What is the best tool/ product to use for cleaning rims?

What do you guys recommend for cleaning rims?
I tried a rouge wheel on a small area of unpainted rim and it does a nice job - but might be removing too much material and certainly will do nothing but damage on the painted area. However the rouge wheel does smooth out those little dingers.

tia

 

There's cleaning, and WD-40 will get rid of grime, Simple Green and a toothbrush, ETC,

Then there's dealing with corrosion, or aluminum's oxidation,
and is it light or heavy oxidation?

And do you want to retain the factory milled finish, which is a series of closely spaced grooves, or go to a finer finish or polish?

A uniform final finish can be had by having someone spin the tire for you while you apply fine sandpaper with a sponge.

 

For the polished lip I used penetrating oil and 600 grit paper to remove the oxidation, then mothers mag/aluminum polish to make it shine. The lip is easy, the fins are very time consuming.

 

I use a mini-buffing wheel on my Dremel "extension wand" so that I can polish in the same direction as the machining marks on the spokes. You do have to be careful not to 'burn' the edges, but it makes pretty quick work of it and does a great job.

Once polished up that way, the shine can be easily maintained by hand. I like Mother's Billet Metal Polish myself.

I use original Armor-All on the black portions of the wheels, applied carefully and rubbed in well so as not to get any on the tires. It keeps them nice and black for a long time and dirt just hoses off.

 

I like F21 by Turtle Wax for the black parts and Mothers, Wenol or California Customs 'Purple Polish' for the lips & spoke edges.