How can i clean aluminium wheels

V

Vermont woodsman

Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
212
I have raw uncoated aftermarket aluminium wheels on my suv and after a long winter they took a beating. Today i used soft scrub on a 3m green scubber sponge, they came out better but some break dust was still embedded. Anyone have any ideas?
 
no ideas, but a question--why are you doing this now? Don't you know that that will cause it to snow again? :mad:

:D :D
 
The surface of cast aluminum is usually rough, even almost porus. Dirt gets down into those valleys and it's hard to get out with any sort of scrubber pad. A brush might help. But, a pressure washer is the way to go. I'm not talking about the kind that can strip paint here. The kind they have at coin operated car wash places would be good. Even a garden hose with a nozzle might work.
 
At the auto parts stores they carry products like "wheel magic", etc. These are made to spray on and let soak for 5 minutes or so, and hose off. They're made specifically for brake dust.
The couple that I've used worked as advertised.:D
 
I have the same type of wheels. I use a rag and some soapy hot water to get the brake dust off as much as I can. Then I'll take a scrubby sponge, like you use on dishes, with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish... Works really good, it's slightly abrasive and really puts the shine back in. I found it also works good for knives.
 
Hi All-

I could post to this thread...but then it would simply be a duplicate of the information provided by nelsonmc above! Make sure you remove all dirty contaminants before you start really polishing so you don't accidentally score the metal with a piece of hard grit. :cool:

Keep rubbing with the Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish until a soft cloth diaper comes out almost clean. It'll take quite some physical effort, but you'll think you're looking at chrome and not aluminum once you're done.

I'm kind of interested in seeing what their new Billet Polish is all about, too...

~ Blue Jays ~
 
It is a wheel cleaner from Germany. It is very expensive, but I think it is worth it. You spray it on, it melts the brake dust goo, and then a light scrubbing, and hose off. Check it out:
http://www.p21s.com/products/bis_wc1.html

It is really worth it.(This is not a paid for plug, I just like the stuff)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Blue Jays said:
Hi All-

I could post to this thread...but then it would simply be a duplicate of the information provided by nelsonmc above! Make sure you remove all dirty contaminants before you start really polishing so you don't accidentally score the metal with a piece of hard grit. :cool:

Keep rubbing with the Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish until a soft cloth diaper comes out almost clean. It'll take quite some physical effort, but you'll think you're looking at chrome and not aluminum once you're done.

I'm kind of interested in seeing what their new Billet Polish is all about, too...

~ Blue Jays ~
Click to expand...


I also found Mothers works good for cleaning the metal out of ceramic crock sticks. It's some good stuff, works well on aluminum, brass, copper, steel, etc. But yes, as Blue Jays said, make SURE to clean the wheels first so there are no contaminates to cause a nasty scratch. Also make sure the cloth is clean!, don't let it touch the ground, little tiny rocks and whatnot will get into the cloth and scratch even more.
 
also when using mothers or the spray cleaner be sure your wheels are cool, it'll streak them if not.
 
I have wheel cleaner from Griot's Garage with great results. With other cars I have used Castrol Super Clean, The Wax Shop, Mothers Mag as well. If the brake dust is ground into the rims then you might want to dismount the wheels for a good cleaning. Maybe some ultrafine wet/dry sandpaper and a hose? You might want to use the stock wheels during the winter season,
 
Crushed nut shell blowing does wonders to the really difficult stuff.

TLM
 
Im gona try mothers, thanks for the help guys. I used to use it on my cbr900RR frame that was polished , i remember the rag i used to wipe it off used to come up black, I never thought of using mother on non polished aluminium; but ill give it a go and see what happens.
 
Mother's should do you good. I'd be real careful about using a scrubbing sponge on any machined surfaces on aluminum wheels as they will leave a very visibly scratch pattern that can only be removed by lots of sanding and perhaps some buffing (making them polished:)).

John
 
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