Anyone any products/tips on both cleaning and trying to keep clean (or at least so they are easy to get all the muck off) the standard alloys that come with a Fabia?

Cheers

Re keeping clean, give them a couple of coats of a good wax, (I always use Swissol) once clean & then wax every time you wax the car.

Re cleaning I use Multiclean from Mark Underwood & a jetwash or high pressure hose, simply squirt Multiclean onto the wheel, leave for a couple of minutes & wash off. For stubborn brake dust deposits & those awkward corners scrub the Multiclean with a paint brush or nylon brush (like the brush you clean pans with)

before you wash off. DONT use hard brushes etc, you wont need too & you risk scratching the wheels

Mark supplies both Swissol polishes & Multiclean & can be contacted on :[email protected]

or mobile 07966 713177

Personally I have found those cleaners marketed as "alloy cleaners" to vary in quality but generally to be very expensive for what they are. Mark sells Multiclean in 5 Litre bottles & as it name says in can be used as a Multipurpose cleaner & degreaser, not just a wheel cleaner. Diluted it even works as a kitchen cleaner.

Stuart

Hi,

Have been cleaning the alloys on my RS now for almost 16 months. I use Wonderwheels, which I find excellent. Best to get a mate or someone who has a Costco or Makro card and get a 5 litre bottle, about 9.99 in all.

I find that it does wonders, as it says. Well works for me anyhow and the brush supplied with it is easy to get into the corners. :thumb:

Happy cleaning :tongue2:

Do you have any problems with the green painted calipers and the wheel cleaner.

Ive been told not to use them as they will strip off my paint.

Is this true - coz the sharp corners of my Fabia's alloys are proving a trifle difficult to keep properly clean.

I used Turtle Wax on mine before I fitted them.

Then just use a sponge and the same shampoo as the car. (Halfords wash, very good and cheap).

I use wonderwheels, works great.... Got it from Macro, doesnt damage the callipers.... which are a pig to clean btw

I used to use wonderwheels but I have found Comma's alloy wheel cleaner to be a little bit better at shifting the tough baked on stuff.P.S Realise I now sound like a fairy liquid commercial! Slightly cheaper too (I think I got it out of ASDA).

To add further to what StuartJ has said...yes I make the MC2 Multiclean. It is a very very safe product as it is made from grapefruit and orange extracts together with distilled water.

Unlike the vast majority of Wheel Cleaners that you buy off the shef, MC2 is NON ACIDIC. It will not harm body paintwork. I use it regularly when preparing cars as a bodyscrub.

This year, if date and time permits, I will be at the next Skoda annual bash where I hope to then show audiences to clean the most filthiest of wheels without the need to take the rims off the car and that includes the inner rim.

Correctly diluted, MC2 will make 25 litres of a natural wheel wash...try that with an acid based wheel cleaner that contains hydrochloric acid or phosphoric acid or a combination of both. As someone has asked, the continued use of an acid based cleaner will eventually lift the lacquer on brake calipers. Where there is eveidence of curbing acids will pentrate the subtrate under the lacquer and quitely lift the lacquer.

MC2 can also be used for hand washing...ideal if you service your own car. As Stuart says, yes it can be used in the home...kitchen, bathroom and floors etc. I also use MC2 to clean cabriolet roofs!

MC2 comes in 5 litre or 25 litre barrel sizes. As with everything, the more you buy the cheaper it becomes and before you ask .....Yes I will do a group buy on MC2.

I'll finally bite on this cleaning wheels business...

Is there anything that works (Mark?) that just involves a sponge rather than having to brush each damn spoke. I'm currently looking at those 5 spokes that Ross has for sale not just because they look good but because they would be so much easier!

I haven't waxed my wheels (and don't intend to) and I never leave my car more than two weeks before washing, I do about 300 miles a week around town so usually the wheels are blackish.

Am I kidding myself that there is an amazing product out there (somewhere)? Are you all making light of the whole wheel cleaning thing? I spend nearly as much time cleaning the wheels as I do the whole car and it ****es me off!

(Mods - Mark is 'advising', not 'selling' )

Oh, I haven't got a jetwash either.

Rich

Wheel cleaning is dead easy. On the type of wheels you mention and of similar types found on Porsche, MB, Audi, VW etc etc the job is very and i mean VERY EASY indeed.

If I had access to do a demo on your car and you were to present me with wheels that have NOT been cleaned for say...2 months, I would warrant that they would be clean...not just clean BUT spotless on both the outer as well as the inner rim. In most demo's or professional jobs I do, my intention is to spend no more than 90 seconds (YES..90 secs per wheel) to clean both the inner and outer rims.

All I use is MC2 which is sprayed onto the outer rim as well as the inner rim (all 4 wheels done in one go) and pressure wash them and BINGO!

I see that you do not have a pressure washer....I strongly suggest that you get yourself the cheapest Karcher washer there is......it is the model I use PROFESSIONALLY! With a pressure washer you'll be able to get the wheel arches clean, wash road salt from the underside of the car and it will speed up your washing routine immensely.

My target time of cleaning wheels, washing the car etc and then drying is 20 to 30 mins max.

