Have all four of my Fuchs alloys off the car for some brake work Decided to clean the inside of the wheels while they were off. Outsides look great. Got a lot of the brake dust/grime off the insides with Dawn detergent and a scrubby but I'm left with tons of black speckles. Anyone have a way to bring the insides of the wheels back to close to original? I didn't want to get too aggressive with the cleaners. Thanks.

Sometimes using a polish will take it out.
I keep liquid ice around for those occasions, 3m makes some good polishing compounds too...

Brake clean

Meguires wheel cleaner and a plastic scrub brush works for me. Rinse. Follow with car wash and a sponge. The longer the brake dust has been there the more work it's going to take.

"insides of the wheels back to close to original?"

do you have a picture? I have seen the back of wheels look bad because the aluminum is oxidized. I do not think that will just clean up. A lot to refinish the backs. I think you can just go with cleaning up the front of the wheels.

Or send them out for refinishing and that costs a lot. Fuchsrestoration.com

RS finish on Fuchs 4 lug

Bob B

Brake clean

I think I also used a Brillo or green scrubby pad. Spray the brake clean on the wheel, let it evaporate. Spray it on again and spray it on the pad. Scrub. Repeats until clean.

Brake clean won’t remove anodizing or factory wheel paint.

That looks great.

Another project I'd rather not tackle but now that the gauntlet has been thrown down.

I've used simple green and finer sandpaper. Goo be gone too.

Just did mine for the Parade, first Purple Power degreaser 50/50 and a scrub brush, then plastic razor blade to scrape off tar/weight adhesives, then Scotchbrite with soapy water. Looked like new. If wheel weight adhesive is hard use some mineral spirits and Scotchbrite. Best, Mark

Did not take picture of inside of rims, you can see a little. But used the some process on the inside fender wells. MarkClick to view attachment Click to view attachment

I have a 3,000 PSI hot water (makes it's own) pressure washer that when equipped with a 0º head will cut lumber. It will also remove paint and anything else in the way. Backing off to 15º - 25º makes it very manageable.

We have one at the shop. Diesel powered. Does an awesome job, especially cleaning engines and trans. Gets in all the nooks and crannies and the hot water melts off the tar. No scrubbing needed.

Thanks folks. I've got to finish my brake job first but then I'll try Brake Clean and maybe mineral spirits for the tar on the wheels. Luckily I have lots of scrubby pads. I'll let you know if any of this works.

Wear gloves and glasses.

Roger that...