can't clean wheels!

:banghead: I'm at my wits end here! I've tried everything I can think of to get my wheels clean and nothing has worked! I've got Impala style rims and they have these whitish streaks on them that will not come off! ARRGH! I've washed and washed with no luck. I've tried wheel cleaners from Prestone and Mothers, neither worked. A friend recommended NevRdull and I tried it; again no luck. It actually seemed to make them look worse! Does anyone have any clue as to why I can't clean these wheels?

You've probably got damaged and/or neglected clearcoat.

How about some pics?

thanks for the reply! I'll get some photos up...eventually...I'm having trouble uploading photos..I get an "unable to upload..." message every time. oh well

Could be you're uploading either an improper format (not a jpg file) or a file that's too large -- try under 600 pixels wide at 72dpi... or post them on your cardomain page and provide a link.

I finally got a pic up on photobucket. I just ran out and quickly cleaned them (with Mothers) to take this pic. (I didn't get into all the crevaces, but it still shows what I'm describing). Like I said earlier, I've tried Prestone, Mothers, and NevRDull with no luck. I switched to Terry Cloth towels and it seemed to improve a little. I previously used microfiber towels...with no luck. Any advice would be appreciated!

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/georgew84/100_3522.jpg
I don't know what my problem is with my AF gallery, but I've been unable to upload anything in a long time. I've checked the size of the image and made sure of the file type. Oh well, if Photobucket works, I'll continue to use that.

The milky streaks are likely damage to your plasticized clearcoat, and they might polish out with a plastic polish. When using a spray-on, hose-off wheel cleaner, it's important to rinse thoroughly so that any cleaner behind the cap gets rinsed away so it doesn't eventually spin out and cause discoloring.

The brown spots around your tire valve and in the tight areas around your spokes are likely brake dust build-up. While it's possible that a little brushing in there with a wheel brush and spray-on, hose-off wheel cleaner might take care of some of it, there's also a pretty good likelihood that there is some permanent damage to your clearcoat.

thanks! I never thought about there being some spin-off from behind the center cap. That would explain the pattern that can be seen in the photo. From now on I'll pop the cap off and make sure it's dry in there as well. Any thoughts about that plastic cleaner? Do you know of any specific ones?

For the clearcoat, I like Mothers Plastic Polish as I think it is a little more aggressive than some of the others I've tried... the wheel coatings can be a tad tough. I've had mixed results.

You might also try cleaner wax, polish or scratch remover that you might already have.

Now that center cap may be part bare aluminum (around the edges), so watch what you use on that so you don't alter (too much) what looks like a brushed finish.

I finally got a pic up on photobucket. I just ran out and quickly cleaned them (with Mothers) to take this pic. (I didn't get into all the crevaces, but it still shows what I'm describing). Like I said earlier, I've tried Prestone, Mothers, and NevRDull with no luck. I switched to Terry Cloth towels and it seemed to improve a little. I previously used microfiber towels...with no luck. Any advice would be appreciated!


Oh, and I'm curious which Prestone and which Mothers products you used so I can get a grasp on what's been going on. Not all products are safe for clearcoated wheels... I believe NevrDull is one of them.

Cotton terry can be more aggressive than microfiber, so that's probably why you noticed a difference when you switched towels.

hello again! here's a pic of the wheel cleaners I used.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/georgew84/100_3528.jpg
You mentioned trying a cleaner wax. Do you think my Zymol Cleaner Wax (blue bottle $14) would be worth a shot? The label says that it is NOT intended for use on vinyl, wood, or simulated wood, metalized plastic, decals or flat paint. I don't believe my aluminum wheels fall into any of those categories. Thanks again

Either one of those cleaners should be fine on your wheels, but again, a little elbow grease on the scrubbing to get rid of that neglect might be in order.

And a thorough rinse -- it's probably not a bad idea to move the car about half a wheel turn and rinse again before washing the car (and including another rinse).

I'm really only familiar with the Mothers Carnauba Cleaner Wax and I know it's got some pretty good polishes. Your Zymol might work fine and certainly wouldn't do any harm (I believe it's only about 8 or 10 bucks at Wal-Mart, by the way).

The type of muddy streaking you show can be a bit stubborn, I have found, but hopefully you can make some improvement.

I got the zymol at wal-mart...I think it was $13.47 or so. I generally don't wash my vehicle a lot. I keep it covered up when I'm not driving it, and do little between wax waxes:) to keep 'er clean. I live on a gravel road so that can be tough. I bet those streaks are because I don't hose the stuff off. I just sprayed it on and wiped it off (touching up). I washed my first car A LOT!!! at least once a week; sometimes twice keeping it clean and it's begun rusting horribly! That's why I try to keep the new one clean/dry.

p.s. I retired my old toothbrush so hopefully that will help with the scrubbing in those hard to reach areas:)

If it looks like spider cracking, then your clearcoat is going or is gone from that spot....which realy means that you need new rims pretty much.....

there is no cracking. just milky colored stains as seen in the bottom right of the pic up there

You could always repaint them. Dupli Color sells some nice wheel paint. Another thing you can do is switch to 'low dust' brake pads. I got some from Akebono at TireRack.com. Now even after several weeks without washing my wheels, I can run my finger across the wheel and the dust is barely visible.

So long as you could paint over the current clearcoat... that might be a simple option.

You'll still need to get them clean.

I think those "milky" streaks are permanent... so it's either strip the clearcoat and re-clear (or just keep polished) or some combination.