Wheel Cleaner

Brake dust is tough to shift from your car. The black coating is baked on by the heat of the anchors, and shifting it requires a specialist formula. To find our top four, we attacked rims that hadn’t been cleaned for thousands of miles with alloy wheel cleaners, plus universal products that can be used on more delicate surfaces. You can read the results of our full group test here.

Our winner
Wonder Wheels
Price: £6.99
Contact: www.tetrosyl.com
Alongside Comma, Wonder Wheels has set the standard for shifting disc dust, and notches up another win. The aggressive formula requires no soaking: simply apply with the supplied brush and the grime falls away. Keen price seals the win.

Commended
Comma Alloy Wheel Clean Kit
Price: £7.29
Contact: www.commaoil.com
On our test rims, there was little to choose between this comprehensive kit – which comes with brush, cup, trigger spray and gloves – and Wonder Wheels. Both really cut through the grime, although there are restrictions on what surfaces they are suitable for.

Wonder Wheels Hot Wheels
Price: £6.99
Contact: www.tetrosyl.com
It may lack the bite of its Wonder Wheels stablemate, but usefully this Hot Wheels product can be applied safely to rims with damaged lacquer, chromed fasteners and unfinished areas. It must be left to soak, and you can actually see it working as the solution turns red as it reacts with the grime.

Black Diamond Alloy Shine
Price: £4.49
Contact: www.blackdiamondproducts.co.uk
Another good result for Black Diamond on its return to our tests, this time for its Alloy Shine. Helpfully, this solution can also be used on chromed rims. It starred on the heavily soiled inner section of our test wheel, and this, combined with a keen price, earns it our commendation here.