OK heres my tire/wheel cleaning 101 crash course:
step 1: use dawn on tire/wheel to remove any products, scrub in and rinse off.
step 2: Meguiar's Gold Class Wheel Cleaner (substitute Hot Rims if you do not have Clear Coated rims), scrub in and allow to stand for about 30 seconds before rinsing.
step 3: Westley's Bleache-White on tires, scrub in and rinse off.
step 4: Clorox (sp?) Clean-Up Cleaner (with bleach) on tires. Scrub in and rinse off.
step 5: Meguiar's Extra! All Purpose Cleaner on wheels/tires, scrub in and rinse off.
step 6: Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner (use full strength) on tires/wheels. Scrub into tires, allow to stand while scrubbing into wheels - use toothbrush with SG to get all brake dust out of crevaces of wheels.
step 7: Flush thouroughly with water. Allow tire to air-dry before continuing to step 8. (When tire is dry, it will appear somewhat "grey" but not brown/black.) - A good indication you've cleaned up is that the SG will not turn brown. It will stay white/foamy which means all the browning/dirt/dead ruber is gone.
step 8: Dry wheel with Terry Towel.
step 9: Check and regulate air pressure in tire.
step 10: look at your dry/clean, yet un-dressed tire and wheel. (eek! they're naked!!)
Now for finish work:
step 1: Polish wheel with your favorite polish (I used PPCL on mine.)
step 2: Protect wheel with your favorite topping product (Zaino Z5/ZFX for me - brake dust doesnt stick to the wheels anymore.)
step 3: Dress tire with Meguiar's Endurance Tire Gel (do not use Hi-Gloss.) (to apply properly use Eagle One Tire Swipe, coat liberally - you will see some that did not rub in right away. This is ok because you will leave the tire sitting for 15 minutes - the tire should soak up as much dressing as it can during this time. After 15 minutes, come back and buff off the extra with a terry towel. Make sure you have gotten complete coverage of the tire.)
step 4: Look at your beautifully protected and dressed tire/wheel. Notice the nice, even, black color of the tire. It should not brown if you did everything properly and if you maintain it.
step 5: Maintain by adding tire dressing and another coat of wheel protection every other wash. Re-do the entire cleaning process annually.
