Wheel Well Cleaning

F

FrEsHnClean

New member
Not sure if this goes here...but it is in the wheel and tire area...

but What is the Best and Easiest method you have found to effectively clean the dirtly plastic wheel well area w/o scratching or damaging the plastic?

I can never seem to get the wheel well area clean as easily like the rest of the car and it always stands out! :mad:
 
FrEsHnClean said:
Not sure if this goes here...but it is in the wheel and tire area...

but What is the Best and Easiest method you have found to effectively clean the dirtly plastic wheel well area w/o scratching or damaging the plastic?

I can never seem to get the wheel well area clean as easily like the rest of the car and it always stands out! :mad:
Click to expand...

I normaly spray them out really well with a presure washer, get all the big dirt off I then spray a good apc, mixed strongly. (right now im using p21s total auto wash). I let it sit while i suds up the whole car. When i go to rinse the car, i rinse the wheel wells out with a presure washer again, this cleans them really well. From here youo will still see them, and they dont look pretty. They need to be dressed. For this i use somthing cheap, since its the wheel wells. I know thats bad of me, but w.e. Its how i do it. I use either 303 (using up my stock to move onto optimum) or armour all becasue i can get it localy for cheap. It does a good job of dressing them, whitout any ill effect.

This is just how i do it, give it a shot, it should work
 
^
I will have to give that a try and it sounds like it will do good. Also seems easy which is what I was asking...
thanks.

I guess no matter how much you clean it, an application of a dressing is needed to atleast make them look clean and new?
 
FrEsHnClean said:
.....I guess no matter how much you clean it, an application of a dressing is needed to atleast make them look clean and new?
Click to expand...
A cheap can of tire foam/cleaner does a decent job of dressing them up too.

Clean them up like CalgaryDetail mentioned and then spray on the foam. I like to wipe them down after doing that with an old rag. Sometimes the most difficult part is getting enough access to the well to get the job done. Just turning the wheel in one direction and then the other works OK.
 
Hey! I agree with all the other guys in this thread. I prefer the simple method of a scrub brush with really soapy water. When finished, wipe down with a clean cloth or not. Spray with a one-step product and then walk away. Simple as that. The thing about it is to keep it clean so that there isn't that much to maintain. Just make sure that your cars been parked up awhile so that you don't mess up the brakes.
 
FrEsHnClean said:
w/o scratching or damaging the plastic?
Click to expand...


I think that the response just as mentioned above with shooting it with a pressure hose is the safest way to not scratching or damaging the plastic wheel well area, which was one of my concerns. I was going to use a brush to see if I could get the area cleaned easier and better.
I'm not sure how durable or resistant the plastic is, but it is plastic so im sure it can scratch which could be noticable when it is cleaned.
I have a car so I dont go off roading like an SUV or truck would, therefore I dont get much caked on dirt or mud build up. So I dont believe it is necessary to use a tough brush to get them clean.
Thing is, when it is dirty it stands out compared to when the rest of the car is clean.
 
Eliot Ness said:
A cheap can of tire foam/cleaner does a decent job of dressing them up too.

Clean them up like CalgaryDetail mentioned and then spray on the foam. I like to wipe them down after doing that with an old rag. Sometimes the most difficult part is getting enough access to the well to get the job done. Just turning the wheel in one direction and then the other works OK.
Click to expand...

That is also a PITA for me, as my car is lowered so I barely have any wheels gaps to where I can stick my hand in to spray the foam. And when the car is off it is usually hard to turn the wheel the other direction w/o having to turn it on again just to turn the wheel to have access to the other side of the wheel well. But an old rag to wipe down the foam sounds good..
 
