I tried Meguiar's "Hot Rims" All Wheel Cleaner today on my Volk SE37A's tonight and I have to give this product two thumbs up. I've been battling with keeping my Volks looking good due to their non-coated anodized surface. I tried several other brands of wheel cleaner and the Meguiar's is by far the best I've tried. It took care of Hawk HP dust buildup that others didn't even seem to put a dent in. It removed ALL of it and the wheels looked practically new, except for the already established watermarks.

To polish them I'm using Flitz metal polish which can be purchased at ACE hardware. It doesn't remove the waterspots but it does remove the slight haze and oxidation (for lack of a better term) from the surface and makes them shine nicely. It's blue, same as the Blue Maxx metal polish but it doesn't seem to stick in the crevices or leave as much residue on rough surfaces.

I've pretty much given up on trying to get all the water spots/etching off the wheels at this point. If you plan on using Volks on your daily driver, my advice is to get a very dust-free pad and be extremely dilligent with cleaning the wheels. Like in every other day. Unless you plan on having these wheels coated (clear), I wouldn't recommend them on any sort of a daily driver.

 

Oh, it comes in a purple bottle. :-)
Michel

 

eagel 1 also works wonders

 

Thanks for the review Michel.

I use Eagle 1 All-wheels cleaner for the stockers. I still haven't seen a cleaner that you just spray on and hose off. I spray the cleaner, wait a minute, hose off, scrub with wheel cleaning brush, hose off again, wipe off remaining residue and dry with towel. Works very well.

 

I actually tried the Eagle One and it did not work nearly as well as the Meguiar's. I actually took all four wheels off as the dusting from the Hawk HP's was so bad. I did use a brush to scrub the inside of the wheel, but the amount of effort needed to remove the buildup was nil. I hardly broke a sweat. On open surfaces, no scrubbing was needed. I did hit the crevaces with a brush however, again, very little effort needed.
Michel

 

What other wheel cleaners have you tried?

Also, what do you apply the stuff with?

I use P21s and an OXO wheel brush. I think the brush really helps to get into those crevases (sp)

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll buy a bottle of Meguiar's next time.

 

I tried one additonal relatively inexpensive wheel cleaner besides Eagle and Meguiar's. The P21 is fairly expensive stuff, no? I use a brush specifically designed for wheels. The Volks are NOT fun wheels to clean due to the fact it's a multispoke mesh-like design :-)
Michel