Couple of Wheel Cleaner Reviews

[Slava]

Finally got a chance to review couple of products that I've been interested in.
I used my winter wheels from my STI to test these out. these wheel are all BBS wheel that were painted black. These wheels have never been cleaned with chemicals. Only power washed and that's about it.

Here are the products tested.


Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner (HWC)
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner with Griot's foam sprayer (WC)

I used boar hair and daytona wheel brushes for agitation.

First up was the Griot's Garage Heavy Duty wheel cleaner.

Here's the wheel that it was used on.

HWC Applied

HWC After 3 Min.

HWC After Agitation

And all clean.

Next up was the Sonax.

Sonax was applied to a dry wheel surface.

After few minutes. (I was a bit upset as the color change wasn't as dramatic as I was hoping it to be)

And it looked like a murder scene after agitation.

I'm not sure why but I forgot to take pictures of the wheel after it was rinsed off. But I can assure you it was very clean.


Final product was the Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner.

Wheel was rinsed before WC was applied.

WC After agitation

Dirt running off.

I also forgot to take pictures of the wheel after rinse off.


After it was said and done I had one dirty bucket.

 

[Slava]

Overall I think that these products performed as their manufacturers claim.

Griot's Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner and Sonax Full Effect are both strong wheels cleaners. With little agitation I was able to remove all the dirt from the wheels. Sonax color change was more dramatic than Griot's but foaming of Griot's is better IMO.

My biggest surprise was the Griot's wheel cleaner. It took a bit more agitation but it worked great and for the price you just can't beat it.

 

[Slava]

Overall I think that these products performed as their manufacturers claim.

Griot's Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner and Sonax Full Effect are both strong wheels cleaners. With little agitation I was able to remove all the dirt from the wheels. Sonax color change was more dramatic than Griot's but foaming of Griot's is better IMO.

My biggest surprise was the Griot's wheel cleaner. It took a bit more agitation but it worked great and for the price you just can't beat it.

 

[MDetail]

Did you rinse your brushes between agitation of different products? I have never seen sonax show any kind of foaming at all.

 

[Rei86]

Thanks for this great comparo!

Like I said in the intro thread about Griot's HWC, it was the product to get if it performed like it states for a cheaper price! Can't wait to use some during downtime on my cars heavily soiled rims.

 

[Capa1970]

Is it just me or does it seem whether you are going to pay $100 for a bottle or $3, some form of agitation is necessary?

 

[Capa1970]

Also, it would be nice to do a comparison with no agitation so that we can see the difference. It seems obvious that after you agitate they are all going to look the same in the photo.

 

[Slava]

Did you rinse your brushes between agitation of different products? I have never seen sonax show any kind of foaming at all.

I rinse them it might have been that I used the same bucket and some of the cleaner could have gotten on to the brush.

 

[Slava]

Is it just me or does it seem whether you are going to pay $100 for a bottle or $3, some form of agitation is necessary?

I think that agitation is necessary. Only cleaner I know of that claim that agitation is not needed is ARO.

 

[Slava]

Also, it would be nice to do a comparison with no agitation so that we can see the difference. It seems obvious that after you agitate they are all going to look the same in the photo.

If I have time this weekend I'll get my track wheels out and I'll do another comparison between the two to see how they act without agitation. I'll also get my pressure washer out to see how much of a difference it makes.

 

[fancyfootwork]

Good review, and oh how I lust over your BBS's. The green from the Sonax would look sweet as a wheel color.

 

[MDetail]

They all came out clean. I am in agreement that pretty much every wheel is going to need some agitation. If they don't you would probably just use soap and water. If you ever use sonax by itself, it is kind of weird to see it not foam when you agitate it. Good job on the wheels.

 

[Capa1970]

If I have time this weekend I'll get my track wheels out and I'll do another comparison between the two to see how they act without agitation. I'll also get my pressure washer out to see how much of a difference it makes.

+100. That would be great!