09/03/2026
🛞 CLEAN WHEELS: It’s Not Always the Chemical
Why can one vehicle come out of the wash with beautiful wheels, while the next one still has brake dust left behind—even though they went through the exact same process?
Because not all wheel contamination is the same.
European performance and luxury vehicles are a great example. Many have historically used low-steel brake-pad formulations that can produce heavier, darker, iron-rich brake contamination. Combine that with road film, oils, minerals and tire-dressing residue, and you're asking your wheel cleaner to attack several different types of soil at once.
That’s one reason I like a two-step wheel-cleaning process:
⬆️ High pH — helps attack oily and organic road film, grease and other contamination.
⬇️ Low pH — helps attack certain mineral deposits, metal oxides and inorganic contamination.
But here’s the important part:
CHEMISTRY ALONE DOESN’T CLEAN THE WHEEL.
Once we loosen the contamination, we still have to physically remove it.
In an automatic wash, we typically have two tools:
🧽 Wheel brushes provide friction and agitation.
💦 High-pressure water provides impingement to blast loosened contamination away.
So when your wheels aren't coming clean, don't immediately TURN UP THE CHEMICAL.
Ask yourself:
Is the chemical drawing correctly?
Are we getting complete coverage?
Do we have enough dwell time?
Are the wheel brushes actually making good contact?
Are the high-pressure nozzles clean, properly aimed and delivering adequate pressure and water volume?
Because increasing chemical concentration won't fix a clogged nozzle, worn wheel brush or poor coverage.
It will, however, increase your chemical cost per car.
For me, good wheel cleaning comes down to a pretty simple equation:
CHEMISTRY + DWELL TIME + MECHANICAL ACTION = CLEAN WHEELS
Clean wheels aren't about finding one miracle product.
They're about getting the entire process right.
— Paul Titus | PT Carwash
