Do you remember watching your Dad wash his car's wheels and tires on a Sunday afternoon with a bucket of dish soap and water? What may have been okay back then is not good for your car's alloy wheels or high performance rims today. You want to take good care of your investment and you need to use the proper products to make them last.

Going a few weeks without cleaning your wheels and tires can make them look very poor. Wheels with a bright finish will look really bad, especially upfront where brake dust collects quickly. You may think that you are getting your rims clean by using harsh detergents but by doing so you are actually taking away the tire's moisture and promoting deterioration.

You want to use a good quality car wash soap, liquid wheel cleaner, a tire brush, wheel brush and a smaller brush to get into the cracks between spokes. A toothbrush works great on elaborate wheels.

When washing, always start with your wheels first and when they are cool. Don't clean your rims and tires when they are still hot from driving. You don't want to stain your tires by putting cleaner on a warm wheel. We recommend that you use a high quality wheel cleaner that you can spray on and rinse off. Make sure the cleaner you choose is for use with the type of tires that are on your car. Some wheel cleaners can contain strong acid content which will damage painted or clear coated wheels. If you are not sure what type of tires are on your car, use a cleaner that is formulated for use with any type of wheel.

Now move onto the rims. You will need to give them a good scrubbing to remove all of the built up brake dust residue. You may need to spray a little more wheel cleaner on your rims while you use a small brush or toothbrush to scrub in between the spokes and around your calipers but make sure that the cleaner does not dry completely. When you are done cleaning, give your wheels a good rinse with clean water.

When you are done cleaning, dry your wheels and tires off before you apply any kind of tire preservative. We like using a wipe on paste rather than the spray kind so you don't have to wipe off excessive spray. You can get a tire preservative in a variety of formulas giving your tire several different appearances including tinting them to hues of red, blue or silver.