You know those tar-like black marks that you get from tire rubber being flung at your car? You know, the ones that you need to break out the harshest chemicals from your garage to clean off?

Well tonight I found out that those cheapo Melamine sponges (off-brand magic erasers without detergent) will get them off with almost no effort.



Take a look. These two big streaks withstood a variety of wheel cleaners, the power washer, and even car polish:

Before:


During:



After:




Here it is at work on that smaller spot on the left.

Before:


After:


That was me literally soaking one of those sponges in water and rubbing on the marks. Took about two minutes to get all of the caked on rubber tar and brake dust off the face of that wheel.

Not too bad for a 20 cent piece of foam.

 

I use Mother's "Racing Rubber Remover" (R3).

Not sure how harsh it is, but it works awesome.

 

I've found that applying sealant beforehand makes it really easy to clean the wheels. Brake dust and rubber fragments come off with a simple wipe. Never had any rub marks like the ones shown though.

 

What kind of sealant? I tried waxing the wheels before a track day... did nothing.

 

I think a ceramic coating would be most effective. Most of the places that do that sort of thing will do it pretty cheap if you drop the wheels off w/ them. I did that with a new set of headlights.

 

I've had good results with Poorboy's wheel sealant.