The wheel cleaner
costing you money

This is the most common avoidable damage we see, and it is almost always done in good faith by somebody who looks after their car carefully.

What acid cleaners actually do

Strongly acidic cleaners dissolve brake dust chemically, which is why they work so fast and so visibly. The problem is that they do not distinguish between brake dust and the lacquer underneath it.

Each use takes a little more off the coating. It is invisible for a long time, because the wheel looks cleaner every time. Then the finish starts to dull, then it starts to lift at the edges.

How to tell if it is happening

• The wheels look duller after cleaning than they used to, rather than brighter.
• A faint white haze on a machined or polished face.
• Lacquer lifting at the rim edge or round the bolt holes.
• The cleaner turns purple or red on contact — that is a reaction, and not all of it is with brake dust.

The colour-change cleaners are not all acidic, and many are perfectly safe. Read the bottle rather than the marketing.

What to use instead

A pH-neutral wheel cleaner and a soft brush. It takes slightly longer and it does not strip anything. On a well-maintained wheel the difference in result is negligible.

The other thing that matters more than the product is frequency. Brake dust is mildly corrosive itself, so washing the wheels regularly with something gentle beats occasional heroics with something aggressive.

If the damage is already there

Lacquer that has been thinned cannot be thickened again, and once it starts lifting the only real fix is stripping the wheel back and refinishing it.

Catching it at the dull-but-intact stage is much cheaper than catching it at the lifting stage. If you are not sure which you are looking at, send a photograph and we will tell you honestly — including if the answer is to leave it alone and change your cleaner.