I have used several of the spray on wheel cleaning compounds, and weeks after each attempt, my brakes have squealed while stopping. This last time around, my tech found that the pads and rotors were discolored, and all the backing paste was gone! He re-installed the paste, and asked if I was using wheel cleaning spray, as he had seen this problem before.His work fixed the problem.

Later, I noticed my collection of small sized California Dusters that were mostly unused - they seem to last longer than the large ones thru being used on smaller areas. Eureka - painted cars, painted wheels!

The small brush cleans the painted wheels nicely with a quick brush in the evenings - even the dreaded 15 hole wheels (though not those tiny holes themselves). The 6 spoke wheels clean up perfectly! When the dusters get dirty enough, I agitate them in cold water and let them air dry. I mark each handle "BRAKE DUST!" so that they don't get used on the body paint. Any remaining dust cleans off easily with car washing.

Am I the last person to discover this trick?

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Probably.
But not the last to find out that the RIM Cleaner spray makes your brakes squeal!! Agh, annoying! Is it worth having my mechanic reapply the anti squeal paste... or can I even do this myself... ? Hmmm.
Can it cause rotor warpage quicker than if one wasn't using it?

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)