Sal R.

Okay, here's my dilema. I have gunmetal wheels w/ a polished lip. I was cleaning my wheels yesterday and some of the brake dust just won't come off the lip. I used WheelWax religiously after every wash and am dumbfounded on how to get it off. I used a lot of elbow grease, polish, soap, and lastly a small of claybar and the dust won't come loose. Please help.

Yaboo

A steamer might work. n/t

bobbO

First, I would try some P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner and leave it on for like 4 hours before scrubbing with a wheel brush. If that doesn't work, you may have to go with an abrasive, acidic cleaning agent like Simple Green. Use sparingly as it will eat through the clearcoat. Once you are done, you can spray with Wurth clearcoat aerosol spray which will essentially put on a new clearcoat onto your wheels.

Ted K

That should do the trick (or you can try the regular High Performance Wheel Cleaner, but the other is meant for heavy accumulations of brake dust). If not, call Car Care Specialties and talk to Larry Reynolds the owner. He is the most knowledgeable person I have ever spoken with on car care. He should be able to help. You may want to ask him when you order this stuff.


Oh, and another thought. I would probably try some P21S Multi Surface Finish Restorer mixed with some 3M IHG. That might also do the trick. Here's the link to the Wheel Cleaner, just know that once you use any wheel cleaner, you have to rewax your wheels. And going forward, I'd suggest after you wax them, clean them once a week with some One Grand Show Off detailing spray. The brake dust will come right off. The longer you let the stuff accumulate, the harder it always is to remove.<ul><li><a href="http://www.carcareonline.com/p21_gelclnr_10404.html">P21S Gel Special Performance Wheel Cleaner</a></li></ul>

Ted K

that sounds a bit aggressive. I would think that some P21S Multi Surface Finish Restorer mixed with 3M IHG should do the trick. If not, some P21S Gel Special Performance Wheel Cleaner should do the trick, but I wouldn't leave it on for more than 5 or 10 minutes. If that doesn't work, I'd go with some straight P21S Total Auto Wash, which is a citrus based degreeser. That should definitely work. In fact, my first exposure to this was right after I took delivery of my 2002 S4. The rockers were all covered with this heavy hard glue used to protect the car during transport. I noticed it when the dealer was prepping the car for delivery. When I questioned him about it, he said they would remove it with paint thinner. I told him I would do it myself (didn't want him to ruin my clear coat before I even got the car off the lot). When I got home, I called Larry and asked what I should use to remove it. He recommended the Total Auto Wash, which I just happened to have in the house (I used it normally to remove tar spots, etc.) I sprayed some straight Total Auto Wash on the rocker pannels and lower body pannels. I let it sit for ten minutes and wiped it off with a terry cloth wrag. To my surprise, the adhesive came right off; Larry was right on the money again!! Since then, I've also used it to remove water stains from my headliner A and C pillars which got wet when they tinted my windows. Worked great there also.

If none of this works, check with Larry and ask him what to do. I wouldn't want to strip off the clear coat and try respraying my wheels; that would scare me.<ul><li><a href="http://www.carcareonline.com/p21_autowash_10407.html">P21S Total Auto Wash</a></li></ul>

John P. (TT 225)

By the way, P21S is pH neutral--it won't etch the clearcoat of your rims even over 4 hours.

bobbO

Yup! But I agree with Ted on the degreaser/solvent idea... didn't think of that :-\

Sal R.

Thanks guys. Will try it all until it comes off. My poor wheels. =(

Ted K

Good point. I shoulda known that.

John P. (TT 225)

Your point is a good one re: all wheel cleaners except for P21S!