What do people use to clean their wire wheels?

[Brooklyn Beer]

I am sure folks have come up with great gadgets to clean their wire wheels. I realized tonight just how much I hate the task of doing it by hand on my 31 PA,  Lets see what ya got !

[rocketraider]

No experience with true wire wheels, but I've been known to disassemble my GM simulated wire wheel covers and clean and polish each individual stainless spoke and component. It was a good winter evening project.

 

I would think a fiber or nylon spoke brush along with a detergent like Dawn would effectively clean real wires. Simple Green should also work well. Purple cleaner might dull painted spokes.

 

Possibly rig up the spoke brush to work with a battery drill motor?

 

A pressure washer would be pretty effective too but might blast off any loose paint. But then you have an excuse to paint the wheels!😃

[TAKerry]

Only spokes I had were on my motocycle and thankfully the bike i have now doesnt have them.  I remember being at my grandparents as a kid 'helping' my grand father wash his caddy. He pulled out a spray that was called 'wire wheel'.  It was new at the time and he thought it was the cats meow. Spray it on and hose off. I think its similar to all of the other wheel cleaners that are out there, good for cleaning the dirt and dust but not sure about polishing. I suppose a micro fibre and one spoke at a time.

[1932 plymouth pb sedan]

I do nothing at all. When I got my PB, I did a complete mechanical restoration, I then blasted the wheels to repaint because I needed tires and tubes. After painting the wheels they did not match the rustic looking car. Luckily I live on a gravel road, so run it up and down the road a few times to get them dusty and now the match the car.

[Robert G. Smits]

On my 29 Cadillac that won the Presidents cup my wife used to do the wheels. After the Des Moines Grand National she informed me that she was never touching a wheel again. As you know that was a long time ago and she kept her word!!

[Terry Bond]

For painted wheels, I'd use a mild soap solution - Dawn dish washing liquid is about as tame as you can get but it's an excellent de-greasing soap.  Warm water and a nice lambs-wool mitt will enable you to get in between spokes.  I also have a small brush that has a washable microfiber cover on it that is excellent for washing wire or spoke wheels.   We have chrome wires on our MGTC (I know, it's not stock!) and the way I clean those is by taking them off, laying them on a pair of old saw-horses outside, then spraying liberally with McGuires chrome wire wheel cleaner.  Let it sit a couple of minutes, then scrub it up with a lambswool bonnet and some of the Dawn soapsuds.   For either painted or chrome wires, rinse them thoroughly, then use compressed air to blow them dry.  No streaks or dull spots left behind that way. 

 

For the chrome wires, I clean them just a couple of times a year, or when needed if we get them nasty when straightening out twisty roads.

Have fun

Terry

[Paul Dobbin]

I use a spoke brush, Simple Green and a wash mit.  Not my favorite jobs but I'm always happy with clean wire wheels.

I have 3 cars and a trailer with wire wheels and hate it when they get loaded with brake dust.  My grandmother use to say

"Why would wear your work shoes/boots with your Sunday suit?   Wheels and tires dress up any car."

[Pfeil]

Back in 1964 my sister bought a new Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass. The car was ordered with wire wheel full covers. Every week she would wash the car, but before doing so she popped the wire wheel covers and put them in the dish washer and used plenty of Cascade ( because Cascade will not leave water spots ) . Think of all the asbestos from the shoes that went through the machine. That was before asbestos became a big deal to the public. hers was just like this, but not a 442 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

2 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said:

 

"Wheels and tires dress up any car."

Clean feet, windshield and front bumper/license plate can make even a grungy car look clean.

 

Anymore I have to sit to get down low enough to clean any of those. Knees and back just won't tolerate much bending or squatting. I have one plastic stepstool about 18" tall and a rolling seat that you can adjust the seat height. Lifesavers.