By rims, I mean the one ones on your car - so don't tell me to use TP

So any day my new rims will arrive and I've been wondering for a while what to use to protect this investment. On my cars now, I just wash it with car was detergent, then rinse, and then use a micro fiber cloth to dry. But they're tough to dry and therfore they get dried water spots.

What products/brands do you use to clean and to also polish them?

 

I use Zaino car wash and clean the Foose 20's on our SC last. They are difficult to get dry due to all the nooks and crannies. It usually takes 2 passes to get them dry. First pass is usually a cotton towel. Second is a cotton diaper to detail and polish. I use Zaino Z-6 and Z-8 on the car finish after washing. When the car finish is complete I use the polishing cloth to wipe the wheels down with the residual Z-6 & Z-8 on the cloth. I figure a slick coat of any type polish is better than nothing. It seems to work fine.

Between washes I wipe down the wheels about every three days or so to get the brake dust off of them. Brake dust will pit them more than anything else. I use a damp microfiber towel and then followup with the cotton diaper. Target was selling the diapers and they are great for polishing if you can get them.

 

CR Spotless Water Systems - deionized water. Picked up one of the systems up at costco. No spots, no hardware stains. I don't want to spend 10-15 minutes on each wheel getting it perfectly dry. It has worked perfectly on areas like my tourmalines where all the angles and tight spaces present problems.

I bought my wheels at Lexus got them to throw in polish and been happy with it.

 

water and soap are all you need.
you got chrome or brushed with anodized lips?

 

Use a leaf blower to blow dry them.

 

always use a toro leaf blower and dont forget to put plastic bags with a rubber band over your side mirrors to prevent water from getting in there. Remove after washing and hand clean.

 

Why not use the leaf blower on the mirrors also, and save the bag.

 

I preferr troy-bilt

 

Chrome now, the ones on order I believe have a chrome lip and then rest is polished aluminum and part of it is black.

 

I don't own a leaf blower...I don't think I've ever seen any leaves in my neighboorhood! LOL!! Except for those damn HUGE ones that falll off the Palm trees and do damage to cars! YIKES!!

 

Peter Kim then you would need a typhoon blower, if the leaves are that big.

 

I use two buckets when I wash the cars. One with car wash soap - one with clear water to rinse out the sponge. The rinse bucket catches the dirt and reduces scratches. For tough spots, I use Soft Soap. It removes bugs and tar better than anything else I've tried.

BTW - Hi, I spanking new. Checking out the site because I want to buy a 04-07 SC430.

 

Tenspeed-welcome! Start another new post and let us help you find your next SC! That's my favorite topic in the world!

Peter-some good suggestions here (although a little OCD with the blower, LOL) I've even used compressed air and keyboard compressed air to get the water out of the lugs and in between the spider webs on my wheels. The more spokes, the more work!

No matter how you dry, however, I can't stress the importance of not using anything but soap and water for your chrome wheels!!!

You can use a Meguires (read the bottle) chrome wheel cleaner instant shine for your touch ups in between washes to clean the brake dust or puddle stains off. I've been using their wheel detailer for ten years and never had any rim fade/flake, etc. and I buy cheap rims, remember?

 

Zaino makes a great car wash bucket. It has a strainer board that sits up 2 inches from the bottom so the dirt goes down to the bottom. The bucket even has a screw on lid so you can use the buckets as a stool for detailing and can also be used for storing your cleaning supplies.

Yeh, when I went to Zaino-I went all the way. Great products!

John