help! what will clean salt off chrome wheels?

[brianna71404]

OK, so I'm a dummy & didn't clean my wheels after they were taken off my car this winter. I had a tire blow out & was pissed, so I had the wheels taken off & just put them in the shed without washing them like I usually do when I switch my winter wheels. Anyway I ordered new tires & thought I would clean them up today so they're ready when the tires come in. Well the salt must've oxidized or something while sitting on the chrome during the winter. & its so hard to get off. By really putting some elbow grease into it, I'm able to get a lot of the salt/debris off, but there's still like a stain on the wheels wherever the salt was. I even tried to wax 1 of them & it still looks terrible!!! It's good wax, it's Mother's w/ Carnauba wax. Does anybody have any suggestions ( other than I should have washed them before I put them away) like a diff type of wax or something that might help w/ this???

[rjdmmfl1]

OK, so I'm a dummy & didn't clean my wheels after they were taken off my car this winter. I had a tire blow out & was pissed, so I had the wheels taken off & just put them in the shed without washing them like I usually do when I switch my winter wheels. Anyway I ordered new tires & thought I would clean them up today so they're ready when the tires come in. Well the salt must've oxidized or something while sitting on the chrome during the winter. & its so hard to get off. By really putting some elbow grease into it, I'm able to get a lot of the salt/debris off, but there's still like a stain on the wheels wherever the salt was. I even tried to wax 1 of them & it still looks terrible!!! It's good wax, it's Mother's w/ Carnauba wax. Does anybody have any suggestions ( other than I should have washed them before I put them away) like a diff type of wax or something that might help w/ this???

well looks like you've beat yourself up enough over not cleaning salt of of your chrome wheels for over a month...

honestly, the first thing I was gonna say is use mothers chrome wheel polish, but if you've done that, and it still isn't coming off, you may be SOL...

salt actually eats into surfaces, like paint for instance... everr see a salt damaged car? well, my point is, if the salt was indeed sitting there for the last 5 months, and it actually ate into the surface of your chrome (i.e. oxidized your chrome) there is no getting that completely off, other than having them re-dipped in chrome, whic is really expensive

[mrodrig2]

she states wax so first thing is to confirm if you actually used wax or the polish since they are different things. the wax will just clean off junk and form a protective layer over the wheels but it wont do anything for the pitting. the polish on the other hand will sand down the surface so it can become uniform again. if the puts go too deep, the polish won't be abrasive enough to help and in that case you will have to have the wheels refinished.

[Ferguson]

Once the salt is allowed to sit, you will never get the wheels clean. Once it discolours, you are not gonna get the shine back. Even on my stock painted rims, I made sure they were put away clean for the winter, on a rack, under cover, in my basement. Salt is the enemy of all metals!

[brianna71404]

Yay!!! Thanks guys. I wasn't even thinking about that. My chrome polish was practically empty, so I just used the wax. I switch on & off & it didn't even cross my mind, but then again I'm not usually trying to undo damage I've done. There is slight pitting in some areas of the far back of the deep dish part, but other than that it's mostly stains on the chrome. So I'm gonna go pick up some of my trusty Mother's Chrome Polish & give it a whirl. This will be my Saturday morning project, since my tires just came in today. Thanks so much guys!!

[mrodrig2]

keep in mind that if it the stains/pits are over a decent amount of the wheel you will have to polish the whole wheel or else you will end up with mismatched areas.

[Heels1010]

I have a deoxidizing chemical that i use to restore everything. its made for cars. it's not cheap. its a 2 step process the first step being the oxidizer and the second being a waxing polish. I got it from a friend who sells products to distributers when i wanted to sell my chrome rims last year. It made the look new, even the inside of the wheel.

[brianna71404]

keep in mind that if it the stains/pits are over a decent amount of the wheel you will have to polish the whole wheel or else you will end up with mismatched areas.

yea I always do the whole wheel, when polishing.

I have a deoxidizing chemical that i use to restore everything. its made for cars. it's not cheap. its a 2 step process the first step being the oxidizer and the second being a waxing polish. I got it from a friend who sells products to distributers when i wanted to sell my chrome rims last year. It made the look new, even the inside of the wheel.

What's it called? Just in case I can't get them as good as I'm hoping today. I'm not worried about being expensive, it's gotta be a helluva lot cheaper than either re-dipping my wheels or getting new ones...bc I am def not in the financial position to entertain either of those options right now!!

[macoombi]

Old post, I know, but anyway, I've had good luck with Bartender's Friend. It's like a bathroom cleaner like Ajax or Comet but isn't as harsh. I've used it to clean windshields before and I tried it on some chrome wheels and it worked great for getting off stubborn brake dust.

[Jeffblue]

Noxon #7 should work. It comes in a green bottle. Its been around for a really long time. Its 4 dollars a bottle. I'm pretty sure it should solve your problem. If it doesn't, its only four dollars down the drain.

I used it on my chrome wheels that i bought used and it worked like a charm.

[Jeffblue]

...Success?