If you’re at all serious about keeping your car clean and you enjoy the surprisingly therapeutic process of removing grime, the best alloy wheel cleaners will keep your pride and joy sparkling. We’ve done the dirty work of finding the best by cleaning a plethora of dirty alloys.
Wheels are often the dirtiest part of your car and are constantly subject to both dirt and mud from the world and dust and grime from your brakes. As a result, your wheels can end up looking mucky, especially over colder periods of the year when they’re subject to the onslaught of salt.
The stuff that comes off your brakes is mostly iron unless you have carbon-ceramic brakes, as found on some high-performance cars. Iron gains a static charge when heated and clings to the wheels in a more determined fashion than regular dirt. It’s something that regular car shampoo can’t tackle on its own.
The best alloy wheel cleaners at a glance:
Editor’s choice: Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel – Buy now from Amazon UK
Best for a quick clean: Sonax Xtreme Wheel Cleaner – Buy from Amazon UK
Best fallout remover: Gtechniq W6 Iron and Fallout Remover – Buy from Amazon UK
You guessed it; specialised wheel cleaners are better at ridding your wheels of this determined muck than an all-purpose cleaner. We’ve tested a line-up of wheel cleaners and iron fallout removers on a number of test vehicles currently being run by the Parkers team. Read on to see our favourites ranked.
The best alloy wheel cleaners tested
Test winner
It doesn’t matter whether it was alloys on a BMW 5-Series or covers on a VW ID Buzz, the end result was a clear level above the other competitors. The appearance and feel of the cleaned alloy were incredibly smooth and spotless after the full detail. It’s priced above the others on test, but quickly after trying it out, it was easy to see why.
Pros
- pH-balanced
- Safe for diamond-cut wheels
Cons
- Strong smell
With enough agitation with barrel brushes and wheel brush, all of the brake dust, grime and other detritus that was on your wheels was easily removed. After a quick rinse with the pressure washer, it left an almost showroom finish. Like the others, it has a pH neutral formula. This is new for Autoglym as its previous wheel cleaning products were wither acidic or had alkali within. This means the Advanced All-Wheel Cleaner is safe to use on almost any type of wheel, as the chemicals within aren't as strong.
Pros
- pH neutral
- Left a showroom finish
Cons
- Some may not like the ceramic-like feel when agitating
It lifted the detritus just as well as premium examples and left a gorgeous shiny finish by the time the wheel was rinsed. As ever, you have to leave it to set in for around 5 minutes before agitating, and seeing the results in the process was comparable to the top-end manufacturers
Pros
- Very effective wheel cleaner
- Spray nozzle was the easiest to press
Cons
- Smells quite strong
I tried it on two different cars and found that even without agitation, just a spray from the hosepipe, it was able to clear off the road dirt and grime like it was dust. And once you add in a couple of barrel brushes and a soft wheel brush, the result is reassuringly shiny. It wasn’t our best performer as little freckles were still visible, and it didn't do the best at lifting heavy, embedded dirt. But for a quick rinse of salt, it’s perfectly suited for the job.
Pros
- Lifts dirt off like glue
- Quick and easy
Cons
- Not good for heavily soiled alloys
There was something almost ceramic-like about the way the wheels felt after applying a brush to the rims. They felt smooth and spotlessly clean, but fallout remover is stronger than purpose-built wheel cleaners and will struggle on mud.
Pros
- Turns red when it's time to agitate
- Easy to apply
Cons
- Smaller bottle for your money
Once rinsed off with a pressure washer, it left a sparkling-enough finish. But at the price point, the Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel is undoubtedly the more effective option. But the caveat is this was never designed on the same page as a regular wheel cleaner, but rather a very strong iron fallout remover. As a fallout remover alone, it performed very well indeed and left the test car’s wheels detritus-free.
Pros
- Gentle on all wheel types
- Great results
Cons
- Didn't beat the toughest dirt marks
How we picked the best wheel cleaner
Prices vary in this field, although you don’t need to spend a lot for good results. As we’ve discovered with our test, wheel cleaners produce very similar results, only with minor differences. That being said, Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel did the best job out of the lot.
If you address the cleanliness of your wheels every once in a while, you may need a more intensive cleaner. A dedicated fallout remover may be extreme and smell appalling, but it cannot be beaten for deep-cleaning alloys. And because wheels come in all shapes and materials, it’s always the safest best to opt for a pH-neutral wheel cleaner which won’t damage the delicate surface or anything within. Luckily, most wheel cleaners on offer are pH-neutral. If your tyres could do with a freshening up, some tyre cleaner might be a great idea as well in order to keep them black.
For heavily soiled wheels, use a wheel brush and a barrel brush to scrub with in order to loosen and remove any particularly stubborn grime. We used a small Bilt Hamber wheel brush and a set of microfibre barrel brushes to scrub the alloys with. We recommend using a car dryer to blow away the water after your hard work afterwards. To protect your hard work, you can apply a wheel sealant or protector to the wheels after having cleaned them.
What we look for in the best wheel cleaner:
Cleaning abilities – Not all wheel cleaners are made equally. Some will clean grime and serve as a fallout remover, others will focus on just the one. Which one you want depends on preference; combined options often provide better value for money but arguably are less effective than dedicated examples. The ability to clean thoroughly is equally important.
Application – Most wheel cleaners will take the form of a spray. As alloy wheels swell in size, getting a wide coverage from the nozzle is the difference between good value for money and needing a new bottle each time wash your wheels.
Smell – Usually a nice-to-have, we’ll warn you now that any fallout remover will absolutely honk.
Compatibility – Most modern wheels will be made with alloy metal and happily accept all wheel cleaners easily. However, aluminium, magnesium, chrome, and even carbon fibre wheels are all used for wheels, and you should always ensure your chosen wheel cleaner is compatible. Ideally, you’ll want a pH-neutral wheel cleaner as it won’t have the strong acids and caustic properties that ruin wheel finishes.
How we test alloy wheel cleaners
Equipped with a bucket full of wheel brushes and a pressure washer to blast away grime, I embarked on the task of cleaning a variety of dirty cars. I followed the instructions on each product bottle to apply it to a dirty wheel, then used dedicated wheel brushes to scrub it clean before rinsing it off with water. I evaluated each product based on its performance, price, ease of use, and scent, and assigned it a ranking accordingly.
Aaron Hussain is a commercial content writer at Bauer Media writing for Parkers and CAR. He is obsessed with classic cars and anything with a fascinating story to tell.
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