A good Rim Cleaner
 

I use Eagle on All-Purpose Wheel Cleaner. I believe that the PH is netrual and is ok on my Type-S 19's. Reading the car-care manuel, it says that it is good to rub vasoline into your finish, to keep it coated. But I think that this would make your wheels catch more of the break dust?!?

What kind of cleaners do you guys use on your rims?

Mother's Wheel Cleaner is pretty good. If you use it correctly you don't even have to touch your wheels all the dirt is lifted off from the wheels all you do is point the hose and spray.*

*Do not leave it on for an access amount of time,only 30 seconds max then hose the solution off. If you leave it on too long it can stain the wheels (I beleive it has some mild acid in it).

the best I have used is the Poorboys wheel cleaner, very potent. Needs to be diluted then rinsed off. Gets the barrell of the wheel effortlessly.
Don't spend to much time coating the wheels because they need to stripped regularly to break loose the brake dust, tar and sediments.

After each washing (some use Dawn, also effective) give it a quick polish with a top shelf product like Klasse All In One, Werkstatt Prime or Zaino Z2.
This is very important.
To make wipe downs quick and easy I swear by FK 425 for its anti-statics. Just using a polish will make the wipe down quick but the anti-static uses rainfall to let the soot and debris wash away.

I've tried P21S and the over the counter stuff but its pricey and less potent.
a good idea is to use one color towel for use only on wheels. I'm not convinced that brake dust ever really fulls comes out of the towel.

Why use anything but car soap to clean wheels? All those cleaners are a paradox... once you start using them, you have to keep using them because they keep stripping off any kind of protectant, necessitating the use of the same harsh cleaners. The clearcoat on the wheels degrades over time, requiring more and more cleaner and elbow grease to clean. I found an easy way to keep the wheels clean without using harsh cleaners. I clean with only soap, and use a quick detailer on the wheels after each cleaning. This applies a light coat of wax with very little effort or time. Then the brake dust will always wash off with the mild soap. You can even spray the quick detailer or a spray wax while the wheels are still wet and just dry them off.

^you want to strip off the protectant because those protectants are not brake-dust proof. Hot brake dust will melt right through those protectants easily and then adhere to the clear coat. You can't let ferrous particles linger over your clear coat and you certainly don't want to spread them around when you wax you wheels as you will be scratching the clear coat.
The dedicated wheel cleaner is the most potent so you do the job quickly. Some wheel cleaner have no acids so they are completely safe to your clear coat.
P21S is the best example of this, you can leave it on for hours and it won't hurt your wheels clear coat. The other wheels cleaners should be washed off right away.

trace of brake dust wheel finish after cleaning
 

Thanks for this info. My Mr clean and water approach wasn't cutting it. I understand now. I have brake dust inbedded into the surface. it's slight but wasn't coming off.

I have never experienced that problem, even with hot brake dust coming off from hard brake use. I don't see how using a cleaner more aggressive than soap and stripping off the protectant and leaving the finish bare is a better solution. :confused:

When I use soap on my dirty wheels, they come completely clean. There is no spreading around of harmful particles. I am very meticulous about this and have been using this method for around 20 years. I have tried various wheel cleaners including the P21S and other fancy ones, and all I found was that they strip off the wax faster, and as long as I keep a coat of some wax or Klasse or similar, I never needed anything more aggressive than car wash soap to bring the wheels perfectly clean.

Again I just don't see the need. Soap works for me and IMO the LEAST potent product that does the job is usually the safest for the finish. :cheers:

Car care is certainly a personal thing. To each his own.

Regards,
Ken

I use Collinite 845 Insulator Wax on the rims. Removes the dust, tar and protects
like nothing else I've used. I also have used Mother's Aluminum Polish after cleaning them with Collinite first.

Windex and a cotton towel has worked for me on every Porsche I've had since 1974.

Second on the PS21
 

Use this since it came with PS21 polish kit I ordered when car was new(Less than 500 Mi). I wanted to protect and keep that shine. Wheels were pristine so I didn't notice much difference at first. Also had to wait until break-in was up to really push brakes. That was when I was very pleased to see brake dust was light and rinsed off easily. The real tell was when I ran out, there was very noticeable difference in amount of dust clinging to wheels and the difficulty getting it off.

Ordered more can't wait. :dance:

If you want to get into a in-depth discussions about wheel care go over to http://autopia.org/ and search the archives. Those guys take detailing “VERY” seriously. :troll:

Also a comment on most local auto-parts outlet stocked cleaners, I have noticed they many cause discoloration to the rotors and some seem to cause break lines/fittings to discolor if not straight out corrode. Your experience may be different but I am not willing to test a chemical compounds primarily intended for the stock steel wheels on my Porsche bits.