Serious question. I have a set of Enkei EV-06 17" rims, nothing special but a good upgrade to stock steelies and wheel covers. Anyway, the center is painted hyperblack and cleans up well. My issue is that the lip is polished aluminum, and has little patches on it that just won't come off. I've tried the regular spray on, rinse off wheel cleaners, microfiber, and even water-based cleaner like green lightning. I'll post pics, but does anyone know how to clean up a lip? I don't know if there is a clearcoat on it of if it's actually exposed metal.

I tried the powerball but it wouldn't fit, I'm thinking of getting the powercone and some polishing compound, I think it would fit whre the ball won't.

 

You may find this funny, but I use Mr. Clean Wheel Sponges. Just add water and start scrubbing. They make my wheels so shiny and they are fairly cheap and work wonders. I've tried so many things but I swear by these damn things.....I know, its funny but I've used them for years now and use them on my Advans without any issues.

 

soap and water for me...

 

I usually wash them with some soap and water then once clean hit them with the chrome polish to shine them. Then add a nice coat of wax to seal up the shine!

 

i used Mr.Clean wheel sponges too. They work pretty good.

 

Thanks, I'll try the sponges. soap and a cloth aren't cutting it. Are the sponges available from Advanced / Autozone / Pep Boys / Walmart? I'll promise to stay out of the ricer isle.

 

Wal-mart and advanced both have them.

 

Walmart and Autozone didn't have them here . They actually didn't have the power cone either, so I think they're behind on stock. I'm going to try Advanced and NAPA, otherwise looks like I'll have to order online. I hate living over an hour from the nearest large city.

I did pick up a can of never-dull, I'm going to try it, though I haven't used it on aluminum before. Mainly needed it to clean up my motorcycle, 1981 so all metal with a fair ammount of chrome.

 

Yea the power ball and power cone are a must have for polishing up your rims, I love that thing!

 

Be careful with Mr. Clean Sponges, they are Nano-crystals, so it is like a sanding sponge on some metals. I have used them in the kitchen on a pot that was polished, it scratched it up and lost its mirrored finish.

If it is a polished metal lip, I would suggest something like mothers Mag Wheel Polish. It is pretty safe and will not lose the mirrored finish on the metal. I used it on my Greddy counter weighted shift **** to take out a scratch.

Any wheel/metal polish should work I just have mothers since it was the first one I used.
I did buy one from Eagle One, Nano something polish, it seemed more like a wax than a polish, so I would not recommend that for removing spots.