Alloy wheels badly tarnished;...cleaning advice pls.

Biggus_Dickus

The front alloys on my son’s Vauxhall GTC have become really grubby and badly stained/tarnished in recent months. They seem to have degraded all of a sudden which is a pity as they were in very good condition with no scratches or kerbing whatsoever.

Normally the alloys are very easy to clean;...a good scrub with car shampoo was enough to see them gleaming, but not now.

The dirtiest sections now have an almost burnished black/charcoaled look about them,... no amount of scrubbing is effective. WD40 has removed some film/tar but it’s not improved the overall look very much at all.

I have a Karcher pressure washer but I’ve never used it on alloys,...never really needed to in fairness.  Pressure washer a good idea?

Are there any proprietary cleaners you think might be effective?...my son’s wife bought a bottle of Simoniz alloy cleaner from Halfords,  but it’s the wrong side of useless.

There’s a product called ‘Bilt-Hamber auto-wheel’ that appears to be well recommended by a certain motoring mag (for what that’s worth!),... any good?

As ever, all replies/advice gratefully received.

hollie.weimeraner

I use bilberry wheel cleaner for mine.  Non acidic and really good but it depends how bad they are.  Might have to get them refurbished.

Scrapit

You need a reactive cleaner. Something that goes on and changes colour with the dirt on the wheels. Bilt hamber have a good rep, maguires have several products under several sub brands that will do it (i like the mirror brite wheel cleaner) but some say they can be a bit too acidic. 
These guys are reasonable: https://www.killerbrands.co.uk

KimJongUn88

Try Autoglym Magma. Spray it on and it reacts with iron deposits and turns purple. Leave it to bite in, scrub and then rinse off.

Mutton_Geoff

The Bilt Hamber stuff is excellent. I've tried many others, inc Autoglym products, but it seems to be much better. No connection to the firm, just a happy customer.

neilmcl

I'd definitely recommend BH Auto Wheel, it's a great cleaner, as is all BH products tend to be, been using it for year. However, it sounds like your alloys are beyond most standard wheel cleaners, you may require a bit more of an acidic cleaner so I'd give the old favourite Wonder Wheels a try, but use with caution and wear gloves. 

facade

+1 for Bilt Hamber, their snow foam is about the only one that actually works like you think it should too.

Biggus_Dickus

OP here; many thanks for the replies/advice. Very much appreciated.

I’ve decided to give ‘Bilt-Hamber auto-wheel’ a try and see how it goes.

For anyone still interested I’ll update this thread with the outcome.

m0bov

Use some BH Wheel cleaner, also get a "fall out" remover, this will lift off any iron and other contaminates on the surface. Then after a rinse, use shampoo and a good mitt. Wheel sealant will help dirt run off and make washing easier. 

You can get a brush that goes between the spokes, I clean mine each week.

sheslookinhot

Can’t go wrong with BH Wheel cleaner. Apply a Sealer after the cleaner. However, regular cleaning, even with a cheaper version is required to stop the dust baking on to the wheel in future.

Biggus_Dickus

sheslookinhot said:

Can’t go wrong with BH Wheel cleaner. Apply a Sealer after the cleaner. However, regular cleaning, even with a cheaper version is required to stop the dust baking on to the wheel in future.

Thanks for that;...I may as well go the whole hog.

Any ‘sealer’ recommendations?