You don't "clean" them really. You rake them to get all the crud off the faces once in a while. You can buy a rake specifically for the job, or go the cheap bastard route like I do and use long Sawz-All blades with the ends wrapped in duct tape. (for handles)
Rake the face of the wheel (as it's running) until all the crud is gone. Obviously, you'll remove some of the wheel too, but wheels are considered "consumables" - however, they'll last a pretty long time if you don't rake 'em each and every time.
Also, the "rule" is, one compound per wheel. Don't mix 'n match.. Also, keep the wheels you're not using covered up. As you buff, all kinds of junk is thrown into the air. You don't want this stuff settling on and contaminating your other wheels. I store all my wheels and buffs for a specific compound in their own boxes. Emery has it's own box, tripoli hos it's own box etc... It avoids cross contamination.
Also, don't mix wheels on your buffer for the same reason. If you're running sisal/emery on one side, and spiral/tripoli on the other, you're almost certain to cross contaminate the wheels as you polish. Using a drill, or a die grinder, this is pretty much a non-issue, but it's something to think about.
Again, read the online "How To Polish" manual.. It'll get you headed in the right direction.
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