While many older car models featured steel or chrome alloy wheels straight from the factory, manufacturers today produce most of their cars with oxidized aluminum wheels that are topped with the same clear coat that protects your painted exterior panels. Wheels on today’s car models also feature more intricate designs, making it easier for dirt and grime to get trapped deep in the spokes, around the lug nuts and on the wheel facing. They also have larger rims that have been painted black or charcoal grey, showing stains and discoloration more easily.

To prevent brake dust and soils from eating away at your reflective clear coat, you need a dedicated wheel cleaner and a gentle polish to clean and revitalize the metal of the wheel and bring back that natural gloss. We recommend purpose-built wheel cleaners like our All Wheel & Tire Cleaner to remove as much brake dust as possible without leaving behind any scratches or swirls. For alloy wheels with a protective clear coat, you can use any polish you would normally use on your exterior panels, including Hybrid Solutions Pro 1 & Done or Hybrid Solutions Polish & Wax.

You’ll also need a wheel brush like the Wheel Woolie to gently scrub mud and stains from your wheel barrels and sidewalls. This flexible brush bends and contours to every surface of your wheels, including deep between your rotors and calipers. You can also use a soft bristled detailing brush to scrub dirt and stains from the more intricate cracks and crevices of your wheels.

Apply a quarter-sized amount of Hybrid Solutions 1 & Done Polish to a fresh, folded and quartered microfiber towel and buff the product into every surface of your wheels to correct light scratches, swirls and oxidation. Avoid transferring polish onto your tires to prevent scratches in your rubber sidewalls. Car polishes are abrasive and potentially damaging to your vehicle if you use them on the wrong surfaces, so take your time, especially if you’re new to polishing your car.

Continue polishing your wheels until you’ve removed all the stains and imperfections from your clear coat. Use a separate lint-free, microfiber towel to remove any excess product and buff your wheels to a wet-like, metallic shine.