Hey all, I recently pulled my wheels out from a 6 month storage (during winter). I stored them away before cleaning them and they had a lot of brake dust caked on. I therefore decided to use P&S Brake buster diluted in combination with Adam's Wheel cleaner. After scrubbing everything down I was left with this white residue in some locations. When I spray water over it, it disappears, but then comes back once it dries. It is very tough to remove, but does come off by scratching it enough with my finger nail. I'm afraid that it may have dried a bit and now etched into the ceramic coating that was applied 7months ago. Anyone had a similar experience and how do I remove this?
Crease
21 - 40 of 41 Posts
Joined
·
106 Posts
Thanks, I was thinking similar but didn't want to assume and risk messing up my CE BBS Forged wheels 😅 It says safe on "many" finishes and not sure how to tell if it's safe for CE specific wheels. What would you recommend instead? Here's what is in the mail that I could return before opening:
Amazon.com: Adam's Polishes Wheel & Tire Cleaner 16oz - Professional All in One Car Wash Wheel Well Cleaning Spray for Car Detailing | Safe On Most Rim Finishes : Automotive
Buy Adam's Polishes Wheel & Tire Cleaner 16oz - Professional All in One Car Wash Wheel Well Cleaning Spray for Car Detailing | Safe On Most Rim Finishes on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com
I have a different one. It's called Adam's Wheel Cleaner, not Adam's Wheel and Tire Cleaner. ASFAIK the wheel cleaner is more aggressive and acidic than the wheel and tire cleaner, so I think you're okay with that one.Thanks, I was thinking similar but didn't want to assume and risk messing up my CE BBS Forged wheels 😅 It says safe on "many" finishes and not sure how to tell if it's safe for CE specific wheels. What would you recommend instead? Here's what is in the mail that I could return before opening:
Amazon.com: Adam's Polishes Wheel & Tire Cleaner 16oz - Professional All in One Car Wash Wheel Well Cleaning Spray for Car Detailing | Safe On Most Rim Finishes : Automotive
Buy Adam's Polishes Wheel & Tire Cleaner 16oz - Professional All in One Car Wash Wheel Well Cleaning Spray for Car Detailing | Safe On Most Rim Finishes on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orderswww.amazon.com
View attachment 35214
View attachment 35215
Joined
·
764 Posts
"What would you recommend instead?"Thanks, I was thinking similar but didn't want to assume and risk messing up my CE BBS Forged wheels 😅 It says safe on "many" finishes and not sure how to tell if it's safe for CE specific wheels. What would you recommend instead? Here's what is in the mail that I could return before opening:
Amazon.com: Adam's Polishes Wheel & Tire Cleaner 16oz - Professional All in One Car Wash Wheel Well Cleaning Spray for Car Detailing | Safe On Most Rim Finishes : Automotive
Buy Adam's Polishes Wheel & Tire Cleaner 16oz - Professional All in One Car Wash Wheel Well Cleaning Spray for Car Detailing | Safe On Most Rim Finishes on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orderswww.amazon.com
View attachment 35214
View attachment 35215
Soap and water. Keep it simple.
Yeah, clearly did more harm than good. I am going to try to use some polish on the wheels today to try and remove the residue. But first I will try and something like optimum no rinse with water and see if I can rub it off that way. If that isn't aggressive enough then I will move to the polisher. I probably stripped the ceramic coating off of the wheels at this point anyways because 13.5 is high than soapy water (~12.0) and people recommend using that for stripping lol
I'll report back to this thread once I have results.
Joined
·
106 Posts
Is it ok to use if I'm running it through a foam cannon that naturally dilutes it? Or should I buy Brake Buster instead?
Amazon.com: REALYOU Foam Cannon Pro, Foam Cannon for Pressure Washer with 1/4'' Quick Connector, Soap Cannon with Adjustable Nozzle, Fits Most Car Washing Accessories-Green : Beauty & Personal Care
Amazon.com: REALYOU Foam Cannon Pro, Foam Cannon for Pressure Washer with 1/4'' Quick Connector, Soap Cannon with Adjustable Nozzle, Fits Most Car Washing Accessories-Green : Beauty & Personal Care
www.amazon.com
You could try diluting it, but I just did a search for Adams wheel cleaner discolor and was seeing a decent amount of posts, but most of it appeared to be on aluminum finishes and tires, but yeah I personally would probably just pass on it, but you could test it in a small area diluted and see what happens.Is it ok to use if I'm running it through a foam cannon that naturally dilutes it? Or should I buy Brake Buster instead?
Amazon.com: REALYOU Foam Cannon Pro, Foam Cannon for Pressure Washer with 1/4'' Quick Connector, Soap Cannon with Adjustable Nozzle, Fits Most Car Washing Accessories-Green : Beauty & Personal Care
Amazon.com: REALYOU Foam Cannon Pro, Foam Cannon for Pressure Washer with 1/4'' Quick Connector, Soap Cannon with Adjustable Nozzle, Fits Most Car Washing Accessories-Green : Beauty & Personal Carewww.amazon.com
Yeah, I would strongly recommend diluting Adams wheel cleaner first before using it. I wouldn't recommend running it through a snow foam cannon either because the wheel cleaner smells so bad that you will never get that smell out again... or maybe even the residue. Rather, use a regular dedicated spray bottle for an aggressive chemical like this.
