Ultimate Wheel & Tyre Cleaning Guide

What you will need

• Wheels Bucket: We like to use a separate, dedicated Wheels bucket for cleaning wheels and tyres, as they are usually the dirtiest part of the car and we don't want to cross contaminate that dirt up onto the paintwork. 
   
• Dirty TImes Wash: Our 4WD specific wash which is our strongest wash, making it ideal for the heavy grime found on wheels, and it is built with our best anti corrosion additives for all those unsealed surfaces.
   
• The Stiffy Brush: Critical for achieving clean tyres, this stiff bristled brush has a perfect contour for scrubbing tyres without fatigue, and a rubbererized bumper around the head so you don't accidentally knock your wheels.
   
• Flat Head Brush: Our longest brush designed for reaching the inner wheel barrels of open spoke wheels (very common these days) with a high quality microfibre sock head that holds plenty of suds, and a knuckle guard to protect you.
   
• The Chubby Brush: Our best allrounder brush for all areas around the wheel, especially flat areas. The bristles are soft and spread gently across the face as you clean, making it very effective and safe. It also includes a rubberized head to prevent damage to your rims and an ergonomic grip.
   
• Nuts & Guts: Our of our Foursome brush set, this brush makes light work of all the intricate areas around the wheels including the nuts, valve stem, caliper and other tight spots. 
   
• Hose Sliders: Our much improved sliders for stopping hoses and cords snagging under your wheels as you detail, essential for laid back detailers. 

Wheely Clean or Down & Dirty?

We have two excellent wheel cleaning options in our range, both with very different uses depending on what kind of wheels you have, and what kind of dirt is on them. In short, Wheely Clean for heavy brake dust, and Down & Dirty for everything else. 

 

Wheely Clean is a pH neutral dedicated wheel cleaner specifically designed to remove heavy brake dust. The formula reacts with metal particles in brake dust, turning bright purple as it dissolves the brake dust into a water soluble complex. This action makes the brake dust easy to pressure rinse off of the wheel. It is acid-free, and safe for all common wheel types, including clear-coated, painted, chromed, and polished finishes.

• Neutral (pH of 7.0), acid free formula - for strong yet safe cleaning.
• Safe for all common wheel types - including clear-coated, painted, chromed, and polished finishes.
• Iron reactive ingredients - safely and quickly dissolve heavy brake dust.
• Purpose built - to suit high-performance European, or any cars with heavy brake dust issues.

The more brake dust on the wheel, the better the Wheely Clean will work! Due to this reactive mechanism, Wheely Clean is not suitable for carbon ceramic brakes, or unsealed/porous surfaces that are in poor condition.

Down & Dirty is an alkaline all-purpose cleaner and degreaser for heavy-duty cleaning, primarily for safe deep cleaning of tyre sidewalls. It is effective at breaking down red dirt, mud, grease, old tyre dressings, and leeched anti ozonant from the rubber. Its primary uses include:

• Higher pH of 10.0 - For extra cleaning power.
• Tyre cleaning - Removes old tyre dressings and the brown appearance caused by anti-ozonant (brown leeching from new tyre rubber) build-up. 
• Red Dirt removal - Easily dissolves red dirt from exterior surfaces.

Down & Dirty is an excellent wheel cleaner, for vehicles with less brake dust and more general road or off-road grime. This product is non-caustic and biodegradable. The higher pH of this one gives excellent cleaning power, but is not recommended for use on unsealed or bad condition surfaces or driveways. Down & Dirty needs to be rinsed off thoroughly with water after cleaning.

Down & Dirty is also the recommended product for cleaning wheels on vehicles with carbon ceramic brake discs.

 

Spraying the wheel & tyre

Evenly mist your chosen cleaner over the wheel surface and tyre making sure to get all angles of the spokes and in the inner barrel behind the spokes for best effect. Ensure Wheely Clean doesn't dwell for longer than a minute as the brake dust will dry back on. Down & Dirty can dwell for a little bit longer if there is very heavy grime. 

A sweeping action helps get the cleaner applied evenly across the wheel face without using too much product. 
 

Deep Cleaning Tyres

With the wheel face already sprayed down, mist the Down & Dirty evenly across the entire tyre. Then grab your Little Stiffy from your Wheels Bucket and scrub over ONLY the tyres to remove the grime and any browning. You may need to rinse the dirt from your brush in the bucket a few times while doing this. It's essential that you scrub the tyre with a stiff bristled brush like our Little Stiffy to properly remove the built up grime.

