Best Polishing Products To Polish Dull Aluminum Wheels: Review Comparison

first I cleaned the wheels with soapy water to remove any dirt or contaminates on the surface.

A clean surface is important before polishing

so I’m not grinding existing debris into the surface, creating scratches.

now I have 8 clean rags here one for each product

so there’s no cross contamination

and you can see this once polished wheel has been

severely neglected over the years and it has almost no shine left

and I have two of these so four products on each wheel

and you may remember these from my land cruiser

these are very corroded to the point they need completely refinished

it’s going to take a lot of wet sanding to restore this wheel

but we’ll try all 8 products on this heavily corroded wheel as well

just to see what they can do

these wheels are bare aluminum and you cannot use aluminum polish on wheels that are clear coated

uh let me show you a couple examples here

these are clear coated and you can see the aluminum is actually

starting to corrode under the clear coat and that’s what these squiggly lines are

the polish won’t do anything for this wheel unless the clear coat is stripped off first

here’s another clear coated wheel and you can see the clear coat’s actually flaking off right here

and now the bare aluminum is exposed in that spot

this clear coat is cracking from age and this wheel needs stripped down before I can polish it

one last example

this is a three piece wheel and the center is clear coated

you can tell it’s a little dull and not as reflective

but the lips are bare aluminum

so I could polish just those if I wanted

so I’m only going to be using these products

by hand today and polishing them with terry cloth rags

just to keep things simple

I’l do another video sometime showing how to polish with drill attachments but

this is just a product comparison so I’m using elbow grease keep everything even

but if you want to work faster here is an example of polishing

attachments that you can use with a drill

these are all different shapes for getting in get nooks and crannies of each wheel

I’ll put a link for these in the description they were a little over 20 bucks for all of them

and that’s worth it because it takes a lot of elbow grease to polish 4 wheels

we’ll start with one of my favorites Mothers mag and aluminum polish

this is what I used to polish my Civic HX wheels back in the day

so it’s a good starting point to compare the others

just apply a little to a terry cloth towel

rub it onto the metal surface until a black residue appears

then buff it off with a clean towel

this is what it should look like a white or slightly off white color

here’s a really old can I found

you can see it has this yellow crusty surface

but I can just give it some shakes

taps on the palm

and then it’s good to go

just dip a little bit on a terry cloth towel here

about this much should do for one spoke

and just rub it in a circular pattern with some pressure

and the black residue on the towel is how you know the wheel

is bare aluminum and not clear coated then using a clean spot on the towel

just wipe off any of the black residue from the aluminum

and

that’s looking a lot better already

but let’s do one more pass for more shine

alright so there’s the before

and now

wipe any haze from the surface

this is looking so much better

polishing it the second time makes a huge difference

look at that

its not a mirror finish like chrome but for a couple minutes of work

this is really impressive

now there are still some really tiny pits in the surface

and mother’s isn’t going to take those out

I don’t think any of these products will

That requires wet sanding before polishing and that’s going to be a whole other video

next up we have some Blue Magic

and this is a really old container

they look different now

I’ll have links to all of these products down in the description by the way

this has to be fifteen years old

we’ll see how well it still works

pretty much the same instructions as the mothers

rub it until a black film appears

the Blue Magic does leave a silicone film to protect the shine though

contains ammonia so it’s uh not kind to the nostrils

good for any metal surface

even fiberglass

and I’ve noticed that it’s not quite as abrasive as the mothers

I used this on my Civic HX wheels after wet sanding to

2000 grit and polishing with the mothers

following with the blue magic made them a tad bit more reflective and brighter

just dab a little bit on the rag about the same amount as the mothers

and rub it on

once again it turned the rag black that’s how I know it’s doing its job

it has started to haze over so I’m going to wipe it off with a clean towel

and uh

it’s definitely less reflective than the mothers

yeah

so let’s give it another round

there’s round two

let’s wipe off this haze

two applications makes a big difference

but being that this aluminum wheel has some heavy oxidation

I don’t think the Blue Magic is going to be as effective here

you can see what the Mother’s did here

and the blue magic just isn’t as clear

So the blue magic is going to work a lot better on aluminum

that hasn’t oxidized as bad as this wheel has

still looking a lot better than it did before

but not as good as the mothers

next up Chemical Guys Heavy Metal Polish

good for all metals and contains a polymer sealant to protect the metal from the elements

shake well apply to metalwork using applicator pad

which I’ll be using a terry cloth towel instead for the small test area

rub to restore shine wipe with a clean cloth

that that should be plenty

it definitely removed some oxidation

let’s wipe off the haze and see how she looks

pretty good

still a little cloudy or hazy

but it is reflective

this was just one application though

let’s do one more and see if I can get it looking as good as the mothers

it is better now

very reflective

compared to before

but it’s not as clear as the mothers

maybe about the same as the blue magic

I’ll have to bring this outside later for a comparison in natural light

but next up is the Chemical Guys

Light Metal Polish

so unlike the heavy polish the light polish has a uv protection feature

so this is designed to protect the shine

I’m not sure how it’s going to do on this dull wheel

it says it’s non abrasive

safe for all metals including clear coated

and same instructions as the heavy

well let’s give it a try anyways

just three dots per the instructions

let’s see how it did

being non-abrasive I’m not expecting a whole lot

well there’s round one

I’m going to give it another application

let’s see how that second round did

still really hazy but it did polish it up some

it’s about on par with the blue magic

the chemical guys heavy definitely worked better on this wheel

I think I’d use the light after polishing with the heavy to help protect the shine

