Wheel cleaners that change colour are reserved only for acidic based wheel cleaners, those that have a reducing agent infused in the formulation.

This visual reaction is actually the wheel cleaners attacking and dissolving mineral deposits, such as iron, brake dust, and other common wheel contaminants. As these cleaners bind to these contaminants, they begin to loosen, and dissolve them, allowing you to simply pressure wash the wheel clean.

This allows for a “touchless” approach for wheel cleaning, and can work very well. On some heavily soiled wheels, although a lot of contamination is removed, some are just loosened and may require you to use some physical agitation with a wheel brush.

It really depends on how dirty the car is getting, and what products you are looking to use.

Generally speaking, wheels & tyre cleaners should be incorporated into your normal wash process, say every couple of weeks. But hey, you may be rushed for time, or find your tyres aren’t really that dirty so you skip this step - and that’s fine!

What becomes more important is if you are wanting to apply any wheel protection, or say a tyre dressing, you want to ensure that these surfaces are clean, and no contaminants are going to inhibit these products from working.

If this is the case, we strongly recommend utilising a specific mag wheel cleaner, and a specialised tyre cleaner, whilst also using suitable wheel & tyre brushes to ensure the best clean.

This will allow you to get the most out of your tyre dressing, or wheel coating.

The best way to minimise brake dust on your wheels is to apply some form of wheel protection. The product best suited to this would be a ceramic coating for wheels, as the aim here is to enhance the surface of the wheel, and make it more difficult for things like brake dust, iron, dirt & grime to even stick to the wheel.

This will not only minimise the amount of brake dust on your wheels, but also make cleaning your wheels much easier, as the contamination will be less “caked” on, and much less stubborn - and far easier to remove.

In this case, periodic maintenance with an acid based cleaner could allow you to simply spray & rinse your wheels clean, without the need for any elbow grease!