[Jambo1]

Of all the years of detailing my own car and getting to a point settling on all the car care products that work really well for me (pretty much all the Carpro/Koch Chemie/Geist/Bilt Hamber products), I'm stumped with what I've experienced today.

I recently sold my 789M gloss black wheels and replaced with satin gunmetal wheels.

I was excited to be able to use my EZ Detail brush set (couldn't use this on gloss black due to certainty of scratching) - but noticed it wasn't cleaning it well at all. So I bust out the Microfiber Madness Incredibrush Flat AND the Wooly Wormitt, and still no dice.

I could take a clean rag and wipe dirt off after having cleaned the wheels.

The chemical for wheels I've settled on is P&S Brakebuster (my favorite is Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus - but that gets super expensive).

I've never really detailed anything matte or satin, so what am I missing here? I get satin will have a more rough texture, but this stumped me today.

All help appreciated!

[NSXR]

It sounds like you know exactly what you're doing, so if you're stumped we might all be stumped.

Maybe try something like PPG SX330? Painters use it to prep paint before sanding, and I've used it for years to clean wheels/cars before paint correcting.

[bosstones]

Are they super dirty w/ brake dust and road grime to start with?

I think Brake Buster can be foamed so maybe additional dwell time would help?

I'm in the seeming minority but I don't find Brake Buster to be very effective at anything other than very light/minor brake dust accumulation, where regular car wash solutions work equally well and with no more effort. It's not a heavy duty cleaner. For that, I like Sonax Beast and Griots Heavy Dury Brake Cleaner.

Also, random thought but could it also be that the less sheen of the satin finish makes it appear dirtier? Or is the surface not even so light refracts differently and/or traps dirt more?

[chefwong]

Jambo -

BB should clean it. For clarity, is it satin or is it matte clear. MY PC guy won't do wheels in matte clear these days, but will clear in satin. I'll have to re-ask him why one of these days.

If you are use a Iron Wheel Cleaner like Sonax, are you seeing -purple- even after washing it with BB.

Even with leftover car shampoo to clean the wheels, using a Iron Wheel Cleaner normally shows nothing on purple...so be mindful that it's only in the presence of Iron that it will do it.

Wheel Cleaners IMO are more effective when cleaning wheels. The Iron Wheel cleaner does make a nice -show and tell- when your see purple dripping