Wheel Cleaner HELP!!!

[1Clean3]

Ok so this is one of the strangest things I think I've seen... So I am currently detailing my friends s2000 and I started cleaning his wheels with Mother's foaming wheel and tire cleaner like I normally do to my roommate's car (who also owns an s2000).

Anyways, so I spray on the wheel cleaner one wheel at a time like a normally do scrub with various wheel brushes and then hose off wheel cleaner. Well, after I hosed the wheel cleaner off I moved on to doing the other wheels and when I checked back to the first wheel, the wheel had turned to like frosty white and it wont some off (all of the wheels are now like this). Now I know the s2000 wheels are clear coated (I have done a aluminum polish test before). I have tried wheel wax, 11% ipa mix, nevr dull (just to see if the oil in it would do anything) but nothing is working. The weird thing is I have never had this problem with my roommate's car who has the exact same wheels! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!!

Here are pics of the problem wheels:
(The 3 pics on the bottom is of my roommate's wheels without the frosting problem.)

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Were the wheels hot or even warm? Did you spray the cleaner on the wheels in the sun? All the other wheels worked fine with the wheel cleaner?

[poweraid]

I had the same thing happen to some ford wheels . I did not use mothers brand but used something more stronger Meg's wb . I ended up polishing the wheels , looked good as new then

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I had the same thing happen to some ford wheels . I did not use mothers brand but used something more stronger Meg's wb . I ended up polishing the wheels , looked good as new then

What did you polish with?

[poweraid]

I'm pretty sure I used menzerna , either power finish or super finish . I don't remember . these wheels were nothing special , just stock wheels on a ford focus . I also used a Meg's power cone .

[Hoytman]

Interesting that this happened when using a Mothers wheel cleaner. Can you tell us which Mothers wheel cleaner, specifically? I assume it was the Foaming All Wheel Cleaner from Mothers.

It's interesting because I had a Meguiar's product ruin some similarly coated Buick Regal wheels. The Meguiar's wheel cleaner I used was an over-the-counter cleaner and was supposed to be safe on all wheels.

Please let us know if you find something to remove the cloudiness.

[poweraid]

I just have to add , I was cleaning the barrels really good . along with using Meg's wb 4:1 , and iron x paste . I had the wheels off the car facing down and I'm assuming it was just run off that got on the face of wheel and prob dried ? sure I was a little worried of the cloudiness in spots here and there , that I did not ruin the wheels . so I just tried to polish them and the cloudiness disappeared , thank god .

[quiksilver_ben3]

I've seen something like this before, but I was using Trix on the wheels. What I believe happened was all the wheels (3 sets of 4) on all three cars had a coating of Meguiars Hot Rims Brake Dust Barrier, wheel protectant, wheel wax.

Trix began to eat away at the coating leaving the cloudy look and even where there was a sufficient build up of product flaking.

A quick polish with Poorboy's pro polish removed remaining residue.

[cardaddy]

That is acid etching I'm willing to bet! Most wheel cleaners have hydrofluoric acid at one dilution or another. If the wheel is the least bit warm the reaction will be much more adverse than if it's stone cold. Also want to pre-spray wheels with cool water before hitting them with wheel cleaner.


I used to buy it straight up, 20 gallons at a time. Really nasty stuff, but BOY can it clean truck frames. Doesn't do a bad job cleaning aluminum either but it will literally boil the metal away as it hits it. Put it at full strength on aluminum and it'll just sit there and foam. Rinse for 10 minutes straight to get rid of it and the aluminum will be clean enough to eat off of, but white as paper.

I used to spray it 100% on the beds of my trucks to get all the wrecked car mess off of them. Worked fine AS LONG AS IT DIDN'T GET ON THE WHEELS or the polished stainless toolboxes, trim, quarter fenders or the cab of the truck. For that matter, the wind could blow and it'd get on the glass and etch the living snot out of it too!

With what it does to metal, and even glass... it will reach down inside your lungs, grab your belly button, and pull it out your EYEBALLS! It's like a dump truck is sitting on your lungs when they get full of the fumes. Good memories there I tell ya'.

[Jomax]

That is acid etching I'm willing to bet! Most wheel cleaners have hydrofluoric acid at one dilution or another. If the wheel is the least bit warm the reaction will be much more adverse than if it's stone cold. Also want to pre-spray wheels with cool water before hitting them with wheel cleaner.


I used to buy it straight up, 20 gallons at a time. Really nasty stuff, but BOY can it clean truck frames. Doesn't do a bad job cleaning aluminum either but it will literally boil the metal away as it hits it. Put it at full strength on aluminum and it'll just sit there and foam. Rinse for 10 minutes straight to get rid of it and the aluminum will be clean enough to eat off of, but white as paper.

I used to spray it 100% on the beds of my trucks to get all the wrecked car mess off of them. Worked fine AS LONG AS IT DIDN'T GET ON THE WHEELS or the polished stainless toolboxes, trim, quarter fenders or the cab of the truck. For that matter, the wind could blow and it'd get on the glass and etch the living snot out of it too!

With what it does to metal, and even glass... it will reach down inside your lungs, grab your belly button, and pull it out your EYEBALLS! It's like a dump truck is sitting on your lungs when they get full of the fumes. Good memories there I tell ya'.

What kind of cleaner? I'm getting ready to redo my undercarriage,(remove rust and coat) and that cleaner seems like a good cleaner to use before paint.




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