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

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SayNoToPistons

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I've searched a read posts and have taken in as much information as possible in regards to wheel/tire cleaners. I am hoping to compile a bit more technical details in one thread.

I am also curious what types of wheel cleaners and pH levels are safe for different variations of wheel finishes and perhaps whether or not they are protected with a sealant or coating.

I'll start with two of my go-to wheel cleaners. One is a popular OTC and the other is relatively common "non-acid" wheel cleaner with directed dilution ratios.

Meguiars D143 Non-Acid Wheel & Tire Cleaner - pH of 13.5
From a post I found:
"The d143 contains tetrasodium edta which is one component that harms bare and anodized aluminum. It also produces hydrogen gas when it contacts aluminum"

Eagle 1 A2Z Wheel Cleaner - Alkaline base pH of 13.5


Ultimately, I want to find what separates one wheel cleaner from another. The posts I dug up are a hit or miss, and I'm hoping for the experts to chime in and categorize all these different chemicals.
 
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
 
Calendyr said:
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. Can't remember the PH level, but I am guessing probably around 2 depending on dilution ratio. .
Click to expand...

I've seen those same Auto Fanatic videos. His wheel cleaner, while it may seem over-priced, is designed to be diluted, and more cost effective. I've not had the need for a dedicated wheel cleaner in some time, as all the wheels on our vehicles are coated and clean up with soap and water. As I branch out into a side gig a little more, and work on some wheels that are not maintained, I may bite the bullet and see just how cost effective the Auto Fanatic stuff can be.
 
MOST pH wheel cleaners(non iron removing) are ineffective on siloed wheels. Once wheels are deep cleaned, they are excellent to maintain with. The iron removing pH neutral cleaners tend to do very well on soiled wheels, as well as acidic and alkaline cleaners.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Modern iron and fallout removers are the way to go. PH neutral and work very well for wheels and paint. Also no damage to surrounding areas such as brake components or anodized trim, such as running boards or wheel arch trim.
 
Mike lambert said:
Modern iron and fallout removers are the way to go. PH neutral and work very well for wheels and paint. Also no damage to surrounding areas such as brake components or anodized trim, such as running boards or wheel arch trim.
Click to expand...
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!
 
WRAPT C5Z06 said:
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!
Click to expand...

Ever try BriteMax Grimeout for cleaning wheels?
 
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.



:)
 
briarpatch said:
I've seen those same Auto Fanatic videos. His wheel cleaner, while it may seem over-priced, is designed to be diluted, and more cost effective. I've not had the need for a dedicated wheel cleaner in some time, as all the wheels on our vehicles are coated and clean up with soap and water. As I branch out into a side gig a little more, and work on some wheels that are not maintained, I may bite the bullet and see just how cost effective the Auto Fanatic stuff can be.
Click to expand...

Most products can be diluted. Let's do a direct comparisson:

Wheel brightener from Meguiar's can be diluted up to 10 to 1, cost is 24,99$ per gallon but often comes on sale so I generally pay about 18,99$ per gallon.

Auto fanatic wheel cleaner sells for 49,99$ for what looks like 32 onces and can be diluted up to 5:1

So for light cleaning, a gallon of wheel brightener will yield 44 quarts of usable cleaner at 0,43$ per quart

Auto fanatic's quart will yield 6 quarts of usable cleaner at 1.95$ per quart, or 4.5 times the price of wheel brightener.


If you go to heavy concentration for trashed wheels:

WB diluted 4:1 will yield 20 quarts of products at 0,95$ per quart

AF diluted at 10.5:1 will yield 11.5 quarts at 4.3 times the price of WB.

So... the only issue I see is the price. He needs to lower his price a lot for his product to be worth it. At twice the price of WB I would probably consider it. It is not as bad on your health and is less likelly to damage something, so there is value in that. But that value is not worth paying almost 4 times more.

Also while I was researching this today I fell upon some videos of P&S Brake Buster that seems to have the same characteristics of Auto Fanatic's products at a fraction of the cost. BB is cheaper than WB, not sure about dilution but people in the videos say they are using it 5:1 to 10:1 so it's consistent with WB for dilution.

I will be giving that product a try when I run out of wheel cleaner.
 
WRAPT C5Z06 said:
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!
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that, I just discovered this product ;)
 
Mike Phillips said:
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.



:)
Click to expand...

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 ;)
 
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…
 
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.
 
Calendyr said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
Mike lambert said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
glen e said:
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…
Click to expand...

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.
 
yakky said:
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.
Click to expand...

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?
 
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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