There is nothing like driving a clean car on a bright sunny day. When the sun reflects off the shiny surfaces, it makes the paint glisten and the chrome shine. Aluminum wheels are very common on the cars of today, but they can appear very dull even when they are at their cleanest. However, if you do not have chrome wheels, the lip of aluminum wheels can be made to shine like chrome by using materials picked up at your local auto supply store.
Go to your auto supplies store and purchase sand paper with grit values of 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000. Clean each entire wheel with a mild wheel detergent being sure to remove all brake dust and grease from the surface of the wheels. Let them completely dry before moving to the next step.
Put on safety goggles and once the wheels are dry, use the 500 grit sand paper to lightly scour the lip of the wheel to remove any imperfections. Now take the spray bottle and spray the lip of the wheel with a fine mist of water. While wet, use the 1000 grit sandpaper and scour the lip of the wheel until it begins to show the "lighter" aluminum underneath.
Use the water hose to rinse the entire wheel making sure the wheel lip is free of any debris from the previous steps. Take a non-abrasive towel and dry the wheel lip. Spray the wheel lip again with the water bottle and then use 1500 grit sandpaper to scour the wheel lip while pressing a little harder this time.
If necessary, rinse the wheel with the water hose to remove debris and spray the wheel lip with water and then scour the lip with 2000 grit sandpaper. This should remove any oxidation and imperfections that remained from the prior steps.
Wash the wheels again with wheel detergent; let dry and then polish the entire wheel with aluminum polish. Allow the polish sit on the wheel for about 20 minutes before buffing out. This will seal the aluminum to prevent further oxidation and make the wheel easier to clean later on.
