Cleaning Anodized Wheels

I recently received my wheels back from Weidmanns, annodized 944 turbo space savers for my 356. They look sweet. Thanks Harvey!

So, now I've been trying to determine the best way to keep these puppies clean. I have read horror stories of cleaners staining anodized wheels

(i) Harvey suggests soap and water or rubbing alcohol for persistant stains.

(ii) I posted on Pelican and some said P21 and one person even said WD-40. Harvey hasn't personally used P21 and wasn't sure about whether it was safe.

I also read about the use of Vaseline, but that seem to be more for making them look good. I need to clean them first.

Then I found a post by Chuck Moreland that said he cleans his anodized wheels with a waterless no-citrus, no-grit hand cleaner (Chuck, you on here? What brand do you use?)

Soap and water has been okay so far as long as I am on them right after driving the car, but there are still some stains. I also know that it is best to operate on cool/cold wheels.

As my last bit of homework, I wanted to check with this board to see what the consensus is. As usual, your help is appreciated.


Many Thanks, Jason
64 356 C

I just follow Harvey's instructions.

I've used nothing but car wash soap & water on my factory anodizing for years...so far, so good. For bits or road tar & krud? Still soap & water, with one of those nylon mesh covered "bug" sponges seems to do the trick...

it is very hard to doubt Harvey. I think I've been reading to many posts on the discussion boards.

pwd72s, thanks for the feedback. Can't really argue with that, you've had your wheels a little bit longer than me. I'll try the 'bug' sponge next.

Vasoline is used as a cleaner and protectant. It's suggested by the factory. The downside is that it collects dirt. So Vasoline every now and then followed by soap and water might be a good regimen.

P.S. There's cats in my neighborhood so I leave the Vasoline on even though it collects dirt. :mad:

I've used Simple Green for years both on anodized and polished Fuchs wheels.
The trick is get the wheels as wet as possiable FIRST before you spray on the Simple Green! You can use a soft scrub brush and or sponge.
It also works great on cleaning an engine with out streaking or ruining the painted, plated, anodized, or polished items. The process is as follows, cool engine, warm or hot water (I hook up to the hot water outlet for the washing machine), rinse engine with water FIRST, spray on Simple Green, let is set a few minutes, then rinse off with warm water. You may have to repeat this as a few times and do a little light scrubbing if you have a real dirty engine. Just take the normal precautions with spraying water on your engine. The Simple Green WILL take the wax off your exterior paint but, will not hurt the paint. Just rewax the exterior paint as needed. Hope this helps.

All the best!
Roger
R Gruppe #27

Simple Green eats away aluminum. USAF no longers allows its use. If you are careful as described above you might get a way with it. I avoid it now.

Read the label carefully re its use on paint.

For a really bad stain that p21S and vasoline won't deal with, you could try a topical treatment of Meguiars metal polish.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RandyWebb

Simple Green eats away aluminum. USAF no longers allows its use. If you are careful as described above you might get a way with it. I avoid it now.

Read the label carefully re its use on paint.

For a really bad stain that p21S and vasoline won't deal with, you could try a topical treatment of Meguiars metal polish.

---

Randy,

I checked with the Air National Guard (ANG) Maintenance (corrosion control) guys about the AF ban on Simple Green and Aircraft. they report that as a cleaner it is great and they like using it. However, its use is banned since apparently the problem is that it causes defects in the coatings they use on the aircraft which significantly shortens the service life and requires more frequent recoating.

Thx Harry - For someone just reading the post, that would be Air Nat'l Guard - and I'm assuming the maintenance people.

My theory is to use the mildest thing that gets the job done.
Harvey's advice sounds good.

Harvey and I just talked about this and he mentioned to be very careful with any alkaline or acidic product on newly anodized wheels as the finish hasn't 'aged' yet. He said soap and water, as others have talked about, but wash the soap off completely because of the high pH. He also mentioned passing the information along to anyone mounting tires on newly anodized wheels to get the mounting soap off quickly so it won't stain the finish. As the finish 'ages' it becomes much less porous.

I used P21S on my wheels (from Harvey), and haven't had any problems....I've got both RSR style finish, and factory finish....The P21S stuff has a PH balance in it...

E

Leave the rim in the sun to draw the stain to the surface and then use alcohol to remove the stain. Repeat as needed.