Always start out your detail with a good wheel wash process. Do one wheel at a time. Start by using a wheel cleaner that is the proper strength for the task. Heavy brake dust will need a heavy duty wheel cleaner. Light weekly clean ups are better suited for a lighter strength product. Apply the wheel cleaner with a foam cannon or a spray bottle. Allow the wheel cleaner to dwell as long as needed but do not let it dry. Use a tire brush to agitate the tire until all the dirt and browning is gone. Use a wide wheel face brush to clean the wheel faces. This soft bristle brush makes it fast and easy. Follow up with a boars hair brush to get around valve stems and any of the tighter areas that were hard to reach. Also use the boars hair brush to agitate and clean the brake calipers. Now use the wheel barrel brush. This brush is specifically designed to reach into those deep hard to reach wheel barrels. Start from the top and work your way down to the bottom. Be sure to angle the brush strokes to contact the harder to reach areas. Rinse wheel with water, inspect and repeat any of these steps if necessary. Continue washing the rest of the car before drying the wheels and or applying any tire dressings. After the rest of the car is completely washed, rinsed and dried, dry the wheels using either the heated dryer (my favorite) or a black microfiber towel. Wheels are full of brake dust particles that can scratch paint so make sure to use dedicated towels for your wheels. After the wheels are completely dry apply dressing evenly to the tires with a dressing applicator. These applicators are designed to minimize product usage and be far less messy. Allow dressing to fully saturate the surface and dry as much as possible. Prevent product sling by wiping off any excess dressing with your black wheel towel. I have found that with most short term dressings you can lightly dab the tire with a towel before it dries to control the amount of shine. You can also apply additional layers to enhance the look. That’s up to you. For best results with the semi permanent dressing be sure to let it dry completely without touching. Now that the tires are finished its time to protect the wheels. A proper ceramic coating is always best but adding spray protection to the wheels works great too. Spray product directly onto your wheel towel being careful to avoid the brake system. Wipe on evenly. Flip towel and buff to a shine. This will enhance the shine and make cleaning 10x easier next wash.
Links to my favorite Wheel & Tire products. You definitely can not go wrong with anything listed here. These are tested vigorously and I stand behind all of them.
WHEEL CLEANING ESSENTIALS
Light duty wheel cleaner Online Store or Amazon A lighter duty wheel cleaner perfect for routine weekly maintenance washes.
Medium duty wheel cleaner with Iron remover A good smelling highly effective PH neutral wheel cleaner with iron remover (Good Stuff) REVIEW VIDEO
Heavy duty wheel cleaner A heavier duty wheel cleaner perfect for the tough jobs.
Foam Cannon Use a foam cannon to auto-dilute and apply the cleaner easily. My favorite method (Pressure Washer Required)
My second favorite foam cannon
Cheapo -$10 Amazon foam cannon
Spray bottle High End Version Dual action pump sprayer with a great look and feel to it. My favorite. SPRAY BOTTLES REVIEW VIDEO
Spray bottle Economical Version Good quality for those on a budget. I have used these for many years. SPRAY BOTTLES REVIEW VIDEO
Tire brush Online Store or Amazon Medium stiffness brush made to scrub the tire clean and conform to the shape of the tire.
Wide wheel face brush Online Store or Amazon Cover a large wheel fast with this soft bristle non scratching brush.
Boars hair brush Online Store or Amazon Perfect for lug nuts, valve stem, brake calipers and any area that needs light agitation that is hard to access.
Wheel barrel brush Online Store or Amazon Easily clean the inside of the wheels to agitate the brake dust off.
Heated wheel dryer This is a great tool to dry the wheel thoroughly prior to application of dressings. Easily gets all those hard to dry crevices. REVIEW VIDEO
Microfiber towel black Online Store or Amazon Black for the wheels. Don't mix wheel towels with paint towels. Black guarantees this won't happen.
TIRE DRESSING & APPLICATORS
Applying tire dressings should be easy and fast. It should be high quality and not sling all over the car while driving. The finished look should match your preference of either shiney or matte finish.
Tire dressing short - medium durability Online Store or Amazon EASY to apply. Slight shine when dry and will last easily til next weeks wash and beyond.
Tire dressing long term durability Medium difficulty. Slight shine after 1 coat and shine intensifies with additional coats. Will last several months with minimal touch ups. Semi Permanent.
Dressing applicator large Best for covering lager surfaces like on larger profile tires.
Dressing applicator small Best for covering smaller surfaces like on lower profile performance tires.
WHEEL PROTECTION / COATING
Ceramic wheel / rim coating High durability, gloss and slickness. Best wheel coating out there. Use Code HAWAIIDETAILING for 10% Off
Spray on rinse off ceramic protection Short to Medium Term Durability. Easiest solution. Spray product on to the wheels and rinse it off. Reapply after each wash. Use Code HAWAIIDETAILING for 10% Off VIDEO DEMO
Spray ceramic protection Short to Medium Term Durability. Apply to the rims after each wash to get great protection and ease of cleaning.
DILUTION RATIOS
Foam Cannon - I use wheel cleaners at 100% in the foam cannon. The cleaner will get diluted by the normal mixing from the foam cannon. Great for light to medium soiled wheels.
Spray Bottle or Foam Pump Spray Bottle -
Light Cleaning - 50/50 cleaner to water
Medium Cleaning - 75/25 cleaner to water
Tough cleaning - 100% cleaner
Please let me know if you have any questions or if any of these links are not working properly Jeremy@HawaiiDetailing.com
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