Simple question on cleaning

Marklambert61

Marklambert61

Member
Team,

It seems to me the hardest part to keep clean on my Model A is the wheels & tires

I dont like to use water or a pressure washer to keep my wheels clean and its seems there always grubby.

What do you use?

Mark
 
If they have a good coat of wax they might clean quite easily without water. Are you talking dust? Or, bugs and mud? The dust should brush right off a good coat of wax.
 
I agree with Tom about wax . I mostly use Wesleys tire cleaner on black walls and the whitewalls on my 31 tudor. Wesleys does a good job with minimum effort, I do rinse it off though.
 
I have never washed my car, and never cleaned my wheels. I use a quick detailer and a soft rag to quickly dust off the body, or, if there's contamination such as tree sap or bird droppings on the paint, quick detailer and a clay bar, then finish off with a quick coat of wax. I have never, not even once, wiped my wheels, nor have they gotten wet. I want them to get dusty, like I was in the desert, but I'm surprised how clean they still are. If they ever need cleaning for any reason, I will just use a water hose and a sponge and wash' em.

In all fairness, right after I bought my car, I put it on the hoist and pressure washed it for about 3 hours, carefully, but thoroughly, and since then it's been clean. Living in California where we don't have any rain may help though . . . .
 
Brother Hesekiel said:
I have never washed my car, and never mcleaned my wheels. I use a quick detailer and a soft rag to quickly dust off the body, or, if there's contamination such as tree sap or bird droppings on the paint, quick detailer and a clay bar, then finish off with a quick coat of wax. I have never, not even once, wiped my wheels, nor have they gotten wet. I want them to get dusty, like I was in the desert, but I'm surprised how clean they still are. If they ever need cleaning for any reason, I will just use a water hose and a sponge and wash' em.

In all fairness, right after I bought my car, I put it on the hoist and pressure washed it for about 3 hours, carefully, but thoroughly, and since then it's been clean. Living in California where we don't have any rain may help though . . . .
Click to expand...


Has the car ever been outside ( lol ) ?
Wayne
 
It seems that if anything would heve hurt the paint, it would have been pressure washing it for three hours. I've got to wonder if you are serious.

I mostly keep all of mine inside and don't wash them anymore than really needed so as to keep water out of the crevaces, doors and quarters. A california duster saeens to do a real good job
 
Purdy Swoft said:
It seems that if anything would heve hurt the paint, it would have been pressure washing it for three hours. I've got to wonder if you are serious.

I mostly keep all of mine inside and don't wash them anymore than really needed so as to keep water out of the crevaces, doors and quarters. A california duster saeens to do a real good job
Click to expand...

Same here. My car will rust quickly enough without me helping it.:D
 
my current car was restored in 2006 and has never been washed with water..strictly quick detailer and microfiber towels...

a pressure washer is a good way to blow some paint off.
 
As stated above; a good coat of wax after a thorough cleaning helps a lot. Then to get the dust off - use a "California Duster".
 
For my cream wire wheels I use simple green, water from a hose and a wire wheel brush I got from Tams. For the white wall tires I use water an SOS pad and a rag. Been using SOS on white wall tires since the 50's when I used to Simonize cars for 5 bucks. Now it is called detailing and costs 150.
 
Again, I suppose I'm the odd man out here. I pressure wash especially the wire wheels. I've tried the brushes, the foam balls on the end of a drill motor, and just about everything else. Pressure washing -- at a self service wand type car wash does the trick for me.

These are a couple of pictures taken on our tour this summer up past the Arctic Circle. Can't see a California Duster getting this stuff off!


(Yes, that is the Alaska Oil Pipeline at the Yukon River crossing)
 

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The california duster wouldn't work good on that but it works good on the body and makes it look like it has been polished. I've got a small california duster for spoke wheels that works good if the wheels are just a bit dusty.
 
I wax the body and wheels once a year when the car comes out from under its winter cover. For day to day clean up and dusting I use "Swiffer" dusters on both body and wheels. For heavier deposits on both body and wheels I use microfiber clothes wet with water with a drop or two of Dawn washing up liquid. Final polishing is with very slightly damp microfiber cloth.

Tires are polished with black shoe polish. (Whitewalls are NOT us.)
 
carl i believe you are in a tougher terrain than most of us here by the look of those wheels.
you gotta do what you gotta do in a case like that.

i don't use the california car scratcher,
just a fresh micro towel and quick detailer every time.

i never use a micro towel twice on the finish, it gets retired to wiping the undercarriage after that
 
If the pressure washer blows the paint off, the paint was obviously not very well adhered in the first place and it was time for attention. There are times and conditions where a pressure washer is just about necessary to clean off the mud that adhered after a club run. Just like Alaska, both pMichigan and Canada has foul weather conditions at times. Wayne.
 
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