What to use to removed "baked" on brake dust
 

After a track day, my front wheels were covered in brake dust which is to be expected. When I went to wash them it appears that in certain areas the brake dust "baked" onto the wheel. What can I use to clean the wheels? They are the black ZL1 wheels.

Did you use a wheel cleaner? If not try that first of all.

If wheel cleaner doesn't work you might look into some clay. Just keep it separate from what hits your paint.

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Wheel Cleaner, Iron X, etc...

Well, I found some wheel cleaner that didn't damage the paint and it along with some elbow grease and a tooth brush worked. Was hoping for something easier though, but thanks for the replies.

Did you pick something up from your local store? There are some great wheel cleaners out there that work amazing, sonax, meguiers, adams and others. Just make sure to agitate and not let it dry on. FYI, for the future. (Look around this forum for some of the before and after pictures of detailer's domain and you can really see how the stuff works.)

Either way, got them cleaned, go hit the track again now. :thumbsup:

Yeah I found some mequiers that was safe for painted wheels.

That's what I use. Sometimes it may take a few applications to make it easier to come off.

In most cases I recommend the safest method first. Soap and water. I rarely use wheel cleaners because it's not often they're really needed. Otherwise I will move on to sonax. Very safe and works well. I have no experience with Adams equivalent product so I can't touch on it.

Deep Wheel Cleaner is ideal for baked on brake dust from a big set of Brembos. It's safe for ANY type of wheel, black ZL1 wheels included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjXtTJkt6DY

Just be sure to follow the two golden rules of wheel cleaning:

1) Don't use them when the wheels are hot
2) Don't allow the cleaner to dry on the surface, rinse thoroughly

Stand by those two and that brake dust will melt away. Once you have them thoroughly cleaned, I'd suggest getting a coat of Quick Sealant on them to make them easier to clean, both after normal driving and track days alike.

For caked on brake dust, use Iron-X. Caked on means that the heat and rust-reaction of the iron has embedded itself into the pores of the wheel's finish. Traditionally, acid or alkaline cleaners are used, although these can have negative effects long term.

Iron-X dissolves the iron content (as well as decontaminates the wheel) so you can easily remove any caked-on dust.