I tried cleaning my rims with some autozone wheel cleaner and now there are white spots all over the place. Is there anything that will take these spots off?

 

Do you know the brand of the wheel cleaner? And what type of wheels do you have?

I'm guessing it was probably one of the harsher acid based formulas and you may have left it to sit too long on the wheel surface. These wheel cleaners can easily cause cloudiness and etching on the wheel, and form a dull appearance over time. This is why I've pretty much abandoned all types of wheel cleaners or harsh detergents for use on the wheels or any other surface.

To repair the area, try one or all of the following: clay bar with lube, a good metal polish like Mother's metal/chrome polish, Blue Magic. etc..., an abrasive paint cleaner like 3M SMR or Meguiar's Body Scrub.... Sometimes it's hard to recommed any one specific solution because it depends on what happend to the surface and how bad the damage is. Start with the less abrasive products first then move up if it's not working. And, you might want to avoid wheel cleaners in the future...

Mike

 

I learned a lesson the hard way several years ago when the acid based wheel cleaners first came out. Oh, they clean everything, and I mean everything, including clear coats, and can stain and pit up rims. Sometimes I'll use Simple Green, as it hasn't caused any problems. I just bought a small steam cleaner, and I'm gonna try it on the wheels and see how it does.

 

I had the same problem with my rims. I used that Westley's Bleech-White on mine a few months ago and had the same problem. I called the manufacture and they told my to try Blue Magic and Eagle One's NeverDull. Well that didn't work so I went with English Custom Polish Metal Restorer. It is a medium polish that works on most metals. I did two rims yesterday and plan to do the other two today. It is going to take some elbow grease to get all those "white" spots out. Like someone else said start with a mild polish and work your way up. Goodluck

kissel

 

thanks for the replys. My rims are the salad shooters and are really cloudy.

 

try some spray stuff called "Greased Lightening" you can get it at wal-mart, then wash an polish em, should look good as new.

 

I've been cleaning and showing cars for 25 years and there is only 1 product I've found to clean wheels. It's called elbow grease. For those hard to reach areas, buy a little brush. As far as I'm concerned the wheel cleaners that are out on the market are too harsh for my rims. Would you spray wheel cleaner over your Zanio finish to wash your car? I don't think so!