You can also clean the wheel well really good then paint them gloss black then they will be easer to maintain
 
harry444 said:
You can also clean the wheel well really good then paint them gloss black then they will be easer to maintain
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I've heard of this before, but since you can't really prep the surface for painting, I figured the paint would be likely to peel and flake off.
That would bother me more than dirty wheel wells.
What has your experience been with this?
Any peeling/flaking problem?
I also think I would prefer a satin black rather than a gloss black, but I also don't care for shiny tires.:)

Charles
 
also when the wheels wells are dressed, the smooth plastic areas seem to clean so much easier the next time around i use the cheap foam type tire spray as well and makes short work of the wells at each wash
 
CharlesW said:
I've heard of this before, but since you can't really prep the surface for painting, I figured the paint would be likely to peel and flake off.
That would bother me more than dirty wheel wells.
What has your experience been with this?
Any peeling/flaking problem?
I also think I would prefer a satin black rather than a gloss black, but I also don't care for shiny tires.:)

Charles
Click to expand...

Charles

I had the same impression of this, if there was any amount of oils or burned in dirt that would cause the paint not to adhere to the surface. I would think that it would peel back after a period of time.

I've always found that if you can get them fairly clean with APC, brushes and water that once dry, even if they look somewhat dirty still a good water based dressing will cure that
 
harry444 said:
You can also clean the wheel well really good then paint them gloss black then they will be easer to maintain
Click to expand...

interesting...I may have to look into that since I am getting my whole car painted over again....
but like others have said, there may be an issue since the paint may not adhere to the plastic in the wheel well...l
ets say the paint were to adhere to the wheel well plastic and you would paint either a gloss black or satin black. Would it be also good to clear coat it on top of that so it is even easier to maintain? Like the paint on the car?
but that sounds like a very good solution...
 
A cheap method is to use a dedicated long handled toilet brush.
Spritz the wells with your fav. apc then insert the brush and agitate.

Insert the brush from the 'bottom' of the well because it probably won't fit in from the top or sides - not enough clearance with many tire/fender combinations.

Rinse then spritz in a dressing like AA.
-John C.
 
I have tired many different methods, none have the lasting or the look i like. I have tried:
NAPA under coat. (looked terrible, the only time I wanted to kick my own ass for doing something stupid)
spray paint. (semi gloss and flat, looked ok for a short time, pealed no long lasting affect)
Armor All (looked ok, a bit to shiny for my taste, to expensive to up keep... needed constant re-coats to keep looking good, over spray and dusting was a issue.)
Mop N glow (not bad, lasted some what, still had over spray issues. if found on sale beat Armor All hands down, still a bit to shiny for my taste.)


As for painting the wheel well (imho) would not do this, Yes the paint will peel as stated above.. I know this first hand because i have done it and it does, my wheel well stuck out like a sore thumb also... I do not like a shin wheel wells because it takes away or draws attention from the rest of the veh. what I have done in the past is used a modified bathroom toilet brush, allowed to damp dry and sprayed with full strength Mop-n-glow in a pump spray bottle.... the MnG is some what strong enough to take some of the dry weather driving... but does not hold up well in winter or heavy rain.
 
I spray mine with an APC and then either use a toilet brush or squeeze my had in the well and then spray with AA or some other dressing.
What I did notice is that it is easier to clean after you have it cleaned up and applied a dressing

"J"
 
jaybs95 said:
I spray mine with an APC and then either use a toilet brush or squeeze my had in the well and then spray with AA or some other dressing.
What I did notice is that it is easier to clean after you have it cleaned up and applied a dressing

"J"
Click to expand...

I agree with J ...there are many new types of toilet brushes out there that can fit into tight spots...take a look next time you are in a grocery store ....
I would also use a diluted dressing to save money as nothing will last if you drive in the rain :)
 
^oh wow. Good point.... I guess that is why my tire dressings dont last very long after a rain storm...So, I guess paint is out of the question unless I ask my paint guy if he can get the paint to adhere to the plastic on the wheel well..I will have to look into a good small toilet brush and diluted dressing...
 
they also won't last long if you drive in a lot of dust , dirt or gravel which I know you can find in Texas :)
 
^
Exactly, which the main reason why my wheel wells are so dirty is from dust and dirt being stuck on them...I thought dressings do well to protect from dirt, but not water? :confused: Guess not..
 
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