Touchless Clean

Thoroughly and meticulously rinse down the wheel and tyre, paying particular attention to the various faces across the wheel surface, ensure you are rinsing all angles. A pressure washer kept at a distance of 50cm is best for this, but a strong jet of water from the hose can work too.

Keep rinsing until most of the dirt is gone and the Down & Dirty/Wheely Clean is rinsed away. This step is very important to remove as much dirt as possible from the wheels to reduce the risk of this dirt scratching your wheels in the contact wash step. 

Contact Wash

Dip your chosen brushes into your wheels bucket to soak up a good helping of suds before scrubbing. We normally use a combination of brushes to suit the wheel design for a proper deep clean.

Dip The Flat Head brush in the wash suds solution, take it to the wheel and begin cleaning the inside barrel at the top of the wheel. Work your way in one direction around the wheel in and out of the spokes, dipping the brush back into the suds solution as needed, to clean the brush out and get more wash suds as you go. Be sure to get in behind the brake caliper - this is a great feature of this brush with the flat and flexible end. Approaching each spoke at an angle helps. get to that often neglected spot behind each spoke. 

The long, soft and feathered tip bristles of The Chubby brush is perfect for larger wheel faces and flat areas, while being safe and effective. Scrub and rinse your brushes often in the bucket to avoid spreading any dirt or leftover sand around the wheel. A good twisting action around the front barrel of the wheel and the spoke is a quick and efficient way to clean the wheel faces.

Our Nuts and Guts from the Foursome brush set is super handy around wheel nuts, inner seams, wheel lips and any tight corners to remove the hidden dirt and brake dust. Don't forget the wheel caliper too, as this is often quite dirty.

After the wheel’s been scrubbed, give it a thorough rinse from top to bottom, making sure to flush all the soap from the wheel, especially behind the spokes in the inner barrel.

Protection

Be sure the wheel is wet, and spray 8-10 sprays of Wet Dreams onto the wheel in a sweeping motion, then immediately pressure wash it off, using a methodical action to reveal that sweet bead porn. This adds a protective layer to the wheel that will make it harder for brake dust to stick to, and also make the wheel easier to clean next time.

Tyre Dressing

At the end of the detail, it's a good idea to dry your wheel and tyres, to prevent water spots on the wheels, and also to make sure the tyre is completely dry before applying Tyre Sheen or Sweet Rubber.

Run around the car with a small battery powered blower to remove the bulk of the water first, then dry up any left overs with a grey Twisted Little Sucker to dry any drips that remain. You can spray Boss Gloss into this towel for extra lubrication.

After you've dried the wheel, dry the tyre, ready for either Sweet Rubber or Tyre Sheen.

Tyre Sheen is for those who want a more subtle, natural satin look for their rubber (concours show cars will preferably desire this). The majority of our classic, muscle and sports cars will be using this one. 

Sweet Rubber is a darker, richer and subtly more glossy look (without being over the top!). It's also extremely hydrophobic, so unlike Tyre Sheen, it'll have the water bead up pretty nuts, meaning your tyres will stay protected, be easier to clean and keep darker for longer. This makes it ideal for daily-driven vehicles.

Apply your chosen dressing with our All Sorts applicator for an even finish that doesn't fling. Spray 4-5 sprays straight into the applicator, making sure you hold the All Sorts as close as possible to the trigger sprayer, and wipe it thoroughly into the tyre. Give the product 5 minutes to dry and cure and you're good to go!

 

Cleaning your tools

To keep the brushes in good condition, it's a good idea to rinse them out after use in fresh water. They are best stored somewhere they can dry, like in the bottom of an empty bucket, ready for next time. The Flat Head sock can be removed from the handle and washed separately if it has picked up heavy grime or grease. 

If the bristles on any of the brushes get squashed or deformed, run them under some hot water and pull the bristles straight again.

Any questions?

Should you have any questions about anything mentioned in this article, or have questions about other products and processes, feel free to get in touch on 1800 351 308, or shoot us an email to info@bowdensown.com.au

To find your closest retailer, see our Stockists link here - https://www.bowdensown.com.au/store-finder/

Happy Wheel Cleaning!

Gareth