I can't resist adding to this debate. To me cleaning these wheels is about keeping motivated. To keep motivated means doing the job quickly yet properly. So in the absence of a child with the fingers of a concert pianist, I decided to build a wheel spinning jig.
The jig is hardly high tech and includes a dummy stub shaft, a turned down s/h hub and a support bracket. These are assembled with old bearings in the Jaguar method.
The bracket is designed to present the wheel at an angle and height to enable the cleaning and polishing, to both sides of the wheel without breaking ones back. Progressing the cleaning process around the wheel is therefore very logical.
Furthermore, when you get bored, you can wipe the rim quickly, spin the wheel fast and mesmerize yourself whilst taking a sip of coffee.
When all is clean and I just use white spirit on a rag the polish is achieved by hand with autosolvol with the rim edges being done with a polishing mop.
Lastly, I use a quick spray of clear wax oil on the inner rim to make it easier to clean off the brake muck off the front wheels.
Another debate rages about wheel choices and tyre choices. What I have and am very happy with, are Dayton's alloy rimmed, curly hub 6 inch wheels (J156-D3.5) with Vredestein 185 HR 15's.
