Cleaning wheels with ceramic brakes

[FasPilot]

Hello. Newbie here and owner of new car with some different equipment than what I'm used to. Need some help cleaning my wheels. I have ceramic composite rotors and pads. There's a lot of internet chatter about watching what you use to clean wheels on cars with these brakes. For instance, here's one guy talking about my model car:

"NOTE: If you have Ceramic Brakes be carefull what products you use to clean wheels. I would not use/nor should you have to use anyting stronger than car wash soap. Check with your dealer. I have PCCB and was told my multiple people in the know NOT to use any wheel cleaners unless the wheels are removed from the car to be cleaned."

There's no caution like this in the owner's manual. My guess is it's a wives' tale. But I need to check it out. Does anyone know anything about this? More to the point here, what Adams product would be best to use on wheels with these brakes?

[GerryC]

Not sure about the rotors, but Adam says GWC would be safe to use. For delicate wheel cleaning, or if the wheels just aren't that dirty enough to justify using a cleaner, I use Car Shampoo diluted with water and a foaming sprayer. Always clean the wheels when they are cool to the touch.

[BKazzle]

You shouldn't need any type of wheel cleaner with ceramic brakes. (I've read that the rotors can absorb certain materials)

 

You'll get very minimal dust from even tracking the car. This is one of the benefits to this brake setup as is the high heat tolerance (resistance to fade) and noise reduction.

 

Soap and water should do the trick.

[JBlack151]

Just use soap and water when cleaning ceramic rotors. I did a ZR1 last year that was improperly cleaned with some harsh wheel cleaner by the prior detailer after taking purchase. Over time the rotors improved some what. When it was my turned I stayed away from anything but Adam's Car Shampoo mixed with some water and a spray bottle. Then used a boars hair wheel brush and wheel woolies to gently remove and grime on the wheels and calipers.

 

Edited May 31, 2013 by JBlack151

[FasPilot]

Just use soap and water when cleaning ceramic rotors. I did a ZR1 last year that was improperly cleaned with some harsh wheel cleaner by the prior detailer after taking purchase. Over time the rotors improved some what. When it was my turned I stayed away from anything but Adam's Car Shampoo mixed with some water and a spray bottle. Then used a boars hair wheel brush and wheel woolies to gently remove and grime on the wheels and calipers.

 

BKazzle is correct about little to no brake dust.  I should have mentioned in the OP that brake dust is not my primary concern.  The wheels get soiled just going where wheels go.  To clean them and to avoid overspray of the cleaner onto the rotors, I've been squirting an appropriate wheel cleaner onto a soft rag and hand wiping every surface.  It's tedious and time consuming.  Yesterday, I received the wheel woolies, the two smaller ones of which are the perfect size to get all the surfaces except the calipers.  I'd like to be able to spray those areas with a cleaner that's safe on the ceramics, then follow with the wheel woolies.  I take from the responses that the way to go is to give them a spray of a mix of the car shampoo.  Roger that.

The calipers are yellow and look great when clean and show every speck when dirty.  It's hard to get a hand through the wheel to wipe them and even then their surfaces are intricate and hard to get down into.  The wheel woolies don't fit that job either.  I don't have the lug brush but would using that after spraying the shampoo solution onto the calipers be a good approach?   

Finally, I'm curious about JBlack's experience with the Vette.  What was the effect on the ZR1's ceramic rotors of getting the wrong cleaner on them?   

 

 

    

 

Edited May 31, 2013 by FasPilot

[JBlack151]

When I originally met with my client for a few estimates (ZR1 being one of them) I mentioned the concern of using aggressive cleaners on ceramic rotors. He immediately said he wanted me to become his go to guy for his vehicles. From there he mentioned the prior detailer admitted to using an aggressive cleaner after he first purchased the vehicle a few years back and did not realize they were any different from your standard vehicle rotor set up.

 

I never saw them myself, however he did mentioned they turned a very darkish rotted color. The only thing he though of doing was getting in the car and taking it on the highway and be real heavy on the brakes when exiting the off ramps. After seeing his rotors and comparing them to other ceramic rotors I've seen you probably couldn't tell the difference unless you knew what happened. They only appear to be slightly darker.

 

As for your brushes. The 2 smaller wheel woolies will be your best tool when dealing with these set ups such as the ZR1. And YES, the lugnut brush is highly recommended when cleaning the caliper areas well. So back to cleaning, Adam's Car Shampoo and water is your safest method of cleaning that area.

 

If you want more shots of the ZR1 detail, here is the link to the write up from last year.

 

^{http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/20308-2010-corvette-zr1-detail/}

[FasPilot]

Thanks gents for the spot on answers to my questions. I'm here to learn and learn I did. I used the shampoo mix and wheel woollies today on the barrels and calipers. Worked really well. Barrels in particular are shiny now, giving added depth and light to the whole wheel.