Even if you do not possess a washer nor intend to get one, wheels of your choice are still dead simple to wash. All you need is a hose and a decent wheel brush. Simply spray the MC2 onto outer and inner rims (to all 4 wheels) and then very lightly agite with a brush and wash off with the hose set to "jet" and again BINGO! Clean wheels.

OK...I tell you what I will do. I want you Rich to EMAIL me as per signature, with details of your address and postcode and I will send F.O.C. a 750ml spray bottle together with a wheel brush that I use and I'll warrant that you have never had wheel cleaning so easy. As an alternative take the car to a garage with a standard pressure washer, apply product to all 4 wheels and then pressure wash.

However, I do strongly recommend that you get yourself a pressure washer..nothing fancy....just a plain bog standard Karcher entry level machine will suffice and I'll warrant that you'll be able to clean your wheels in less than 1 min per wheel if done weekly.

Rich...I'm offering you the proof in the pudding. Email me and the offer is yours and yours alone.

Blimey...I just looked at your profile and see that you are in Sheffield. I am due in the Leeds area sometime nx week...email me and I'll see what I can do.

Mark, Could you please tell me where you get your wheelbrushes from? And those little brushes you used to removed the excess wax from the 'seams'? I've looked at a couple of places but the types they sell seem to have hard bristles...

so much for not flogging you comapnies products in the lounge!!

apart from that, how much is 5 litres of mc2?

As I said, he's not 'selling' he's 'advising'

Advising on the best swissol product, but like i said how much for a 5 litre can?

Mark can sell and advertise his products as he is a Briskoda Connect Client (correct me if I'm wrong Colin).

I stand corrected :hidesbehi :bowdown:

Q

You can always use a "hard" tootbrush. The brushes I use (detail brushes) are made by a specialist manufacturer and as far as I am aware they do not offer them on a retail basis. I use one these brushes together with an old "hard" tootbrush. The stiff variety (the specialist detail brushes) are useful as the bristles will go under the edges of trim etc. For finer detailing the use of the old tootbrush is ideal. If you see that you have a wax build up along fine edges it is an indication of OVER application of wax.....it sounds as though you are buttering the wax on. remember that pot you have is for 50 waxings of your car.

As to the wheel brushes, I buy these in bulk direct from the manufacturer, although i believe they have now started to sell them on retail basis in the UK. If you need one...email me direct.

Rooboy....MC2 Multiclean as used and given to Q and Fen L&K is sold for

If I had access to do a demo on your car and you were to present me with wheels that have NOT been cleaned for say...2 months, I would warrant that they would be clean...not just clean BUT spotless on both the outer as well as the inner rim.

I'll bite.

If you can get mine spotless, I'll pay you to valet my car Oh and its only 3 weeks since they were last washed.

Jon

PS I need some more multiclean, wax and clay bar. I'll give you a bell at the end of the week.

:celebrate

Jon....I'd be dilighted to "gut" yer car and present you with a new baby inc spotless wheels! :daisy:

me too... got my baby back now...

I use multiclean and a alloy wheel brush from Homebase (looks like them old loo brushes).

A quick spray, leaves for a few minutes then a work over with the brush gets the outsides and the insides clean. Brush make sit easier to get at the calipers to.

No doubt if I spent a little extra time or invested in a power hose they would be spotless.

Also used it in the kitchen and cleans up grease like nobodys business....especially if you used it neat......although I'm not sure if you're supposed to.

Mark,

do you do a glass cleaner product?

Cheers.

Adrian.

And who said business was slack in the New Year! :p

Q

You can always use a "hard" tootbrush. The brushes I use (detail brushes) are made by a specialist manufacturer and as far as I am aware they do not offer them on a retail basis. I use one these brushes together with an old "hard" tootbrush. The stiff variety (the specialist detail brushes) are useful as the bristles will go under the edges of trim etc. For finer detailing the use of the old tootbrush is ideal. If you see that you have a wax build up along fine edges it is an indication of OVER application of wax.....it sounds as though you are buttering the wax on. remember that pot you have is for 50 waxings of your car.

Hmm, seems like I indeed are buttering up as the pot is empty now (ok, 1 job left)... I'll start saving up for another lesson in car maintenance Mark

Re: tooth brush. Aren't the bristles on them too hard either? Am really worried that I'm going to scratch my car trying to remove some residue...

As to the wheel brushes, I buy these in bulk direct from the manufacturer, although i believe they have now started to sell them on retail basis in the UK. If you need one...email me direct.

One email coming your way.

Mark,

it was my little joke, sorry. My wheels are beyond redemption and very little this side of machining or acid bath will get them spotless :( Trouble is I run DS3000 full race pads and the residue given off by them has a very high metal content. Due to the temps they run at this residue pretty much welds itself to the rims. Problem was caused by the car sitting for 3 weeks in the dealers waiting for a new engine which allowed it to become really stuck.

So far we have tried:

Wonder wheels

Neat multiclean

dilute battery acid

Oven cleaner

metal polish/rubbing compound

and still it stays there. :( After 3 hours on one wheel we gave up. :eek:

Any ideas?

Jon, try some dilute phosphoric acid, but dont leave in on for too long.

Oh and wear some gloves.