Question to Detailers with a business - washing hot wheels

[shadow85]

I always wondered, is it ok to wash wheels when they are still hot from driving? For the pro's out there who have there own business, how do you deal with customers who just arrive to your shop after a decent drive, where the wheels are still hot?

 

[RaskyR1]

I always wondered, is it ok to wash wheels when they are still hot from driving? For the pro's out there who have there own business, how do you deal with customers who just arrive to your shop after a decent drive, where the wheels are still hot?

I allow them to cool before cleaning. I simply work on something else until they have cooled off enough.

 

[Dan]

The wheels aren't nearly as big of a problem as are hot brakes.

 

[Nth Degree]

Don't do it. Not only can you damage the wheels with the cleaner but you can warp the brakes by spraying them with cool water.

 

[Scottwax]

That's one of the nice things about being mobile, usually the car has been sitting for a while by the time I get there. If the wheels are hot, I wait until they cool.

 

[DaGonz]

When I bring a client's car to my house to detail, I spend the first 30 to 45 minutes setting up my pressure washer and foam cannon, filling the buckets with car wash solution and laying out all the products and pads I will be using. By that time, the wheels have cooled enough to safely clean them.

 

[Memphis]

I always do door jams first, then raise the hood so the engine bay can cool down, then clean the interior, then do wheels, then engine bay, then wash.



I do the door jams before the interior because I don't want the dirt and water from the door jams getting into the interior after I've cleaned it. I always try to do the hardest parts/parts I like least first, so I can get them out of the way, so that's why my work flow is set up this way. It also allows time for the engine and wheels to cool down.