Steel wool for baked in brake dust?

[Siajoon]

Hey y'all,

My zcps have zero scrapes or scuffs but they have baked on brake dust and it's taking away from that bright silver they used to have...

Some have recommend I try 0000 gauge steel wool with lots of soap and water. Does anyone recommend this?

I have already used sonax and other cleaners and they haven't worked. Any help would be great!

Thanks!

[roastbeef]

i'd say no, its going to be abrasive. have you tried claying the wheels?

[commedeschatons]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

have you tried claying the wheels?

i think a strong clay will be good for this

and using that steel wool will put scuffs in your finish, whether you use water/soap or not.
I think the effect you are trying to get is kind of wet sanding?? i wouldn't recommend this.

even with agitation with wheel brush you cant get it to come off? maybe try sonax w/ glass microfiber and give some pressure.

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i'd say no, its going to be abrasive. have you tried claying the wheels?

Thanks for the speedy response roast! I did try clay bar it looked like it was trying it's best to pull out the brake dust but it just wasn't strong enough...

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by commedeschatons

that will put scuffs in your finish. i wouldn't recommend it.

Yeah that's what I'm worried about.. there has to be a way to get this crap off my rims without having to refinish it

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by commedeschatons

i think a strong clay will be good for this

and using that steel wool will put scuffs in your finish, whether you use water/soap or not.
I think the effect you are trying to get is kind of wet sanding?? i wouldn't recommend this.

even with agitation with wheel brush you cant get it to come off? maybe try sonax w/ glass microfiber and give some pressure.

I've tried sonax by itself but that's it..

[SAMM3Y]

What about some brakekleen sprayed on a rag and hosed off. I would try that before steel wool.. or pool acid.. or comet with a scotch brite they need redoing anyway right, nothing to lose!

[commedeschatons]

Originally Posted by Siajoon

I've tried sonax by itself but that's it..

Use a wheel brush/woolie. Wheel cleaners on their own won't clean everything

[roastbeef]

Siajoon what city are you in? i'm going to have some free time in a few weeks. lets mess with some cleaning products.

[daarts]

Drench them in Sonax wheel cleaner and agitate with a brush, rinse, then try clay, repeat.

Edit: May also help to try a heavier clay. Chemical guys and a few others have heavy duty. If all else fails, you can always have it compounded and polished.

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Siajoon what city are you in? i'm going to have some free time in a few weeks. lets mess with some cleaning products.

I'm in the Irvine area.. how about you?

[Ngilbe36]

Yeah, don't use steel wool. I am amazed it wont come off with wheel cleaner and a good scrubbing, let alone a clay bar. Have you tried Iron-X or a similar product? I would go for a polishing compound and a microfiber cloth before trying steel wool. Best of luck.

[SoCalRPM]

I'm in the South Bay if you're ever up this way. I would definitely recommend against steel wool for your wheels. Only glass. You're gonna end up with some micro scratches or marring.

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by Ngilbe36

Yeah, don't use steel wool. I am amazed it wont come off with wheel cleaner and a good scrubbing, let alone a clay bar. Have you tried Iron-X or a similar product? I would go for a polishing compound and a microfiber cloth before trying steel wool. Best of luck.

I normally soak my wheels with sonax... and let it do it's work and then I take a micro with car wash soap and scrub away... I've never truly agitated the baked on brake dust because I'm afraid of screwing it up and scratching the heck out of the wheels

It's really frustrating, it was like this when I got it from the previous owner 2 years ago, it's been like this since..

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by Siajoon

I normally soak my wheels with sonax... and let it do it's work and then I take a micro with car wash soap and scrub away... I've never truly agitated the baked on brake dust because I'm afraid of screwing it up and scratching the heck out of the wheels

It's really frustrating, it was like this when I got it from the previous owner 2 years ago, it's been like this since..

I had BAD baked on brake dust on my Volk wheels way worse than what you have. I do have iron X but I decided to use that while the wheels are on the car to take advantage of the convenience. So before I put the summer wheels on I got a wheel brush, some cheaper foam wheel cleaner and some cheaper color changing maguires cleaner. Took me a couple hours but it did the job.

[msan]

Spend a few hours with the wheels off the car and clay them. it has worked for me

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by msan

Spend a few hours with the wheels off the car and clay them. it has worked for me

Any specific clay I should use ? Recommend a certain brand?

[deansbimmer]

Never ever use steel wool on wheels or any finish other than bare metal. Iron X will help loosen it, and an aggressive red or black clay will remove the embedded debris.

[jaxshawn]

try meguiars wheel acid or something along those line. As long as it doesn't sit/dry on the surface your wheel finish will be fine.

[msan]

Wasn’t fancy clay, just used this and a lot of elbow grease

https://www.target.com/p/meguiar-s-s...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Malek@MRF]

You will have no choice but to use some sort of abrasive material or diminishing abrasive (compound) to remove caked on brake dust if it is not coming off with clay or standard cleaners. Start by using the latter as it's less aggressive than the steel wool. If this doesn't work, you will have no choice but to use something more aggressive. This is along the lines of wanting to remove paint defects and refusing to do a correction and cutting the paint properly to remove the defects. If you opt to use the steel wool gently, and I repeat gently, you will have to use some sort of polishing compound to undo the marring caused by the abrasive afterwards and then applying your choice of protection. With today's technologies, opt for a legitimate coating to protect your wheels.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

Never ever use steel wool on wheels or any finish other than bare metal. Iron X will help loosen it, and an aggressive red or black clay will remove the embedded debris.

This is the correct answer. Steel wool is for polishing metal, not paint. If you use it on those painted wheels, you're going to ruin them.

Instead of clay, you could also consider the Autoscrub sponges.