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Cleaning wheels between hand washes

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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 07:24 PM
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Default Cleaning wheels between hand washes

Just looking for advice. I’m sure I’ll get flamed but in between hand washes I will use a touchless car wash. I live in Iowa so Spring/Fall can be a bit too cold to hand wash, and I drive my car as much as I can.

Even after the car wash the wheels could use some TLC. What products/process do you use that doesn’t involve dragging out the garden hose/pressure washer?

Thanks in advance!!!
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 07:37 PM
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If you a Z51, you’ll have more brake dust from their brake pads. For this, you can switch to a low dust brake pad, which will mitigate that a bit.

If it’s just cleaning dirty wheels, perhaps a ceramic coating will help some too.
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 07:41 PM
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I touch up my wheels with a waterless cleaner (I use Griot's, but imagine they are all pretty much the same) -- spray it on, let it sit, use a damp cloth and then a dry one. Not perfect, but the wheels look better.
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 08:04 PM
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Take the wheels off and coat them with a Ceramic or Graphene coating. It will reduce your cleaning effort 3x.
Something similar to this.
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 08:26 PM
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I ceramic coated my wheels and you can literally blow the brake dust off with an air compressor or hit them with the hose and only the toughest spots require a wipe.
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 09:19 PM
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For just the wheels you shouldn't need the hose, etc, Just a bucket or two. I never use any of the spray and "wipe" products on anything since I don't like swirling grit around on surfaces.
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 09:23 PM
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Use a bottle brush on a drill shank.
Degreaser from the Dollar Tree....
To minimize the process, ceramic coat the wheels .

Last edited by Paws; Mar 27, 2021 at 09:24 PM.
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Old Mar 27, 2021 | 11:08 PM
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Rinseless wash or waterless wash are good solutions for wheels and if you have a garage can be a potential solution for washing the car as well. I would just use either of these products with a decent microfiber towel. I’ve been happy with Adams rinseless lately but sure any brand will work
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Old Mar 28, 2021 | 12:50 AM
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This for wheels and car

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Old Mar 28, 2021 | 01:25 AM
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On my other cars (no vette yet) I used waterless wash and wax .. (chemical guys)... I squirt it on a microfibre cloth then wipe the wheels. It cleans them surprisingly well AND waxes them so they don't get as dirty so fast..

YMMV
My 2¢
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Old Mar 28, 2021 | 08:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Lead Foot 66
If you a Z51, you’ll have more brake dust from their brake pads. For this, you can switch to a low dust brake pad, which will mitigate that a bit.

If it’s just cleaning dirty wheels, perhaps a ceramic coating will help some too.
Yep. Had to clean my 2014 Z51 wheels every ~200 miles or the brake dust not only looked bad it was pitting my balck wheels. After foolishly waiting 6 months I installed Carbotech 1521 low dust street pads and only had to wash the wheels when I washed the car. What little light dust is there does NOT pit my wheels.

Installed Carbotech 1521 pads on my 2017 Grand Sport and my C8 Z51 week 1! Again clean the wheels only when I wash the car.

Last edited by JerryU; Mar 28, 2021 at 11:42 AM.
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Old Mar 28, 2021 | 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by george vee
This for wheels and car

I gave this a try today. Seemed like what I was looking for...or hell, maybe water and a microfiber cloth would have worked! ;-). Thanks for the suggestion!
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Old Mar 28, 2021 | 11:39 AM
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Thanks for all the tips abs tricks guys. I’ll look into the brake pads and ceramic coating to fix the “root cause” but so far Griots spray seemed to fix the “symptom”! Appreciate the help! Thanks again.
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