Brake dust on my Polished aluminim rims!! Help! How do I remove?

[gruvee87vertgt]

So theres this brown dust on my Boyd Coddington smoothie 2's.

I tried scrubbing with normal rim soap and it's not coming off. Can you recommend something? thanx

 

[cenok is family]

i hear mother's aluminum polish and that polishing ball work well.

 

[santos]

Doesn't that suck? Time to get out the powerball!

 

[fiveohwblow]

that or the best prpduct on the market in my opinion for cleaning is Greased Lightning degreaser. Comes in a purple spray bottle at Autozone for around 4 bucks or so. Give it a try and you wont be dissappointed. I use it for my auto detailing business all the time.

 

[Ozz]

Degreaser, if not that then some bleach white spray, if not that - break out the PowerBall and polish. If not that, how long did you let it bake itself on there!?

 

[4G-KDMP]

that seems to be a problem w/ most polished aluminum rims, and the reason i won't get polished aluminum rims. i'm going either chrome or powder coated when i have the $ to get rims.

 

[MustangOwner]

I'm curious on how much you wash your rims? Becuase if that "brake dust" is stuck on there. That must have been on there a looooong time. Are you sure its brake dust. Cause dust wipes off. And i've never had that problem with my polished rims. Hell i've never had anything sticking to them at all actually. I love them. I'd buy polished rims everytime.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

This is a big reason i traded off my Welds....i'd spend an afternoon polishing them to almost chrome, then 2 days later they'd be dull again, and i'm NOT spending a ton of money on aluminum sealer that isn't permanent.


What i use though is a 3 inch buffing pad attached to a drill that i bought at a local hardware store. It's a velcro-attach pad set that has 2 different foam pads and a wool buff pad just like you'd use on paint. I use that with typical Mother's mag wheel polish....you wouldn't believe how well it works. Screw the powerball....

 

[MustangOwner]

This is a big reason i traded off my Welds....i'd spend an afternoon polishing them to almost chrome, then 2 days later they'd be dull again, and i'm NOT spending a ton of money on aluminum sealer that isn't permanent.


What i use though is a 3 inch buffing pad attached to a drill that i bought at a local hardware store. It's a velcro-attach pad set that has 2 different foam pads and a wool buff pad just like you'd use on paint. I use that with typical Mother's mag wheel polish....you wouldn't believe how well it works. Screw the powerball....

That sucks man. Honestly, i've only waxed my polished rims once and that was when i got them out of the box. And all i did was wipe wax on with a pad and wipe it off. And i've done nothing but wash them and they shine like chrome Why you guys are having so many problems i don't know? I wonder if it matters what brand rims you buy? I love mine though. Nice and shiny

 

[iLkYsPoNy]

Pick up Blue Magic, it's the best metal polish on the market hands down. It will clean anything from gold to aluminum. I have a little tub of it and it will last a lloonnggg time. I use it quite often on my chrome wheels and it takes off contaminates I didn't even see. And all I use is my finger and a microfiber towel.

 

[Mustang5L5]

simple green??

 

[fiveohwblow]

simple green??

tellin ya, go for the Greased Lightning. I have compared the simple green and it pales in comparison!

 

[68keyblr]

Once you get it cleaned up, get a tube of Weenol metal polish, the light blue tube. I use it on my '68 show car and the stuff is fantastic. Once the wheels are polished with Weenol, it won't let the brake dust stick to it for several months.

It's the best stuff I've ever used, and I have all of the other products (Mother's, Meguiar's, Blue Magic) in my detail kit.

 

[ryan218]

That sucks man. Honestly, i've only waxed my polished rims once and that was when i got them out of the box. And all i did was wipe wax on with a pad and wipe it off. And i've done nothing but wash them and they shine like chrome Why you guys are having so many problems i don't know? I wonder if it matters what brand rims you buy? I love mine though. Nice and shiny

thats becasue they drive there stangs....

 

[2000xp8]

I had the powerball, i thought it sucked.

Your sig says you have 13 inch discs, if those are slotted and or drilled, get used to it, you'll be doing this often

 

[iwashmycar]

hmm....might wanna wipe em off every now and then

 

[gruvee87vertgt]

wow..lot of good responses'......I tell you I wash my car maybe once a week at least...

I really dont want to deal with cleaning these all the time.....I think I will go black or chrome......



Mansonozz...what do you use to polished really Dull alunimun?

 

[millhouse]

tellin ya, go for the Greased Lightning. I have compared the simple green and it pales in comparison!

Do not use either on aluminum! Both are caustic and will corrode/pit the aluminum if left on for any duration.

 

[Disturbed90gt]

Do not use either on aluminum! Both are caustic and will corrode/pit the aluminum if left on for any duration.

ive used thatstuff before on aluminum and it trashed it. what i do is when i polish my rims, after i get them to where im happy with them i take a wax and go over them as well. it helps take off anything thats left behind from the polish and also protects the rims pretty good from the brake dust, road grime and water spots, ect. ect. ect.