REVIEW: Griots Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner

**MDetail** · 06-17-2011, 06:04 PM

I am stealing this "template" from CEE DOG hope he doesn't mind

Griots Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner - Initial Product Observations:
1.- Packaging: No exterior packaging.
2.- Contents: (1) 35oz Bottle, 35oz worth of cleaning solution. NOTE: Sprayer is NOT included with the purchase of this item
3.- Clarity of Directions: Clearly printed on rear of bottle.
4.- Consistency: Completely Fluid. Very water like, not a gel like some of the other similar products.
5.- Color: Milky-Clear
6.- Scent: Cherry (not a harsh smell)
7.- Size: 35 fl/oz (also available 1gal.)
8.- Price at time of Review: 16.99 (49.99gal)
9.- Manufacturer: Griots Garage
10-Made in: USA
11-Safe for: ALL Wheel Types
12-Addition items needed: Sprayer, various wheel brushes.

GGHDWC/GGHD - Griots Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner
SFEWC/SFE - Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner

I am not the best person to write anything. All of this is probably going to be pretty boring and drawn out. I will start with an explanation of what I did with pictures, then go with some after thoughts. There will be a totally separate thread for the people who wanted to read up on the GGHDWC vs SFEWC

My intentions of this review is to give you a view from a beginning consumer level car enthusiast. I am trying to show this product in it's true form, this is why I quickly cleaned a extra dirty rim. I purposefully only brought 2 wheel brushes (I should have just brought the big fender brush). Most people don't have the EZ detail brush, or swissvax wheel brushes or the like. I wanted to show what kinds of results you could expect from an entry level person. Another thing, when I agitated the wheels, I went over them quickly, most of these people do not know the techniques, or how to get a close to perfect rim the first round. I may refer alot to SFE, at this time, this is one of the more popular wheel cleaners in the same category as the GGHDWC.

Product Pictures

When purchased, make sure you add a sprayer, your purchase of the GGHDWC will NOT include a sprayer!

Rear of bottle

Directions/Info Close Up

Front Label/Info Close Up

Sorry I missed some of the action pictures, I did all of the work, and took video and pictures where I could.

Start with your wheel.

Give it a quick rinse with water from a hose. Spray Griots Garage Heave Duty Wheel Cleaner liberally on the wheel (face and barrel)Allow the solution to penetrate brake dust, dirt, and other elements for about 3 minutes.

After the 3 minutes have passed, give the wheels a good scrub (really good on wheels as bad or worse than these). Rinse the wheels.

Repeat if necessary. If done properly, you won't need to repeat. I finish all of my wheels by going over them with quick detailer and a cheap MF towel. This will remove any small amounts of dirt missed during the cleaning step, it will also remove water spots.

Initial thoughts:
I like the wheel cleaner. I have always like cleaners that you let sit for a couple minutes (make sure they are in a shaded area). This initial step helps to remove some of the dirt/brake dust.

Smell: Cherry smell. Unlike SFE GGHD is a very pleasant cherry smell with NO nasty smell behind it.

Ease of Use: Very easy to use, directions printed on the back are easy to follow. I love the fact that this product foams when agitated. Take very little agitation to clean the wheel. Like I mentioned before, this wheel wasn't 100% when I was done, but I also spent about 3 minutes on each wheel, just giving them a quick scrub whit a brush that really wasn't meant to complete the wheel job.

SORRY, WILL FINISH ON MY NEXT BREAK AT WORK

**Finemess** · 06-17-2011, 06:25 PM

Good job, in for updates.

**Rei86** · 06-17-2011, 06:33 PM

Good Review man.

**CEE DOG** · 06-17-2011, 06:34 PM

Nice work! Thank you for an excellent review

Edit: I would love to see a closeup shot before and see how well a wheel cleans with something else "weaker" before cleaning it with this to gauge it.

**Marc08EX** · 06-17-2011, 06:38 PM

Thanks for the detailed review!

I have one question about this product...Is it ok for the product to dry in the wheel while waiting for it to do its work like P21S? Or we shouldn't let it dry like Sonax FE? I'm just not sure if I can afford to let it sit in my wheels for 3-5 wheels in the hot Phoenix summers...I feel that anything liquid will evaporate in a minute or two here in the desert.

**MDetail** · 06-17-2011, 07:57 PM

I will finish up the review, ask as many questions as anyone needs, this way I can fill out more of the review with some kind of FAQ.

Originally Posted by CEE DOG

Nice work! Thank you for an excellent review

Edit: I would love to see a closeup shot before and see how well a wheel cleans with something else "weaker" before cleaning it with this to gauge it.

I am planning on doing a more "detailer" based review, compared to this which is more of a consumer review. I can do a comparison to something that might be thought of as less strong. Then I will do a comparison similar to what I will be posting soon, GGHD vs SFE.

Originally Posted by Marc08EX

Thanks for the detailed review!

I have one question about this product...Is it ok for the product to dry in the wheel while waiting for it to do its work like P21S? Or we shouldn't let it dry like Sonax FE? I'm just not sure if I can afford to let it sit in my wheels for 3-5 wheels in the hot Phoenix summers...I feel that anything liquid will evaporate in a minute or two here in the desert.

I did not read anything about product drying on the wheel. It is PH neutral so I would think it is okay, but you won't get the foaming without wetting it back up. It was about 85-90 here the other day, and even after the 3 minutes there was plenty of liquid left. That was one thing I meant to do that I forgot, a temperature check. Hopefully Nick or one of the AG gang will know if it is okay for the product to dry.

**MDetail** · 06-17-2011, 08:02 PM

The amount of product you see in the bottle in the first pictures is less than you will receive when you purchase this product. I received this bottle as a "tester" from the AG gang that had a giveaway. I sprayed 9 applications of this solutions throughout the test (I normally would have only done 1 application/wheel but for testing purposes it came to 9 applications). As the bottle sits now the solutions sits at about the Middle of the H or top of the W on the front label. As you can see, you will get a few cars out of this solution.

**Marc08EX** · 06-17-2011, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by MDetail

I did not read anything about product drying on the wheel. It is PH neutral so I would think it is okay, but you won't get the foaming without wetting it back up. It was about 85-90 here the other day, and even after the 3 minutes there was plenty of liquid left. That was one thing I meant to do that I forgot, a temperature check. Hopefully Nick or one of the AG gang will know if it is okay for the product to dry.

Sonax is pH neutral but they recommend that you don't let the product dry on the wheel.

**bmwgeek** · 06-17-2011, 11:29 PM

Hmm..it turns red just like Sonax/iron x.

**mg6045** · 06-18-2011, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by Marc08EX

Sonax is pH neutral but they recommend that you don't let the product dry on the wheel.

IMO the Sonax has some intersting wetting and lubricant agents in it, as its has always stayed wet for me for the 5 minute (or more 6-7 min) duration of letting it set up. I have been using it since last summer, and have done so in extreme heat and sometimes out of direct shade. Hope that helps the guy who asked about the heat in Arizona. Either way you ideally want to be in shade, but if you are going to use it in the sun, let it be early in the morning where the sun it at a shallow angle.