Joined
·
764 Posts
I confess, when I experienced the prodigious production of brake dust of these cars, I decided to try a couple of different wheel cleaners. I bought stuff at the big box stores - I think a Black Magic product and a Mother's product - both supposedly safe for painted or powder coated wheels. Neither worked as I'd hoped - that is, something I could spray on, and then hose off removing most of the dust. They removed, I don't know, 50-60-70% of the dust, but in the sun I could still see the "brown". I used each twice just to confirm, and then threw the rest away.
Back to regular soap, water and my homemade tool for cleaning the barrel behind the spokes without taking the wheels off.
Back to regular soap, water and my homemade tool for cleaning the barrel behind the spokes without taking the wheels off.
Just to update everyone, I tackled the wheels again tonight. I first tried spraying on a diluted ONR and wiping it down with the ONR solution. No success, it did absolutely nothing to help remove the white residue.
Next I tried spraying some of the wheel cleaner on a microfiber cloth and wiped an area where the staining was. No success with doing that either. It's like the residue was baked into the coating/clear coat.
Lastly I resorted to trying Meguairs Ultimate polish. Fortunately, this did the trick. I rubbed the polish in by hand with a microfiber applicator and used a ton of elbow grease. After wiping away the hazy polish that I just worked in, I found that the white staining was gone and the finish looked nice again. I was able to get like 90% of the staining gone. It was tough to polish the areas that are tucked away and hard to reach, but for now I am satisfied, until weather gets warmer and I have an easier time doing a deeper clean.
However, on closer inspection I saw that my first pass of cleaning the wheels (when i first used the wheel cleaner) wasn't really great because I still saw caked on brake dust at the inner lip of the barrel, brake dust in the little nooks and crannies, and in the lug nut holes. Some of the brake dust is so crusty and I can't even remove it by scratching it off with a finger nail. How do people actually remove really old, built up brake dust like this? I'd like to ceramic coat my wheels again after the polishing but I have no idea how to remove the heavy brake dust and get the wheels super clean to the point that I can apply the ceramic coating. Thoughts?
Next I tried spraying some of the wheel cleaner on a microfiber cloth and wiped an area where the staining was. No success with doing that either. It's like the residue was baked into the coating/clear coat.
Lastly I resorted to trying Meguairs Ultimate polish. Fortunately, this did the trick. I rubbed the polish in by hand with a microfiber applicator and used a ton of elbow grease. After wiping away the hazy polish that I just worked in, I found that the white staining was gone and the finish looked nice again. I was able to get like 90% of the staining gone. It was tough to polish the areas that are tucked away and hard to reach, but for now I am satisfied, until weather gets warmer and I have an easier time doing a deeper clean.
However, on closer inspection I saw that my first pass of cleaning the wheels (when i first used the wheel cleaner) wasn't really great because I still saw caked on brake dust at the inner lip of the barrel, brake dust in the little nooks and crannies, and in the lug nut holes. Some of the brake dust is so crusty and I can't even remove it by scratching it off with a finger nail. How do people actually remove really old, built up brake dust like this? I'd like to ceramic coat my wheels again after the polishing but I have no idea how to remove the heavy brake dust and get the wheels super clean to the point that I can apply the ceramic coating. Thoughts?
Joined
·
764 Posts
I guess my thought is -- if your ceramic coating didn't prevent this really bad build up of dust, why bother having them coated again?
I only had the faces ceramic coated. The barrels were never coated and that's where the really heavy buildup is. But even still, in the hard to reach places of the wheel faces, it is still covered in stubborn brake dust, but not crusted layers like on the inner barrels.
Simple green is known to corrode unpainted aluminum. I have used Adams wheel cleaner on rims from multiple vehicles and it never caused any damage. Matter of fact, it hasn't been a good wheel cleaner at all. I have since switched to P&S Brake Buster.
But even with P&S BB you still need a lot of elbow grease to remove stubborn brake dust deposits and stains.
Joined
·
764 Posts
I've never had problems with Simple Green provided the surfaces aren't hot. But bare aluminum parts under the hood that are warm - Simple Green if left to sit/dry can certainly discolor them, leave dark spots, etc.
Joined
·
106 Posts
What do we think about Meguiar's Hot Rims (purple OEM safe labeled bottle) after Project Farm video showing it doesn't damage clear coat, and cleans brake dust decently without scrubbing?
![Image]()
Link to buy:
Link to buy:
Joined
·
764 Posts
There's simply no substitute for mechanically cleaning with soap and water.
Agreed, no cleaner will be able to remove all brake dust and grime without agitation. I think that is a key step in fully cleaning your wheels. Otherwise, you will be left with a residue. I feel like all of these youtubers/influencers are working on rims that aren't even "that" dirty. I'd like to see an example where the brake dust is really caked and baked onto the rim and they test different products.
Moving forward, I will be using a product that is closer to neutral (or slightly basic) to clean my wheels. This way I can have peace of mind that I won't be damaging my rims again.
21 - 40 of 41 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
