Brake Caliper Cleaning - Tips / Tricks ?

[IPTV65]

Anyone have any tips/tricks to easily clean the brake calipers? The clearance is the tightest I have seen on any vehicle I have owned. Spent like 15 min per wheel trying to thread a cloth around in there. It’s just not very accessible. I have a brush that I use on my other cars but it doesn’t even come close to fitting. I have the 20in rims BTW. Thanks!

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[moosehead]

Wheel Woollies are your friend.

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guy...&keywords=wheel+woolies&qid=1676753389&sr=8-8

 

[IPTV65]

Wheel Woollies are your friend.

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guy...&keywords=wheel+woolies&qid=1676753389&sr=8-8

I have the large and the medium ones. Neither fit well. Will buy the small one and give it a shot. Thanks very much!

 

[R1Tom]

I just clean the brakes what I can reach each time I clean wheels. Figure overtime I am getting most of it. Plus since I rarely use brakes there is very little brake dust.

 

[madgrey]

Those woolies are great for cleaning wheels but the small one doesn't fit in between the wheel and caliper on my 20" dark wheels. I have the ABN ones which look to be spec'd the same way as the Chemical Guys brand. I've been doing the "clean what you can reach easily" method.

 

[IPTV65]

Those woolies are great for cleaning wheels but the small one doesn't fit in between the wheel and caliper on my 20" dark wheels. I have the ABN ones which look to be spec'd the same way as the Chemical Guys brand. I've been doing the "clean what you can reach easily" method.

Thanks. Confirms what I am seeing as well. It’s just really tight in there. I am super OCD about my cars. A wooden dowel with a microfiber wrapped around it sort of works but it’s a painful process. I hate to go to pure chemicals for the long haul. Not really a brake dust thing. The yellow just gets dirty. I will keep trying!

 

[jbrumsey]

I've had decent luck using a microfiber towel and flossing it between the wheel spokes and calipers.

 

[ads75]

Wheel Woollies are your friend.

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guy...&keywords=wheel+woolies&qid=1676753389&sr=8-8

Never heard of these, but my filthy calipers have been bothering me lately, even tried to wipe one quickly today, so much bright yellow behind the dirt/grime/salt residue. Woolies now on order, never heard of them before, thanks for the tip!

 

[WSea]

remove your wheel? That’s my plan to clean them tomorrow while doing another project involving wheel removal

 

[iansriv]

Force your kids to clean them. A one-year-old should be small enough to reach in there. Just joking. If you can get the wheels off, you can clean them well and apply a ceramic wax. I use Griots. That lasts 6-12 months and you can spray some water and it comes off.

 

[brancky3]

Spraying a decent wheel cleaner on them does the trick for me, no scrubbing required. But I very very rarely use the brakes anyway so there isn’t much dust.

 

[mindstormsguy]

I use a boars hair bush. Exactly this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K71B35S/

I use wheel woolies as well, but those are for the wheels, not the caliper (in my workflow, anyway). The boars hair brush is better for getting in the sharp corners on the caliper.

But what's the trick? The trick is to clean your calipers and wheels every time you wash your car. If you start slacking, the brake dust and road grime very quickly accumulate to the point that it's much much much more difficult to get off. :/

But actually, I only clean the calipers on my Camaro. The e-tron and R1T get to make due without. the e-tron is a lease, and the Rivian is a truck ?‍. I can't really be bothered.

 

[Christopher]

I take a microfiber towel, dipped in the soap bucket, and then feed it through behind the rim between caliper and buf it back and forth like I'm polishing a shoe.

 

[Emie]

I only used a toothbrush and a small amount of soap to clean the edge. I cleaned it with a tiny green scrubby pad and a microfiber cloth. I used a toothbrush to remove all the dust and crud from the clips. I needed roughly five minutes. If you want additional vehicle cleaning services, those are also accessible. I frequently employ both cleaning services for my home and cleaning services for my car.

 

[NineElectrics]

Looks like one of mine came corroded. All of the others are fine. Odd.

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