It will refresh the satin finish of those that already are, or with extra effort (repeated turnings) turn a polished surface satin/brushed. A scuff pad can achieve the same look but its harder to achieve uniform lines around the features of the wheel surface.
Really the best way is take them apart and chuck the halves in a lathe, but this allows you to avoid that and still have decent results. Depends on the level you want to take it to - for a show car I'd definitely take them apart if you have a lathe or send them to a professional...race car or street beater that gets driven I'd use this quick and dirty method I described.