Deep talk about wheel cleaners - alkaline, acid, pH levels

[Calendyr]

Agreed. I'm trying one more alkaline wheel cleaner. P&S Brake Buster. Someone claimed the corrosion inhibitors prevent rust from forming on the caliper after rinsing. I won't be sold until I try. If it works, that would be awesome!

Funny you mention that, I just discovered this product

[Calendyr]

How about...


Pick a BRAND NAME you trust.

For example - Meguiar's and Mother's both make VERY SAFE consumer products that I dare say are Bubba-Proof. As long as you MATCH the product to the SURFACE you probably can't get any more bubba-proof.



Or do a ton of research and then pick something. It's just sometimes it's easier to KISS or Keep it Simple Simon.


I recommend the SONAX wheel Cleaners. They are all Acid Free and safe on anything. I have un-coated aluminum mags on a streetrod or two in the garage right now for my class this weekend and we're using SONAX wheel cleaners.

To be fair, all cleaners probably work The question is how well and how fast.


If you are an enthousist, I would say that any product will do. So what if you need to wait a few minutes for it to work.

On the other hand, if you do this as a business, waiting 5 minutes for the product to do something is a waste or time and thus money.

I have tried a few things for wheels so far. Wheel Brightener has been a serious level above all the other cleaners I have tried.

On my last order I got Meguiar's non-acid wheel cleaner. It's not horrible but it's not as effective. The one good thing about it is that I can do the tire with the same product, but if the wheel is really dirty, you really don't get the same result as WB.

As for fallout removers. In my experience they are among the least effective cleaners. Of course, i work on client vehicles so most of the wheels I see only receive a proper cleaning when I do it... so break dust covered wheels I what I mostly deal with. If your wheels are cleaned correctly everytime you wash the car, a fallout remover will be doing very well. Heck, you can very likelly just use car shampoo to clean them unless you have nasty break pads that dust like crazy

[glen e]

I think the general rule of thumb is you can use any tire cleaner or wheel cleaner from the majors you want if the wheel is clear coated or powder coated. It’s only the bare aluminum or steel wheels that have a problem with some products.

Now the brake caliper is another story…

[Mike lambert]

Why I prefer the Griot’s is that it has twice the amount of the active ingredient in than any of the other brands. That is straight from Rod Kraft and Jeff Brown.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Funny you mention that, I just discovered this product

Check out the thread I started. It’s true!


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[UncleDavy]

The rule of thumb is, if you are working on bare metal (Aluminium, Magnesium, etc), you want to use a PH Neutral product.

For painted wheels, you can use more agressive products both alkaline and acids.

Acids do a much better job at removing the type of dirt on wheels, especially break dust.

Auto Fanatic just came out with a new wheel cleaners that is PH Neutral but is super effective on break dust, I have not tried it yet but all the promo videos I have seen are very convincing. The product cost is a bit silly right now but if the guy can make some deals for distribution with large companies like PBMG or others, he will likelly be able to ramp up production and reduce the price of the product.

As of right now, the most effective cleaner I have worked with is Meguiar's Wheel Brightener. This stuff is amazing but it's very toxic. So it's not something I would recommend to the general public. As detailers, we can take the necessary precautions when using it. From the Meguiar's forum, it's supposed to be a PH of 5.5, I guess it also depends on dilution. I normally use it 4:1

A pH of 5.5 diluted 4:1 yields a solution pH of 6.2. Anything between 6.0 and 8.0 is considered pH neutral.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Why I prefer the Griot’s is that it has twice the amount of the active ingredient in than any of the other brands. That is straight from Rod Kraft and Jeff Brown.

I just used their iron and fall out remover. I tested against megs ult wheel cleaner, eagle one triple cleaning foam (previous two color changing wheel cleaners) and iron x.

Unfortunately or fortunately their was no color changing with any of them. Guest not much iron in the air and car has ceramic pads?

Anyways I’d say if based of smell = color changing cleaning agent griots would have the most. Yes worse than iron X.

I also liked how it was more gel like and clung better.


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[yakky]

I think the general rule of thumb is you can use any tire cleaner or wheel cleaner from the majors you want if the wheel is clear coated or powder coated. It’s only the bare aluminum or steel wheels that have a problem with some products.

Now the brake caliper is another story…

That applies to brand new wheels... Maybe. But in real life there are scratches and/or curb rash which means bare aluminum. Even on brand new wheels there is bare aluminum somewhere. I've seen bubbling around valve stems on cars where owners regularly used agressive products on wheels.

IMO wheel cleaners are one time use on neglected wheels. They are not for regular use to save you from bending over and using some elbow grease.

[SayNoToPistons]

That applies to brand new we wheels... Maybe. But in real life there are scratches and/or curb rash which means bare aluminum. Even on brand new wheels there is bare aluminum somewhere. I've seen bubbling around valve stems on cars where owners regularly used agressive products on wheels.

IMO wheel cleaners are one time use on neglected wheels. They are not for regular use to save you from bending over and using some elbow grease.

My exact thought on an enthusiast level at least. Though it's understandable to use lower pH (or harsher in general) products for more efficiency when it comes to a business.


Now, how do wheel cleaners impact applied protection on wheels? Can one assume that any product above pH neutral or alkaline will not strip the sealant or coating?

[SWETM]

I use Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus as a maintance wheel cleaner. Depending on how well I have protected the rims it's not even necessary to use but every 3 wash. Otherwise it's gets cleaned with the prewash foam and PW clean rinsing it off. This is useally very effective on the tires too. So every 3 wash I take a softer Vikan wheel brush and aggitate the tires with the prewash foam. Then spray Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus and aggitate with various brushes. During the winter months it builds up a yellow hue on the most dirty places of the rims. This is most effective to desolve with an acidic based wheel cleaner. And sometimes a little tar remover is needed for deep cleaning. As I think that the thing that holds the brake pads together is some kind of adisive that the tar remover gets off. Different chemicals desolves different kind of dirt and contaminants. Sonax has just released a version of Wheel Cleaner Plus with a higher amount of iron remover in it. Have not tested it out yet as it's quite pricey with almost the double of the price on it. And Wheel Cleaner Plus is very effective to be a safe wheel cleaner. I always rant about you guys have your domestic brands at a low price. With Sonax we have a good price on most of their products. And Wheel Cleaner Plus I buy for little under $8. Buys 5 bottles which last me a summer season on 2 cars.



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