Cleaned & Alloy Question

[Blue84]

Hi Guys & Girls,

I've spent some of this morning, and also yesterday afternoon cleaning the Blue, and here's the finished result:

Interior:

Sorry about the quality of some of them, the houses block the sun and some are at dodgy angles because my Neighbours tend to have a habit of appearing whenever I take photo's and give me weird looks so I take them as quickly as possible

Anyway my question is that on the alloys I use Turtlewax spray alloy cleaner which you spray on, "agitate" with a sponge and then rinse off with water.. which brings them up to look like this:

But it is really hard to clean the area behind the alloy spokes..the spray only gets so far and as you might be able to tell I don't have a driveway or anything and can't use a hose at home either as it's at the back of the house. So the alloys are clean at the front but behind they are very dirty. How do you guys clean yours?

All tips appreciated

Blue

[Kerby]

at least im not the only one who gets dodgy looks off the neighbours when i take pictures of my car

[kimi]

Looking good blue,i do like that colour.

as for your wheels best way is to take them off and give them a good coat of wax polish,but you cant do that every time obviosly

get yourself a alloy wheel brush thats designed for multi-spokes,it looks like a big bottle brush it may get through to back of wheels.

cant tell how much room you have with your alloys as to if you can get your hand through,i can do it with mine.if you can, just do a section at a time by hand.

[Kerby]

tried cleanin by hand with mine. put my hand thru and took it back it to the sight of blood :s there was a bit of raw metal around the brakes. so be careful

[Demonic Angel]

Looking good blue,i do like that colour.

as for your wheels best way is to take them off and give them a good coat of wax polish,but you cant do that every time obviosly

get yourself a alloy wheel brush thats designed for multi-spokes,it looks like a big bottle brush it may get through to back of wheels.

cant tell how much room you have with your alloys as to if you can get your hand through,i can do it with mine.if you can, just do a section at a time by hand.

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I have one of those brushes - they are really good - although sometimes I do need to get the toothbrush out too!

You can get them for a couple of quid from Halfrauds Blue!

Nice to see the Blue looking so sparkly clean - I agree with Kimi - its a lovely colour!

I get weird looks too - I told the neighbours "Its a Yaris - I love it too much!" and they laughed! In some of those pics the car looks almost silver!

[Ryan1985]

I don't get weird looks, everyone round here knows I love my car anyway!

[alanbradley]

I get weird looks too - ah well!

I tend to do what you do Blue as I don't have a proper drive or a garden, but at least there's stacks of parking space around mine. I take it to the jetwash along the road and invest 3 quid in a good rinse, soap and rinse there before bringing it back and hand washing it properly. Cleaning the soap off with buckets of water is a pain in the bum though, and you always miss some (especially around the rear windows on the 3 door) :(

Have been to Tesco and Halfrauds this afternoon and she's still in one piece <_<

A

[Blue84]

Thanks for the replies guys :)

I think I make up the shampoo/water mix too weak, as mine never seems to be that soapy and never needs rinsing as it only looks like it's been in a rain shower at the end of it :ffs: and I was only doing as the instructions say on the bottle! Oh well she's gonna get some Meguiars soon in a few weeks (thanks to a certain someone using it on the TS :P :P) so she will have better quality shampoo :D

I will also get one of those brushes too, hadn't realised there was anything like them for sale until today either

As for the weird looks, well it annoys me slightly as they never seem to appear any other time..just when I take photo's! There is one in particular who is always taking his dog out for a walk at the same time! Oh well, even more reason to take her somewhere a bit more scenic for photo's I guess.

Blue

[cfc1]

Do what i do blue... tell them the pictures are for an upmarket weekly magazine only sold in Japan :P

[Al J]

Don't know anything about the alloy spray cleaner that you are using but the ones that foam up when you spray on the wheels are pretty easy to use and very effective. Autoglym do a good one but I'm using the one supplied by Supagard as part of the aftercare valet kit they "gave me" when I (well, the car actually!) had the whole treatment inside and out.

The 'foaming' seems to work very well. A quick rinse and the muck disappears.

[ferrariboyuk]

I use really soapy water in a small watering can for mine and a sponge cut to the width of the wheel. To do the parts behind the spokes i turn on full lock and do one half of the wheel with one arm round the back, the other at the front. Then put on opposite lock.

I do the back wheels by getting underneath, break both arms then proceed to rub the dirt of my back, somehow!

Each wheel gets rinsed wiv more lovely soapy water. I never need to use specific wheel cleaner. I never let em get in that state in da first place. ( i do them 3 times a week)

DOM

[Blue84]

Each wheel gets rinsed wiv more lovely soapy water.  I never need to use specific wheel cleaner. I never let em get in that state in da first place. ( i do them 3 times a week)

DOM

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I'd like to have the time to do them 3 times a week, but I don't have the time..the Blue has been here a month and this is the 2nd time I washed her, hadn't got the chance too any other time

[dicey2k]

I take mine off completely to clean the backs, but only done it once (I think i'm going to do it every few months) as its a pain in the behind if you don't have a ramp, takes forever with the jack!! I usually just be lazy and do the visible bits!!

I have an Auto Glym Agitator brush from Halfrauds, and its the Dog's, and with Wynn's alloy wheel cleaner it does a grand job!

Then tyre shine is applied every time i wash them for that extra special finish, and it really does make a difference - Sure Chris would agree with me on that one!

[Blue84]

I put armourall tyre foam on the Blue too, it's what makes the tyres look new (well they are only 800 miles old as it is!) in that pic of the wheel/alloy above, and I noticed today that you can still see it on the tyres - at least it stays on for a while.

So I will invest in an alloy brush then too, wanna try and keep the alloys in good condition :D

[ferrariboyuk]

blue,

do you live far from grays? and if so, do you know how bad traffic gets driving there from brentwood and the m25 and the a128?

Cheers

[Blue84]

Grays is where I live :D

Depends what time you are coming, would it be early? The A128 shouldnt be too bad, but the Orsett C*ck Roundabout can be a tad busy..I used to use it just before 8 am on the way to work but due to the nutters on it I go up a bit to the Treacle Mine and down to the A13 there :).

Traffic in Grays itself isnt bad, unless you are going down the Hill into the Town Centre..the one way system..or should that be two way is horrible. From the M25 it's not far, follow all the signs and you should come off at the North Stifford/Grays Junction, and head towards the Treacle Mine Roundabout. Apart from all the usual rush hour stuff you should be ok.

Blue