How To Restore And Take Care Of
Your Polished Aluminium Rims
Unfortunately, yesterday evening I was in a hurry to clean my rims before I headed out to a local mustang meet. I wasn't paying much attention and grabbed the nearest 'wheel cleaner' I found. I went ahead and sprayed the substance on the wheels and let dry, then wiped off the residue only to find that I had corroded the aluminium. I had used a chrome polish, and it had seriously bled into the aluminium. I tried my alternative wheel cleaner, some windex, and another detailing product to remove the stains left by the chrome cleaner but it made no difference. Today I ended up spending my whole afternoon restoring the aluminium with some products I was recommended by a friend.
Just an FYI: *** chrome polish will not work on polished aluminium wheels ***
Things you'll need:
- Mothers mag & aluminium polish
- Steel wool (fine grit)
- Microfiber towels
- Bucket of water
Here's what the wheel looked like before:
Can't really tell it's corroded? Here's a better picture:
It may look like it could just simply be cleaned off with a wheel cleaner, but the product was on the bare aluminium. It felt smooth to the touch.
I had to take the extra steps to restore my poor wheels. So I bought some mothers mag & aluminium polish as well as some fine grit steel wool.
Now what you want to do is grab a small piece of the steel wool and dip it into the polish.
Then go ahead and thoroughly apply it to the wheel. Use an up & down motion, followed by side to side motion. Circular motions will do wonders as well.
Continue rubbing the wool against the aluminium until the polish begins to turn black. That means it's doing its job correctly.
Rub the corroded or dirty areas for about 30 seconds with the wool, depending on how dirty it is. My wheels were completely corroded, so I spent an hour per wheel.
Do not apply too much pressure on the wheel with the wool. Start slow and firmly add more pressure as you rub the polish.
Once you are done with the section you are cleaning, go ahead and wipe off the excess polish with a microfiber towel.
If there is too much contamination to remove, dip the towel in a bucket of hot water and remove the excess dirt with a wet towel. Then dry it off using a microfiber.
Here you can see the top portion getting close to done:
Finally, once you have removed all the dirt, debris, and polish, your wheel should be as good as new.
Here is a before and after:
Your Polished Aluminium Rims
Unfortunately, yesterday evening I was in a hurry to clean my rims before I headed out to a local mustang meet. I wasn't paying much attention and grabbed the nearest 'wheel cleaner' I found. I went ahead and sprayed the substance on the wheels and let dry, then wiped off the residue only to find that I had corroded the aluminium. I had used a chrome polish, and it had seriously bled into the aluminium. I tried my alternative wheel cleaner, some windex, and another detailing product to remove the stains left by the chrome cleaner but it made no difference. Today I ended up spending my whole afternoon restoring the aluminium with some products I was recommended by a friend.
Just an FYI: *** chrome polish will not work on polished aluminium wheels ***
Things you'll need:
- Mothers mag & aluminium polish
- Steel wool (fine grit)
- Microfiber towels
- Bucket of water
Here's what the wheel looked like before:
Can't really tell it's corroded? Here's a better picture:
It may look like it could just simply be cleaned off with a wheel cleaner, but the product was on the bare aluminium. It felt smooth to the touch.
I had to take the extra steps to restore my poor wheels. So I bought some mothers mag & aluminium polish as well as some fine grit steel wool.
Now what you want to do is grab a small piece of the steel wool and dip it into the polish.
Then go ahead and thoroughly apply it to the wheel. Use an up & down motion, followed by side to side motion. Circular motions will do wonders as well.
Continue rubbing the wool against the aluminium until the polish begins to turn black. That means it's doing its job correctly.
Rub the corroded or dirty areas for about 30 seconds with the wool, depending on how dirty it is. My wheels were completely corroded, so I spent an hour per wheel.
Do not apply too much pressure on the wheel with the wool. Start slow and firmly add more pressure as you rub the polish.
Once you are done with the section you are cleaning, go ahead and wipe off the excess polish with a microfiber towel.
If there is too much contamination to remove, dip the towel in a bucket of hot water and remove the excess dirt with a wet towel. Then dry it off using a microfiber.
Here you can see the top portion getting close to done:
Finally, once you have removed all the dirt, debris, and polish, your wheel should be as good as new.
Here is a before and after:
