I've had stains on my sawblades for a little while now, and was wondering if there's anything I can do about it. Cleaning with Simple Green and water doesn't do the trick. I tried the citrus degreaser they sell at Costco, too, without success.

Here's some pics of what I am talking about:

 

Looks like rust to me, maybe using a wire brush will take it out, but don't scratch the rim.

 

Thanks for the reply. Maybe I'm just a dumbass, but I thought that aluminum doesn't rust. Is it the other metals in the alloy that are rusting you think?

 

Arggghhh! no wire brush!

Use Mothers Metal polish, will remove it without gouging up you rim.

 

Yes a metal polish or maybe Black Magic Rim Cleaner would do the trick. Claybar could help too. Essentially you need to remove the emedded contaminants out of the rim surface. Some degreaser or soap is not going to do that. It will take a the very least an extremely fine abrasive compound to get that crud out. Metal polish and rim cleaning compounds are made of just that stuff. Certainly worth the $5-8 for a bottle. Then follow up with wax on the rims to keep the brake dust off and make it easier to clean.

Off hand I'd say those rims are looking that way from a lack of regular cleaning. Get yourself a wheel brush and use it every time you wash your car. Keeping the brake dust off those curved areas inside the spokes is key to maintaining the finish.

CM

 

Yeah, that's what I meant, not wire brush, wheel brush.

 

just use aluminum brightner but be very careful it is dangerous it has acid in it. my friend is a detailer and uses the stuff all the time to remove waterspots and brake dust on wheels.

 

Thanks for all the responses.

Update: I tried Mother's Mag Polish, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

What's aluminum brightener? Can I get that at Autozone et. al.?

I'll look for Black Magic Rim Cleaner.

I am normally pretty good about cleaning my rims. However, there was this one stretch where I didn't clean them for half a year because of mort important stuff going on with my life. After that, I got these stains, so yeah this is due to a lack of maintenance.