How to Clean Car Wheels: How To Get Sparkling Clean Wheels And Rims

Your wheels will always be the most dirty part of your car, they are, after all, touching the ground. This blog is a complete guide on how to clean the wheels and tires of your vehicle, without any damage. The wheel cleaning method we teach is safe for all types of wheels, as we use non-acid cleaners, keeping your wheels safe and shiny. If you want clean wheels, this blog is for you.

Wheel Cleaning Products | What You Need

Bucket of water: Holds water/cleaner solution to put your brushes in.

Soft-bristle brush:

Used to agitate cleaner (scrub cleaner) on the car’s wheel to loosen up dirt. Make sure you get one like the one pictured below as this type of brush can also be used to dress your tires when it is dry.

Wheel Barrel Brush:

The wheel barrel brush is used to get inside the barrels of your wheels (behind the spoke). This is also where most of the brake dust is.

Microfiber towels:

Microfiber towels are used to dry the rims of your wheels, so their are no water spots left behind.

Wheel cleaner:

P&S Brake buster is a great non-acid wheel cleaner that can clean wheels safely.

Degreaser: We use degreaser as sort of a pre-clean for the wheels. We spray it on and rinse it off after about a minute or two.

Car Detailing Brush:

If your wheel rims have lots of spokes or intricate details, detail brushes are a must-have. We also use detail brushes to clean the lug nuts on your wheels.

Tire Dressing:

Tire dressing is a great way to make your tires look wet constantly. You apply it when the wheels are dry, and it makes your tires shiny and very black.

Step-By-Step Wheel Detailing

Remove Blatant Dirt And Debris

1.) Rinse the wheels down with a hose or pressure washer and spray your degreaser (not your wheel cleaner). Let the degreaser sit for about two minutes then rinse it off.

Wheel Cleaning

2.) Spray the wheel cleaner and use all of your brushes to scrub everywhere on the wheel. The soft bristle brush would scrub the tire and wheel face, the detail brush would scrub the logs, lug nuts, and tight areas, and the wheel barrel brush would scrub the wheel barrels. Rinse the cleaner when you are done.

Drying Car Wheels With A Car Wash Vs Without

3.) If you are going to wash the car, wait till the car has been washed and dried then dry the wheels, if you are not going to wash the car go ahead and dry them. Drying the wheels prevents water spots, which is when minerals in water get etched into a surface when they dry.

4.) Apply the tire dressing to the tires using a foam applicator pad or a dry brush. Congrats! You now have clean car wheels!