Wheel Cleaners that work without corrosion!

[giusto]

I'm looking for an alloy wheel cleaning fluid that i can apply without fear of rusting my brake discs or calipers. Anyone got experience of one or do i just have to use soapy water and plenty of elbow?

[PJ S]

Bilberry Wheel Cleaner, P21S (R222 here in Euroland) Wheel Gel, or Bilt Hamber Surfex HD cut to 10-15% strength depending on how bad the build-up is.
All acid-free, so not going to do any damage to the wheels.
Brake discs will rust of their own volution - they're iron/steel. It's only surface rust, which comes off after a bit of braking anyway.

[P17_GTA]

I use Muc-off, Autoglym custom wheel cleaner or Autoglym Engine and Machine Cleaner, which is cheaper water based and still works well on wheels.
As with any though still dont leave on too long.
Keep wheels well protected and it shouldn't take much to clean them anyway!

[belleair302]

AS PJS suggests, but after washing dry your wheels and then coat with a decent quality wheel wax. This will help reduce the volume of dust, debris etc that may stick to the surface and helps with cleaning next time. Apply every four to six weeks. Drive the car after washing, apply the brakes to dry out and no rust on the disks!!

I like to Jetseal #109 my alloys twice a year and then use Poorboys wheel sealant or Svisswax Autobahn.

[gleammachine]

giusto said:

I'm looking for an alloy wheel cleaning fluid that i can apply without fear of rusting my brake discs or calipers. Anyone got experience of one or do i just have to use soapy water and plenty of elbow?

Good to talk today Justin, as already suggested Bilberry is probably the best option and will work ideally at a ratio of 1-4 parts water on your alloys if the build up is mild, perfectly normal for the discs to get a light surface rust when wet and removes after moving the car a few feet.
When we meet up I'll give the alloys a decent coat of wheel sealant which will enable future cleaning to be easier and adds a good protection.

[AndyMI16]

My Saab's now done close to 10k in 2.5 months and other than initially using Autosmart Smartwheels when I removed all 4 wheels to clean them back & front I've used nothing more than soap & water. Each wheel was initially cleaned as above, clayed and then treated with Zaino AIO, Zaino Z5 and then Zaino Clearseal. They get a spray of Clearseal every other wash but no other cleaners used.

For washing I use normal car shampoo at roughly twice the strength of the solution I'd wash the bodywork with. Seems to work for me although in fairness they're easy wheels to clean with wide gaps between the spokes; the downside being that when they're filthy they look even worse.

[giusto]

gleammachine said:

giusto said:

I'm looking for an alloy wheel cleaning fluid that i can apply without fear of rusting my brake discs or calipers. Anyone got experience of one or do i just have to use soapy water and plenty of elbow?

Good to talk today Justin, as already suggested Bilberry is probably the best option and will work ideally at a ratio of 1-4 parts water on your alloys if the build up is mild, perfectly normal for the discs to get a light surface rust when wet and removes after moving the car a few feet.
When we meet up I'll give the alloys a decent coat of wheel sealant which will enable future cleaning to be easier and adds a good protection.

Thanks for all the replies and also to Rob (gleammachine). I got some Bilberry and tried it with 1-4 ratio and it works a treat after a bit of agitation with a brush. There were just one or two corners that needed an extra treatment and brush for perfection.