Wax your wheels like a Pro!
Two months ago, I shared with you in a previous post how to « Clean Your Car Like A Pro!« . Since then I received several comments asking me to write a new tutorial on how to wax your car wheel like a professional. So here it is!
As if you were cleaning your car, the wax phase takes some time. You need at least 2 hours ahead to make a good job. Forget it if it’s cold weather. The wax likes tempered or warm atmosphere. Even better if the sun shines, wax loves it!
Stop speaking, start working, let’s go and make your wheels shine like crazy…
(click on the photographs to open up full size)
1st step: preparation
Better to say, a good job goes with good tools and high-end products fully made for your car. I’ll share with you step by step each product and tool.
All products needed to get a nice result
The absolute pre-requisite before waxing your wheels is a clean wheel. You know exactly how to clean your car based on my previous tuto!
A clean wheel before the waxing phase
2nd step: decontamination
We are about to clean in depth the wheel surface. But it’s already clean, shall you say! You’ll be very surprised to see how the decontamination phase still removes dust from the wheel! Take your clay bar in hand and your quick detailer spray (the same you use to dry your car). You regularly spray the quick detailer on both the wheel and the clay. The quick detailer is actually a lubricant which helps your clay to slip on the surface. The clay captures the remaining dust and impurities from your wheel. Once your clay is dirty, just knead it to trap the impurities. You will see all the tar stains, break dust just disappearing in front of you.
Don’t proceed with the decontamination on its own. Since your wheel has no protection anylonger and can easily be affected by the environment. Also note that this step is useful only if your wheels are contaminated, otherwise go directlty to step 3. The best way to check whether your wheels are contaminated or not, just pass your finger through the surface, if it does not slip on the surface then it’s time to decontaminate.
As a summary, for decontamination you need:
- Clay Bar: Paint Rubber from Swissvax, Quik Clay from Meguiar’s
- Quick detailer: Quick detailer from Meguiar’s, Quick Finish from Swissvax
3rd step: surface preparation
Before applying the protection wax, you need to apply a polish primary. The polish is preparing the glaze so the wax remains longer on the wheel. You’ll be very surprise to see that the polish still removes dust and impurities from the wheel. You apply the primary with a pad and wipe it with a micro fiber before it dries. A light film remains on the surface for the wax to grip better.
As a summary, to prepare the surface you need:
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- Pad: Applicator pad from Meguiar’s, white applicator from Swissvax
- Primary: Cleaner fluid regular from Swissvax
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4th step: wax
This is the final step which will reveal the glaze and the depth of the wheel. A good wax helps the wax to stay longer it also ease drastically the cleaning process.
Take you pad and wheel wax in hand and apply the wax on the surface. Leave the wax at least 10 minutes before wiping it. If you wish to apply two layers of wax, do not wip the first one, apply the second one and wip after another 10 minutes with a soft micro-fiber. I advise you to apply two layers for a better protection.
The quality of the wax is very easy to assess by checking the carnauba pourcentage. The more, the better! the price will also increase accordingly! to wip the wax, use a polish micro-fiber and polish energetically. The wax will then warm up, stay longer and shine like heaven!
As a summary, to wax your wheel you need:
- Polishing micro fiber
- Wax: Autobahn from Swissvax
- Pad: Applicator pad from Meguiar’s, black applicator from Swissvax
Your wheels shine like never before. You will recover the time spent from the faster cleaning time. But what’s going on? The shining brilliance of my wheel attracts the wild life in the neighbourhood. A quite curious salamander is passing by and checking the work. Amazing! Let me take care of it. See you soon on MiM!
