As it says in the title. Been cleaning the car and the rear wheels are really crudded up with brake deposits. The wheels are a mixture of metal finish and paint & lacquered. Any recommendations.

Wonder Wheels, used it today and worked a treat.

second here for wonder wheels. Do not get tempted to use a steam jet wash on them as its strips the laquer off.

+1 wonder wheels – used it for years – excellent

I've been using Virosol for the last 5 years, very good stuff – spray on and jet wash off. Also great for cleaning bikes.

Virosol

I usually order 4 5ltr bottles of the stuff and it lasts me a couple of years!

I always use Muc-Off – It works as good as any expensive specialist cleaner

Woohoo, I've finally started a thread that people actually answered. That aside, some really good advice. Might well get some wonder wheels stuff although the virosol looks pretty good, I'm guessing that would work well in a chain cleaning tool as well and looks to be a helluva lot cheaper than Halfords citrus degreaser which is what I normally use.

Hadn't thought of trying Muc-Off, don't know why, I've used it on everything else, it was particularly good on a bouncy castle 😯

Be very careful with cleaners like wonder wheels.They will eat away at your wheels if there is damage to the laquer.

Ahhhh

Part of the wheel isn't lacquered, it's like a bare metal finish, I'm assuming this would get eaten?

I'm assuming this would get eaten?

It depends how long you leave it on for, used the stuff for years now and never had any wheels eaten by it, does what it says on the tin.(placcy bottle).

i use a degreaser bought from semi-chem for a £1. Spray it on, leave it 2 or 3 mins and wipe off. Job done.

No issues with wheels at all, and better than wonder wheels that i tried

Err – you're supposed to clean them?

The Wonders Wheels stuff is very good but isn't recommended for use regularly as it can destroy the lacquer and eat the alloy apparently.

Halfords do a 1 litre (or thereabouts) plus pot and brush for about £16 – Aldi do the same sized tub without the brush and pot for a fiver – saying that, I didn't see it last time I was in…

Fenwicks is really good too.

anybody ever got wonder wheels in their eye wow it really stings.Works good on wheels although i only use it once a month.The rest of the washes i use soap and water but i do wash my car 3-4 times a week i think i have got cccd

If you want to be really anal, after you've cleaned them, use a specialist wheel wax – the Mer one won the test on the Autoexpress website – which'll stop brake dust etc sticking to the wheels making them a hell of a lot easier to clean next time.

anybody ever got wonder wheels in their eye wow it really stings.

Odd that, who'd have thought it.

Used both the halfords wheel cleaner ( blue squeeze trigger ) and both the AutoGlym ones

both much of the same, the AG one was very good esp the Custom wheel cleaner …bit kinder on the metal

also found changing to a non oem brake pad make a huge difference in cutting down brake dust

after using meguars etc went back to Autoglym, stuff just works well
few quid more but nice results every time

Cif (Jif)
Bilt Hamber do Auto Clay for paint work.

Auto glym for me. Cheap pads as stated give off loads more dust! Odd however to have rears dirtier than fronts! Oh and none of them stop you having to use a bit of elbow grease ime, also get a wheel brush, makes it a lot easier!

Speaking to a wheels man from a vehicle manufacturer the advice was best not to use alloy wheel cleaners except for that wash when prepping the car for sale!

Odd however to have rears dirtier than fronts!

I thought that to. Still on the original pads, car's not a year old yet, discs front and rear. The only thing I could think of was that some of it was baked on tar residue, the body work was covered in tar spots, worse, not surprisingly at the back. The tar came off fairly easily though with white spirit.

I used to use alloy wheel cleaner, but my wheels seemed to start getting in quite a state not long after. Now there are quite a few bits of laquer peeling off & they really could do with a proper strip down re-furb.

Quite a few people since have said they don't recommend alloy wheel cleaner for frequent use as it's quite corrosive – some of the stuff even comes with gloves to use when applying it.

I find car shampoo & hot water works pretty well. I have also started using an alloy wheel spray wax stuff that you put on once you've cleaned the wheel & it makes cleaning it next time that bit easier…

alloy wheel cleaner is a form of acid, hence the sting when the spray blows back in your eyes!
you can also use truck wash.this stuff is also mentally strong and designed for washing dirt grease etc off the whols car/truck.the proper stuff is always neon yellow.
the problem is most chain store brands water the stuff down, so its less potent.buy it from a motor factors that supplys garages only.you will need to buy a large drum but if you share the cost and dilute it buy say 15% it will last you years.
wheel acid is brilliant at getting brake dust off.dont leave it on to long and use a brush to make it easier.
proper wheel acid is clear,has a obvious smell and is slippery to touch (wash it off quick tho!)

best way to keep your alloys clean is to clean them regularly, then no chems are needed. But if you've not, I find elbow grease about the best and safest answer.

adannyboy – the "wheel acid" is actually alkali – the slippery feeling is it turning your flesh into a soapy substance!

Don't use wonder sheels if you want to be kind to your wheels as it is acid based.

Use Bilberry, which is an alkaline based cleaner.

For any tough stains/tar spots use a tar remover or clay.

After you have finished cover with two coats of wax, something hard wearing like FK1000P.

After waxing your wheels will still get dirty, but you should be able to remove the dirt with soap and water and a bit of elbow grease 🙂