If the product has that nasty sniff to it and changes colour to a deep red/purple colour then it is actually reacting with the iron (at least the rusty iron). It has become common that some manufacturers who do not supply a product of this type will claim that it is a gimmick and the colour change indicates nothing at all. If anyone tells you this, you know one of two things:
1) They have no idea what they are talking about
2) They are lying to you
So when you hear your rep talking about this, get them out the door ASAP and buy from someone else.
From my point of view, the great joy with these products is that they can do a great job when they are at neutral pH. If you are willing to tolerate acidic pH then bleeding products are an expensive waste of your time. Acid cleaners can do the same thing, for less money. So, IMO, the number one characteristic that a bleeding cleaner should have is that it should be pH neutral. If outside of this, then all that extra cost really is being spent on a gimmick, it would be the acidity doing the majority of the work. I make special note of this because there are some big brand examples of acidic bleeding cleaners - in an area as specific as detailing this is a major slip up and indicates a lack of appreciation from the supplier (don't for a second believe that big detailing brands necessarily know what they are talking about, some very popular brands have practically zero knowledge).
The reason for the cost of IX is that the activity levels of the key ingredients are necessarily high. There are some with lower levels and which are much cheaper but the suppliers spend their time trying to bluff that their product really is as good (honestly, sir...). In fact, the activity levels are probably the highest of any product class. Even very strong acid wheel cleaners will rarely be that concentrated. That all sounds great and all that but the importance is that new, mass market, offerings tend not to be so expensive - mass market won't fork out. That means that there is a tendency that they are weaker or they fiddle with pH (or otherwise) to try to get the costs down.
IMO, a bleeding product really should not be used as a wheel cleaner. Most wheel finishes are tough enough to stand up to more aggressive products which will do the job for dramatically less money. Heck, most of the people you see using bleeding cleaners will spray them onto dry wheels which have never been powerhosed - much of the bleed that they see would have come off just with a water jet, so it is a total waste of money. An educated detailer would clean the wheels with a solid, old school cleaner at the cost of a few cents. In time, iron will build so, on an infrequent basis, it is then logical to use a bleeding cleaner to get rid of the bonded iron. Even with a really badly contaminated wheel, you should clean it with a normal wheel cleaner first, then do the bleeding cleaner. Anything else is just a waste.
