Spent a good 20 mins on them. Finished off the rest of the car but still had black bits in the corners.

I don't want to use anything more aggressive than Zymol and water for fear of damaging the paint on the calipers but has anyone got any tips?

Steve

I find Wonderwheels effective.

Comes with a nice soft application brush and it all foams up to remove most brake dust.

Originally posted by FabiaTDi in this post

I find Wonderwheels effective.

Comes with a nice soft application brush and it all foams up to remove most brake dust.

But kiss goodbye to your painted calipers :(

Steve

I dont have painted calipers... not until the new one arrives anyway!

I suppose products like Wonderwheels are quite harsh though..

touch up paint IIRC sold by milotec?

Hmm,

I use wonder wheels too. Calipers are still green after nearly 2 1/2 years. Wheels still look ok aswell, well except for some stonechip damage on one of them.

I have also used meqiures wheel cleaner, Hot wheels I think its called.

Originally posted by Steve vRS in this post

But kiss goodbye to your painted calipers :(

That's really strange as I used to brush Wonderwheels on my 4 pot 'Subaru' calipers with white writing and it only removed the brake dust. Strange :confused:

I use wonderwheels on mine and the calipers are fine. It's the Auto Glym wheel cleaner that takes the paint off your calipers.

I find the brush takes to long. I put mine in a spray bottle. Spray the wheels first wash the car and then the wheels. Gives it enough time so start working on the brake dust.

I'm amazed! I used Wonderwheels on my Impreza and although it left the white Subaru lettering on the calipers alone, it turned the calipers grey!

Steve

I'll let you all into a little secret..

Watch QVC, or those bloody "Infomercial" channels on satellite and look out for something called "Quick n Brite". Its a pink paste that you can use neat or mix with hot water.

Its totally non-toxic & non-abrasive and it will clean just about anything. I had some in a cupboard for years and only recently tried it on the car, it brought the wheels up perfect, and shifted all the bugs off the front end without too much effort. I use it to wash the car, then wax as normal.

Its a bit of a bugger to get hold of, but its well worth it.

I spray some of Mark's (WaxWizzard) Multiclean on them (1/4 diluted with water), let them soak for a few minutes and then rinse them using the Karcher... Get's them clean without effort. Still need to wax them sometime to see if that helps as well.

My long term solution was buy some nice 5 spoke 17s, so I've only got 10 "corners" which can be reached nice and easy, and there's a nice gap between the discs & the wheel to get a hand in and clean all the inner bits of the wheel. Never needed any chemicals... yet Water and a rag has done it for me up to now.

My old 17" Voodoo's were a doddle to clean. the new Furby vRS wheels are a slightly different story! Might have a solution in the pipeline though! :p

My dear old dad bought me a 'U' shaped brush specifically for the wheels on the RS. I think he was fed up listening to my language when I was trying to clean them with a sponge. Imagine a test tube brush (ie bristles all the way round) but 'U' shaped and then bent at a right angle half way up. (:confused: Sorry.) A quick spray with an alloy wheel cleaner (usually some sort of acid) agitate with the brush, leave for a minute then spray off. The wheels are right first time and it's very quick.

Note. I've usually done about 600 miles, mostly round town, before the wheels get cleaned.

Hmm - Mine start to "grey over" after only about 300 or 400 miles, a bit longer in the wet. :( - but then they're easy to clean so I don't especially care.

Waxwizards MC2.

its wonderful stuff

and its not acidic so wont affect the calipers or the paintwork.

Muc-off.

Nice mild pink mountain bike cleaner.

Does wheels nicely.

Available from the "other" bit of Halfords.

:-)

Just spent a good hour cleaning my wheels with Wonderwheels. Results were really good as usual - after about six weeks worth of grime on them!

My wheels are a pig to clean! :(

Look great now though!

I too used to use wonderwheels, but I have found Comma's wheel cleaner to be cheaper as it lasts longer and cleans better too as it is a spray and is able to get into all the hard to reach places. Comes with two brushs too instead of Wonderwheels one although Comma's spray means watch you don't breath any of it in! It stinks!

Originally posted by Freakcrab in this post

Muc-off.

Nice mild pink mountain bike cleaner.

Does wheels nicely.

Available from the "other" bit of Halfords.

:-)

Careful with Muc-Off as it can affect some rubbers and is a very good degreaser as well.

Andy

I use water and a sponge and the wheels have always stayed immaculate, to the point where everybody comments on them...

It's not harsh or abrasive and they really shine. Every month I wax them aswell...

Every couple of months, i will use wonderwheels.

In between those times, I use soapy water, a sponge and a paintbrush (wonderwheels brush broke) to get into the corners and they're pretty much immaculate.

Originally posted by Kentish in this post

Careful with Muc-Off as it can affect some rubbers and is a very good degreaser as well.

Andy

Also an issue when using Muc-off on bikes.

Keep it away from bearings and don't let it dry-out.

That the only place I use it m8, then rinse thoroughly and then liberal sprays with the lube spray from Xlite....it just drives water away real quick and leaves a good finish on the paint. Just be sure to also meth spirit the brake disks if you have them after.

Andy

I find the McGuiars HotWheels stuff is excellent - you spray it on wheel by wheel, then when you've done all 4 you just jetwash them clean. Excellent!

I do hate cleaning my wheels tho... so much in fact i'm going to get them coloured so you can't notice the brakedust