How to Clean Alloy Car Wheels — Meguiar’s Car Care Tips

If you’ve put a lot of effort into keeping your car’s exterior clean and well maintained, you definitely don’t want to neglect the wheels. Alloy wheels are a popular choice because they can be lightweight and strong, and they come in a lot of different designs. However, alloy wheels typically do require some maintenance, and the latest Autobytel and Meguiar’s car care video will explain and demonstrate how it’s done. There are a bunch of different types of wheel cleaners on the market, designed for different types of wheels and wheel finishes, as well as for the specific type of cleaning you need to do. Some are more aggressive than others, and using the wrong kind of wheel care product can actually cause damage to your wheels, so make sure you’re choosing the right product for your car. Cleaning wheels properly also typically requires a few tools. Brushes are particularly useful, because they get in the nooks and crannies of intricate wheel designs. A few different sizes of brush might come in handy to loosen baked-on brake dust so it can be washed away. Meguiar’s car care product expert Mike Pennington recommends spraying the wheel cleaner from the bottom up, brushing the wheel to loosen brake dust and dirt, and working on one wheel at a time.