Steel wool for baked in brake dust?

[13Ghost]

I've got the same wheels with the same issue. 3 of the 4 are in great shape while the 4th isn't quite perfect.

I've tried Sonax and woolies without success.

I'm going to try Sonax tomorrow or the next with a magic eraser on my 4th wheel and let you know how It works. Those magic erasers are great on just about everything...

[dparm]

Originally Posted by 13Ghost

I've got the same wheels with the same issue. 3 of the 4 are in great shape while the 4th isn't quite perfect.

I've tried Sonax and woolies without success.

I'm going to try Sonax tomorrow or the next with a magic eraser on my 4th wheel and let you know how It works. Those magic erasers are great on just about everything...

Magic Eraser is abrasive.

Have you tried Iron-X?

[13Ghost]

Update on my test wheel...

There are some great videos/threads with how some clean wheels which work great when the wheels are in good shape to begin with.

In my case the previous owner was a little negligent with wheel care and I have some baked on brake dust that just wouldn't come off with regular washing.

In my case, I removed the wheel which made it 10x easier but not something to do on the regular. I had run out of Sonax brand cleaner and went out and bought about $50 worth of various cleaners.

I found that the heavy duty rim cleaner (with acid) did a great job of loosening most of the baked on brake dust. I also used an Iron X equivalent which helped a little. After about 3 applications of both heavy wheel cleaner and Iron x, I was able to remove about 70% of the offending dust.

I did then use a magic eraser which removed another 20% that just wouldn't go away. I was satisfied that the magic eraser didn't damage the finish and wouldn't be a problem the odd time. It's even recommended for use on wheels on their website. Some people have speculated it might removed the clear coat, but I didn't have much to loose.

All in all I was happy with the outcome and am certain I wouldn't use steal wool. There were just a couple of spots I couldn't get cleaner most of which was around the lug nuts.

The one thing I didn't try which could be an option is the use of a steamer.

I've sprayed the wheels with a dust repellant but wasn't too happy with how it has to be applied. Anyhow I'll post a couple of pics of how the wheel turned out. Hopefully it'll be easier to maintain now then to have to start over.

Hope everyone had a good Mother's Day.

Cheers,

[dparm]

I would say that's a pretty good improvement. You may want to hit the wheels with a very mild polish/scratch remover to smooth out any scratches you added during the removal. It will definitely brighten them up.

[doogee]

Originally Posted by 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.

100% will melt that dust right off. Highly recommend Meguiars Wheel Brightener.

Magic eraser will scratch the s**t out of the wheels.

Always use chemicals.

[rhyary]

I used kitchen scotch-brite and tons of WD-40 over days. It was a lot of hard work. While I don't see scratches, I am sure it did some damage. But I had no choice if I wanted to get it off.