The spaces between my spokes in the wheels reveal the ugly brown dirty wheels toward the hub. What works to clean it? Soap and water don't cut it. For most it may not matter, but the five spoke Harley wheels on my 250 leave a ton of viewing space to the inner face of the wheel.

 

You need one of these. http://www.obsessivedetail.com/Ezdetailbrush.html

 

Have you tried PB Spray & Rinse wheel cleaner ?

Don't know where you are in IL, if you want to try it before you buy it.

If you are in NE IL, let me know maybe we can meet up half way and I can get you some to try.
You need to use it on a cold wheel, and wet the wheel down before application.
I posted some pictures in the spring cleaning thread on the sister in law's new to her '03 with before & after shots.

 

Thanks. I'm going to order some. The DW's Expedition has wheels that could use it too. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

You would need to test this on a small area of the rim, but this is what I do when cleaning my wifes 2009 CTS. Twice a year I take the tires off the car, so that I can get to the back of the rim in order to clean them. I use water and what use to be the old castol super clean "Purple Bottle" I think its just called super clean now. I add some of that to the bucket of water and just clean them with an old rag. The brake dust just wipes right off. They look great when done. I have not tried it on my 2012 Platinum yet as its only has 2000 mile on it. But when it comes time, I will be giving this a try

 

I just did this yesterday to the deep-dish bullitt rims on my Mustang.....

Once or twice a year I make a practice to simply remove the rims from the car and give them a good cleaning front-and-back. It's also a good time to give your chrome rims a nice application of chrome polish (it's much easier to "put your back into it" and get into all the nooks and crannies with the wheels off the vehicle) followed by an application of synthetic wax.

For my normal weekday washings I just do the face of the rims and don't get too caught up into making the back of the wheel "perfect" -- quite frankly I've never found a technique that allows me to do so given the time and effort I am willing to exert on an everyday normal wash.....

 

A Daytona Speed Master Wheel Brush.







It works great for getting in between the brake caliper and the wheel, cleaning the inside of the wheel barrel, and the Daytona is safe on all wheel finishes.









How To: Properly Clean, Protect, & Maintain Wheels & Tires

 

For the most part the wheel brush that Nick posted does a pretty good job.
I use it regularly (where the brush can reach) to help keep the wheels clean.
It works good. It bends easily to get to those "hard to reach" inside areas.

The photo below shows how it bends to get inside the wheel.


If you have caked on brake dust it may not be enough to get them clean.
I'n my case (about twice a year) I pull the wheels and clean the insides.
You can do it yourself (one wheel at a time) if you have a jack stand.

What I do is take my truck to a local auto repair shop that I work with.
I pay for a tire rotation and they pull one wheel at a time and roll it outside.
I lay it on a couple of towels, use a wheel cleaner then dry and use a sealant.

It usually takes me 5-10 minutes to thourougly clean and seal each wheel.
They don't mind as long as they're not too busy and I stay out of their way.
The tire rotation usually sets me back about $20. Clean wheels...Priceless.

Products Used:

Eagle One Chrome & Wire Wheel Cleaner
(Easily melted away the old thick nasty brake dust)
NOTE: After use, wash, rinse & dry wheels thoroughly!!!

Eagle One Never Dull
(Finished the job and brought out a bright shine)

Paint Sealant
A good long lasting paint sealant helps 'em stay clean.



After I spray the wheel cleaner I let it dwell for about a minute.
Then easily remove the nasty with a small brush & old wash cloth.
Yes, these chrome wheels were dark brown and it was very thick!
And yes, the wheels just laughed at me when I used soap & water.

 

Yep the Daytona brush is great. If you really want to clean them then the best method is to remove the wheel.

 

Another thing you might consider if you're picky enough to worry about cleaning the back side of your wheels is your rotor hats. Here's one of the front wheels from a Saleen S281 that I detailed a while back for a very good friend. Notice that not only is the back side of the wheel covered in brake dust, but note how ugly the unpainted rotor hat looks.



With the owner's permission, I pulled each wheel and did pretty much exactly what Merlin showed you how to do. Then I went one step further and masked off and painted each rotor hat. See if this looks a little better.