but I think mothers is the winner on this wheel

followed by the chemical guys heavy

and the blue magic and chemical guys light look about the same

but these all worked to bring the aluminum to a shine compared to what I started with

now let’s test the other four products on the other wheel

first up we have Heavy Duty Metal Polish by Alcoa

and it’s leaking when I shake it

so this is actually step two in a three step system

there’s also a step one cleaner which I already cleaned the wheel

and a step three sealant to protect the shine

which isn’t really going to make a difference in this test

Alcoa makes the aluminum wheels that you see on semi trucks

and those those wheels see a lot of dirt and road salt

so this might be some strong stuff

I shook it for a long time but it’s still a little thin

yeah I can feel some of the goop on the bottom

I’ll just wipe this right on here

now let’s wipe it off and

it definitely worked

still hazy

but I’m giving every product two applications to keep it fair

so let’s go again

it definitely turned the rag black

oh nice

there are some scratches on this spoke that you can see there

those most likely won’t come out without wet sanding

but you can see it polished up well

that’s a good reflection

after

before

next let’s try the Alcoa PDQ

so I’m shaking this and it’s leaking from the cap

it looks just like water

I shook it for a while and it still sounds like there’s water in it

alright let’s see whats going on in here

so

there is definitely some polish in there

but it looks like the top half is just water

this is getting weird

I don’t think it’s uh

supposed to do this

the water doesn’t even smell like anything

I should probably do a taste test

dont

I’m thinking this may have froze in the garage and separated somehow

I don’t have any other explanation why it was half full of water

but let’s test it anyways

so it might be a little thicker

I’m still getting some water out of here

alright well

let’s try this

so the Alcoa PDQ is designed to be used in between the heavy duty polish treatments

so it sounds like this is a lighter version of their polish

which means it’s probably on the less abrasive side

Let’s see how it did

well it still works

let’s do a second application

well look at that

it actually worked pretty well considering it was separated and half water

so we’ve got a good reflection

it’s pretty clear too

not too hazy

next up is Flitz

Flitz is for metal plastic and fiberglass and a paint restorer

so it does it all

this is for all kinds of applications

pause if you want to read em all

let’s see how it does on a dull aluminum wheel

need a can opener for this one

pretty thick and goopy

just a little dab there

that’s probably more than enough

oh this is looking pretty good for just the first pass

that’s impressive

let’s do one more for a fair comparison

this is really shiny

I’d say it’s up there with the mothers

there’s definitely ammonia in this stuff because it stinks

burns the nostrils worse than the blue magic

last but not least we have the never dull

I got a rag for this but the never dull doesn’t need a rag

it’s just this giant wad of looks like cotton insulation

this is a really old can by the way I’ll have links for all these products

in the description and this one will definitely look different now

cleans and polishes all metals

uh leaves no deposits in the crevices of metal work

that’s pretty smart

excellent for mag and chrome wheels

let’s go

so yeah on this welded two piece wheel I have this crevice here

so one benefit of this is polish won’t get stuck in that space

so tear off a small portion and rub it until all dirt is removed

then finish with a soft dry cloth

no way is this can 30 years old

we’ll see if it still works

it comes off in pretty big chunks

that’s a lot

I just need a little bit here

perfect

well it still works

here’s what the never dull took off

guess I still need this rag after all

pretty hazy but it is shining up

here’s before for comparison

and after

time for round two

that little wad is about done after two applications

but they pack this in here pretty tight so I guess a can would last a while

and there it is after two applications

pretty good reflection but pretty cloudy hazy

this wheel might be a little too corroded for the never dull

I’m going to take these two wheels outside for a daylight comparison

then I’ll test these products on this wheel

it has very heavy corrosion and I don’t expect any of these

products to restore that finish but we’ll see what they can do

alright we have much better lighting out here

and also

you can see the reflections better

so here is the original finish on this dull unpolished spoke here

here’s the blue magic

I’ll let you decide which one’s the best

here’s the mothers

and here is the chemical guys light

and the chemical guys heavy

and over on the other wheel let’s start with the unpolished spoke

and then we have the never dull

and the flitz

and the alcoa pdq

and the alcoa heavy duty

so let me know which one you think worked the best

I think they all worked pretty well

they all look great outside

I set them between the house and the pole barn so here’s a better chance to see the reflections

here’s the flitz

the never dull looks a little more hazy

the original dull finish

the alcoa heavy duty

and the alcoa pdq

they both look great

but I don’t know if they’re as bright as the flitz

alright other wheel

there’s the blue magic a little hazy

the mothers

chemical guys light

and chemical guys heavy

which I think worked a little better than the light on this wheel

alright it’s cold I’m going back inside

alright same drill as before

I divided the wheel into 8 sections one for each product

next I applied the product to the right of each label on the outer lip

two times just like I did before

alright so none

of these products were able to completely restore the surface

this wheel is going to need wet sanded up to 2000 grit and then polished

which will be an upcoming video

so here’s the mothers and you can see all the pitting is still dull

better than it was though

and the flitz

chemical guys light

chemical guys heavy

alcoa heavy duty

which might have actually made the biggest difference on this wheel

I mean this stuff is made for semi truck wheels which get pretty corroded

and the alcoa pdq

blue magic shined up pretty decent as well I guess it depends on the lighting

never dull did well on this wheel too

so don’t let your aluminum wheels get to this point or you’ll have

many hours of wet sanding and polishing to do

I’ll show that process in a future video

hopefully next week it’s warmer and I can get

back out in the garage and show you where I’m at on the truck

thanks for watching