Titanium Pack Alloys - Which Alloy Cleaner?

lethalMango

Active Member
Sep 23, 2014
33
0
My Leon has the titanium pack with the titanium 18" alloys. It's now due/well overdue for it's first clean but I'm not sure what's safe/not safe to use on them?

I'm out of everything I've used in the past so I'll need to buy something new either way. All suggestions welcome :)
 

kmanmx

Active Member
Jan 21, 2013
100
0
My Leon has the titanium pack with the titanium 18" alloys. It's now due/well overdue for it's first clean but I'm not sure what's safe/not safe to use on them?

I'm out of everything I've used in the past so I'll need to buy something new either way. All suggestions welcome :)


I do car detailing as a hobby. The first thing is to simply just try hot water. People often spend a small fortune on wheel cleaners, when in actual fact if the brake dust has not been there for long it'll just wash off with some hot water (you may need some cheap PH neutral soap/detergent if hot water alone doesn't work). Detergent can strip away any protective wax on your paintwork, so try and not get it on your cars paint.

If it genuinely won't come off, i'd reccomend Bilberry wheel cleaner. You can get it from somewhere like cleanyourcar.co.uk - you can dilute it up to 1:10, or for stubborn dirt use it neat. So long as you don't leave your wheels dirty for 3+ months at a time you will be very unlikely to find Bilberry wheel cleaner will not remove it. Anyway, try hot water first.

I advise against acidic wheel cleaners. Many wheel cleaners are acidic, strong enough that they literally make your hands sting if you get it on your skin. Common ones are stuff like Wonder Wheels. Yes, they do offer the strongest cleaning power. But they will literally corrode your wheel. I really do not recommend it. I used it once and it did remove some very stubborn burnt on break dust but I was very quick to wash away any excess acid and only left it on for a few seconds. I would not use it again for fear of permanent damage. And my wheels weren't diamond cut either.
 
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niggle

Rollin' on 17s, baby!
Jan 28, 2014
459
3
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Bilberry is the best wheel cleaner that I have used so far. It works well even when diluted.

To make life easier in future I would recommend a deep clean and sealant, just about all of the brake dust will then wash off with warm water, car shampoo and wash mitt or sponge.

A fallout remover such as Iron-X will dissolve 99.9% of the brake dust ingrained in the wheel's finish coat. Smells rank though. :(
A clay bar will pull out the other 0.1%.
Use a light polish to restore the finish coat condition.
Apply a proprietary wheel sealant or synthetic sealer to stop brake dusk becoming ingrained. I used Chemical Guys Wheel Guard and was very pleased with the protection it afforded. Now using Finish Kare 1000 synthetic paste wax. The CG Wheel Guard is much easier to apply and buff off compared to the FK 1000.

I use this regime on my winter and summer wheels once per year. For the rest of the year I just use warm water and car shampoo.
 
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lamds

Active Member
Sep 30, 2014
24
0
Portugal
Well, I've also the titanium pack and for now I only have used hot water (high pressure water jet) and a micro fiber toal to remove the dust. I'm thinking in using some petrol to remove some tar marks case they appear. But the best advice is to clean them often as already has been suggested.
 

Craigr11

Active Member
Apr 27, 2014
37
0
Any wheel cleaner for really stubborn or baked on brake dust. Id then give the wheels a coat or two of wheel sealant which should give protection for around 2 months plus.

Get into a weekly or twice weekly habit of cleaning the wheels with shampoo and water and you'll find it's effortless to clean brake dust

I like bilberry wheel cleaner and poorboys wheel sealant.
 
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marty_34

Active Member
Apr 21, 2012
1,183
2
TEESSIDE
be careful with wonder wheels that isn't too harsh

another option is bolt hammer auto wheel only down side it strips any sealant off wheels
 

Ewan

Active Member
May 7, 2008
100
1
I use showroom shine don't find any dirt sticks at all just wipes of with microfibre cloth impregnated with showroom shine. I clean the car using the product leaving the wheels till last
 
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RabRS

Active Member
Aug 25, 2014
152
0
Bilberry... Wonder wheels will get under the lacquer soon enough and ruin the finish. Make sure you get some wheel wax on there, washing is much easier with a well waxed wheel. :D
 

lethalMango

Active Member
Sep 23, 2014
33
0
Bilberry it is! Thanks guys.

They aren't too bad at the moment but the last thing I want to do was strip the lacquer off.

I'll get some sealant whilst I'm at it to keep things easy.

I've always used a wire brush (although a fairly soft one) to clean alloys in the past. With them clean and waxed will a wash mitt and soapy water be enough?
 
Wonder wheels hot wheels gets my vote.

be careful with wonder wheels that isn't too harsh

another option is bilt-hamber auto wheel only down side it strips any sealant off wheels

Bilberry... Wonder wheels will get under the lacquer soon enough and ruin the finish.

Ignore the mis-information on this thread. Wonder Wheels Hot Wheels is pH Neutral and is a "bleeding" type fallout remover similar to IronX. It's an easy-to-grab alternative to IX and I've used it in the past on cars to good effect.
 
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kmanmx

Active Member
Jan 21, 2013
100
0
Ignore the mis-information on this thread. Wonder Wheels Hot Wheels is pH Neutral and is a "bleeding" type fallout remover similar to IronX. It's an easy-to-grab alternative to IX and I've used it in the past on cars to good effect.

While the Hot Wheels variant is PH neutral, the standard Wonder Wheels product certainly is not (which is what I believe people were warning about). The packaging is pretty similar too so you have to be careful to choose the correct non acidic variant.
 
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While the Hot Wheels variant is PH neutral, the standard Wonder Wheels product certainly is not (which is what I believe people were warning about). The packaging is pretty similar too so you have to be careful to choose the correct non acidic variant.

Well Sootytorques mentioned a very specific Wonder Wheels Product "Hot Wheels" which isn't acidic... Remeber Wonder Wheels is a brand and of their 3 wheel cleaners only 1 is acidic from memory. So really people are warning someone off a Brand because of 1 product within the range (which has it's place)

So if you're warning people off random acidic wheel cleaners you should probably mention that ValetPro (the brand) Blue Gel is also an acidic wheel cleaner and the packaging is also very similar to ValetPro (the brand) Bilberry Wheel Cleaner:

valet-pro-blue-gel-wheel-cleaner-5l-833-p.jpg


vpbilberry5lt.jpg


Oh and Meguiars Wheel Brightener, Autosmart Ali / Ali Shine, Autobright Very Cherry, Autoglym Clean wheels.
 
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