Just as there's more than one way to peel a fruit, there's more than one way to wash and rinse your wheels. The most common way is the lazy man's way. This includes not bothering to rinse your wheels at all until you have to change a tire or something goes wrong with it.
The second way is the Reaganomics way of wheel-washing, which involves cleaning your car traditionally and letting the trickle of water and soap suds from your paint slowly end up on your wheels, which you'll then rinse with your water garden hose as an afterthought.
Both these ways will result in your wheels caving in to corrosion and getting ruined.
Proper Ways to Go About Washing and Rinsing Your Wheel
- Apply Special Cleaner Then Rinse Wheels: You should apply special cleaner like KevianClean Wheel Cleaner in order to properly get rid of brake dust and other corrosive elements without scratching the surface of your aluminum or magnesium rims and hubs. Afterwards, hose the mixture of brake dust, road gunk, grease, and cleaner down with a fire hose nozzle on your hose. The cleaner should loosen and grab hold of the dirt and debris while the rinsing water does the wrest.
- Use Non-Acidic Alloy Wheel Cleaner: Instead of using an all-purpose cleaner, you can also use a wheel cleaner specifically made for alloy wheels. Just spray the product one wheel at a time so that you can carefully go about cleaning every wheel up. These cleaners are known to be non-acidic for the sake of protecting the finish of your wheels, whether you have polished alloy wheels or clear coated wheels. This is why certain all-purpose cleaners for the car can't be used for your wheels, especially if they lack clear-coat over them.
- Brushes with Soft Bristles: In order to prevent scratches and turning your brake-dust-caked rag into sandpaper across your alloy wheels, you should invest in a soft-bristled wheel brush to agitate your wheel and make it easy for your wheel cleaner to softly but surely remove the collection of brake dust inside the wheel. A wheel brush is also specifically designed to fit wide or narrow spaces with its flexible stem. It's also dependable when it comes to loosening grime and grease without scratching the finish of the wheel in question.
- Lug Nuts Should Be Cleaned Too: The lug nuts shouldn't be forgotten when you're cleaning your wheel up because brake dust hides wherever it can. There's also a lug nut brush you can buy in auto detailing stores so that you can clean around the lug nuts and within the lug nut holes without removing the nuts at all. When working with such brushes, make sure the wheel remains wet or moist.