ceramic coating much faster?

[chris719]

Originally Posted by TboneS54

No. I hit them with an Iron X type product (Meg's ultimate wheel cleaner or Griot's fallout remover), let it cling/dwell till well purple, then blast it off and they're 99% clean. Then I blow dry, so no touching. Stock brakes, lots of dust as I don't drive it easy, but wash it weekly, so not too much build up. The dust falls down and collects at the bottom of the wheel when stopped, that's how poorly the dust sticks to the coated wheels.

What coating are you using?

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Game

Wouldn't the iron remover deteriorate the ceramic coating much faster?

I don't think the iron remover itself, typically ammonium thioglycolate, harms the coating much if at all. The question is, if you are using a wheel cleaner instead of just plain IronX, what else is in it and how acidic or alkaline is it?

[Game]

Originally Posted by chris719

I don't think the iron remover itself, typically ammonium thioglycolate, harms the coating much if at all. The question is, if you are using a wheel cleaner instead of just plain IronX, what else is in it and how acidic or alkaline is it?

Good question. I'll be using P&S brake buster for maintenance since that's a non-acidic cleaner along with my pH neutral maintenance soap.

[Llarry]

I use a pressure washer only, then once in a while follow up with a wet microfiber. No soap of any kind. A bit laborious, but you gotta love that German brake dust.

[Llarry]

I use a pressure washer only, then once in a while follow up with a wet microfiber. no soap of any kind. A bit laborious, but you gotta love that German brake dust.

///MPhatic's got the real, if expensive, answer: CCBs.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I use a pressure washer only, then once in a while follow up with a wet microfiber. no soap of any kind. A bit laborious, but you gotta love that German brake dust.

///MPhatic's got the real, if expensive, answer: CCBs.

I'm lucky enough to live within a mile of a car wash, so I just use the car wash soap, rinse, drive it home, wipe everything off with a damp terrycloth towel and done.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Game

Wouldn't the iron remover deteriorate the ceramic coating much faster?

Not at all because those iron removing type products are actually PH balanced

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Game

Good question. I'll be using P&S brake buster for maintenance since that's a non-acidic cleaner along with my pH neutral maintenance soap.

Brake buster is highly alkaline, it will degrade the coating with repeated use. Every once in a while is fine, but actually a mild acid is probably more friendly to the coatings than some of the alkaline wheel cleaners.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Not at all because those iron removing type products are actually PH balanced

It really depends. There are a lot of solvents that are neutral that would dissolve the coating resin. There is way too much made of pH in the detailing world, 7 does not mean it's safe.

[TboneS54]

Originally Posted by Game

Wouldn't the iron remover deteriorate the ceramic coating much faster?

Originally Posted by chris719

What coating are you using?

Originally Posted by chris719

I don't think the iron remover itself, typically ammonium thioglycolate, harms the coating much if at all. The question is, if you are using a wheel cleaner instead of just plain IronX, what else is in it and how acidic or alkaline is it?

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.