February 7th, 2023 by Sarah Miles

If keeping your car looking its best is important to you, you need professional standard products that are kind to the surfaces, tough on dirt and contaminants, and get your car looking it's absolute best. Wheels are an important part of this as there is nothing quite as impressive to a car enthusiast as a beautiful set of gleaming alloy wheels. Looking after them will also help keep them in top condition too, maintaining performance as well as resale value. Here are 3 essential products you need to really take care of your wheels and tyres:

Iron Contamination

The biggest threat to the condition of alloy wheels is iron contamination, also known as iron fallout. You may notice small areas of discolouration on your wheels that don’t wash away with normal car washing regimes. If you do, you need to tackle this sooner rather than later as what is now presenting as something a bit grubby, will eventually be corrosion and rust.

Iron contamination happens when small particles of iron from your brake pads and from the roads become attached to the wheels (tar, grease, and sticky road conditions exacerbate the problem). They form a tight bond, due to being hot and the jagged shape of the particles, and this continued contact gradually corrodes the metal as it oxidises. You can’t clean it off with standard car shampoo as you need a product with active ingredients that create a chemical reaction to release its grip. Troll’s Breath and Dragon’s Blood, so called because of the pungent odour they emit and the way they change colour as they work, are iron fallout removers and they will eradicate the iron fragments before they create a much bigger problem. The good news is, if you tackle this at the discolouration stage, you can restore them to their former glory. If you allow rust to start to take hold, it’s already too late.

5L Pro-Kleen Trolls Breath

Price: £26.95

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Alloy Wheel Foam

While you cannot clean iron fallout away with general car cleaning products, you can help to prevent it from becoming an issue in the first place. Pro-Kleen Alloy Wheel Foam is a deep cleaning product for wheels that helps to prevent the build-up of substances that create the perfect conditions for iron contamination to happen. It removes grease and tar, which allow iron particles to stick to wheels in the first instance. And it also removes brake dust, which contains the iron particles you’re trying to avoid.

You use it in a similar way to snow foam, in that you spray an expanding foam onto the wheels and allow it to work before rinsing away. Unlike snow foam, you don’t need a pressure washer as it comes in an aerosol can, and you can contact and clean stubborn dirt by agitating the surface with a soft brush. Using it regularly will not only keep wheels wonderfully clean (also avoiding the danger of salt corrosion in the winter), it will significantly mitigate the risk of iron contamination.

Pro-Kleen Alloy Wheel Foam 400ml Twin Pack

Price: £14.99

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Tyre Shine

Tyres are subjected to heavy battering as the only parts of the car that have direct contact with the road. While they may remain roadworthy, they can become dull, marked, and dirty in appearance. Often, detailing the alloy wheel in the above way can just serve to accentuate how scruffy the tyres look in comparison.
Blackout Tyre Shine helps lift the tyres to the same level of aesthetic glory as your wheels by restoring the grey and dull rubber to the beautiful shiny black they once were. It’s a coating that you simply spray over the surface of the tyres after cleaning them. It not only restores their black colour and adds shine, but it also adds a protective layer of polymer to keep them looking good and on par with your gleaming alloys.

Incorporate these high-grade car detailing products into your car washing regime to keep your wheels and tyres looking great and in top condition.

Pro-Kleen Tyre Shine Dressing 500ml Aerosol x 2

Price: £15.95

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