Literally.


I've done my fair bit of reading about different guides and how to's when it comes to washing and cleaning your car plus some waxing and detailing. The problem I have is that there are so many, they are all so different and recommend different products and procedures. My question is what works... for the Evolution X.

First, what is the easiest way to get the stock rims on the GSR clean from the darn brake dust!?!

I wash and clean my car at least once a week. This past week I used a rim/wheel cleaner that foams up when sprayed. Instructions said to leave it on and then wash it off with a direct spray of water but that didn't do a thing. I had to used the cleaner (can't remember the make, I think it was that Turtle Wax stuff) in combination with heavy scrubbing with a soft brush. It can take me up to an hour to clean just the rims and wheels, which I don't really mind, you gotta pay to play. I just think the time can be better spent elsewhere.

This week I'm going to do my first routine of polish and wax. Any suggestions for this will be nice. Please suggest any products if you wish, but I'm going to have to use whatever my Dad has right now until we use it all up between his and my car.

General washing and detailing suggestions, or routines are also appreciated. I'm not aiming for showroom quality, by the way. Just enough to look nice and protect the coat.

Thanks!

 

The rims? Being lazy wont help.. soap/water and a rag does the trick but leaves spots if you dont dry the rims. Theres alot of rim cleaners on the market and almost all of them say to just spray on wait and wash off.. but it never works. You need to scrub.

 

i use soap and water and some old elbow grease. I dont like using spray on chemicals for the rims cuz they are harmful. Thats my 2 cents.

 

What I do is that I first do a clean with soap and water after I've washed the car. I rinse that off and then come back with either a wet towel or the spray and the brush like I did last time. I know there's got to be an easier way. I feel like I'm doing something wrong when it takes me more time to wash just the rims than it takes for me to wash the whole car.

Other ideas?

 

I had not read about that. Are there any cleaners that are not harmful?

 

i believe anything that can cut brake dust off the rim can be harmful. My opinion is soap and water but thats just me.

 

Out of all of them Mother's All Wheel Cleaner, loosened up the brake dust the best for me at least.

 

Yep, if I can at least get the dust loosened up then I don't have to get in between the spokes that much. The hard to reach spaces I have to get into with my hands and towel, and has always left me with sore fingers and thumbs. About how long does it take you to wash them clean?

And BTW don't get me wrong, working on my car is a religion for me. I'm too lucky to even have it.

 

For the wheels I use dilluted Simple Green and water and a high pressure sprayer .

Be carefull with wheel products I have had isuues with them bleaching/staining wheels in the past..... After that I dont use any of them.

 

I just scrub the wheels like others do... soap, water and some elbow grease

Always change the bucket water in between wheels and car though. Dont need to scratch your car up with the brake dust.

When im going for a real good clean...
Lift the car on jack stands, remove each wheel and scrub them individually. Dry them good to avoid missing any dust/dirt. Scrub the underside of the car or inner wheel wells. Put em back on the car and return it to the ground.

Then for the body.. (all of this in the shade or a carport)

Spray on a nice foam spray to loosen up the dirt and grime. Rinse off. Then use a very good micrfiber cloth with no seams/sewn edges to wash the car (with a damn good and foamy bucket of soap). Scrubbing everything from top to bottom in that order. Hosing off each section as I wash it with filtered water. Then take a nice polish and polish the car to get out any swirl marks. Follow by a nice waxing.

 

The wheel cleaners help, but you still need to scrub the entire surface..
Yeah, these wheels are a royal PITA... use your hand and a rag to clean the outsideof the wheel and the separate sections.. and for those of you with big hands (like myself) who cant reach in and clean the rest of the wheel, use a long flathead screwdriver (or other long skinny device) wrapped in your rag to clean the inside of your wheel. then roll foward a couple feet and make sure you got the spot that was hiding behind your brembos! looks kinda funny when you have 1 spot covered in brake dust..

 

Bam:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/pa...view-pics.html

And yeah, what FJF says on there is true, but it is totally fine for the factory wheels. I still use it, have used it many more times, I have a friend who loves to detail (and is really good at it) that also uses it often on his STi and Legacy GT, and neither of us have ever had any sort of problem with the finish on our wheels. And we live in Salt Lake, where the roads are coated in salt for 6 months of the year.

I always use it after hosing down the car already for the wash and spraying down the wheels with the hose too (just a normal hose though, no high pressure), then spray the wheels, clean out the interior a little bit (I never do too much work on the inside), wait a bit longer, spray off a wheel, towel dry it, move to the next, then I wash the car and dry the whole thing just as normal.

Also, the stuff is great for a quick wash if you just drive to one of the spray n wash places, put on on the wheels, chill out for like a minute, and hose it all off with the high pressure sprayer.

 

Thanks for the tips, guys. I've been trying to stay away from the pressure washers. I will see what different tactics I can play out, but it seems like scrubbing is the way to go. Yay, I'll just try to account for the time it takes me to clean the wheels, lol.

I'm also wondering about the polish/wax, but I'll wait until I get home so I can check exactly what was the stuff my Dad gave me.