Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner Super Mini Review

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Setec Astronomy

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So I bought a bottle of this a couple of years ago because the price point seemed right at the time. I used it but it didn't make a big impression and I have a bunch of wheel cleaners so I haven't used it for a while.

So I used it again yesterday, and it's a lot better than I remember! One of the things I wonder about these iron-eating wheel cleaners is if they have enough other cleaning agents in them to remove non-iron dirt and grime from wheels, and this certainly does, as well as being thick so it clings to the surface. The only think I don't like is the cherry urinal cake scent they put in it to cover the hair perm smell. Not only is the scent kind of sickening, it clings and lingers and if I can still smell it I'm not sure whether there is still active chemical (which I would want to make sure is rinsed away), or whether it's just residual "air freshener".

Anyway, since I was cleaning hubcaps in my basement sink (because it was easier than doing it outside and I felt better about the hair perm going down the sanitary sewer than running off in the driveway, although I'm sure the pavement ants are disappointed at not getting permed and I'm pretty sure it would kill them, which would be good in my book), my basement is going to smell like a truck stop bathroom for a while.

(Has anybody ever wondered what happens to your cast iron sewer pipes if you wash an iron-eating wheel cleaner down them...I did...I was wondering whether it just cleaned the rust off the inside, started dissolving them, or disturbed a passive layer which is going to cause more corrosion down the line...I'm sure FUNX will have some thoughts on this.)

Bottom line is if you can tolerate the smell this is a good wheel cleaner at a good price:
(The standard green Griot's is also good for what it is, if you don't need iron-eating)


griots-garage-heavy-duty-wheel-cleaner-35-oz-5.gif


Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner, Griots wheel cleaner, hd wheel cleaner
 
Great review! I took home a bottle recently and I was actually surprised at the lack of a strong, pungent order, one that I recalled from my last go-round with this wheel cleaner. Granted, it didn't smell good by any means, but it wasn't foul either. I wonder if they updated the formula?

New! Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner - in Action!

Nick@Autogeek said:
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Either way, it's an outstanding formula at heck of a good price.
 
Nick@Autogeek said:
I wonder if they updated the formula?

Either way, it's an outstanding formula at heck of a good price.
Click to expand...

I bought my bottle just under 2 years ago, so it's possible they reconsidered the cherry scent.

As far as the price, as I was writing this I was thinking how at the time I bought it, Optimum FerreX wasn't out yet, and that I'd probably like to try that before buying any more of the Griot's HD...then I saw that that FerreX is about twice the price! One thing I've always noticed about Griot's, and perhaps this is partly due to their traditional spray bottles being so large (35oz), is that the spray bottle unit pricing isn't terribly higher than the gallons. So with Griot's you always seem to get a good deal, whether it's a bottle or a gallon.
 
I have been using the green wheel cleaner for a while and it works very well.
 
Last time I used GG HD Wheel Cleaner was about 3 years ago and I 100% agree with Setec - the cherry smell was quite strong and I couldn't wait to be done with the bottle. But as Nick said, perhaps GG has reformulated it to be less sickly sweet cherry?

Funny how I almost prefer the noxious odor of Sonax FE or Iron-X over it. Isn't classic Iron-X supposed to be cherry scented as well?
 
motion732 said:
Safe to use on paint as a substitute for Iron-X?
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It's a wheel cleaner with iron removing abilities. I would still use a dedicated iron remover such as Iron X for decontaminating paint. :xyxthumbs:
 
RE: Putting iron decontamination products
"Down the Drain"

Even though I've never given sewer gas much
thought as being considered a mechanism in a
passivation process that would, in effect:
provide some protection from future corrosion
to ferrous metals...

I will, however, say that certain (extraordinary?)
precautions should definitely be taken, whenever
using artificial light sources to observe whether,
or not, an occurrence (of said passivation layer)
naturally forms/exists in a sewer system's
plumbing lines/fixtures.


Otherwise: The old saying about
"something (or the other) hittin'
the fan"....could come into play!


Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
Even though I've never given sewer gas much
thought as being considered a mechanism in a
passivation process that would, in effect:
provide some protection from future corrosion
to ferrous metals...
Click to expand...

I guess I had in my head the passive layer on the lead pipes in Flint...I'm pretty sure the "passive" layer in my iron sewer pipes is slime, now that I think about it.
 
I used some of this that was recently purchased. The smell wasn't great, but not bad. Granted I've worked in the chem/haz mat industry for decades so my level of a horrible smell is most likely skewed. My wife didn't care for it though.
It worked on her filthy wheels though. Sprayed on, agitated, let set a little while, and her wheels cleaned off easily.
 
Octopiston said:
I used some of this that was recently purchased. The smell wasn't great, but not bad. Granted I've worked in the chem/haz mat industry for decades so my level of a horrible smell is most likely skewed.
Click to expand...

As Angus noted, and I alluded to, I'd rather it just be the chemical smell rather than an attempt to hide it. If you're just dealing with the chemical smell, at least you know when the chemical is gone.
 
paul_g said:
It's all I use because it's a safe biodegradable concentrate approved by BBS, PH Balanced so it takes the guess work out. Thridly, yeah... it works!
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Are you talking about the green regular wheel cleaner? Because I don't seen anything about BBS approval for the heavy duty, and I don't think the fish like hair perm, but hey, you never know. I mean I think it's more likely to biodegrade the fish.
 
I got a bottle to try from Jeff and used it for the first time last weekend...I was pretty impressed and seemed to use less product as a result of the sprayer it has. I'm not really a fan of any of the the color changing wheel cleaners, or the smell, no denying they are effective at cleaning wheels though. :xyxthumbs:
 
RaskyR1 said:
I'm not really a fan of any of the the color changing wheel cleaners, or the smell, no denying they are effective at cleaning wheels though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, me either, in the beginning I got a bottle of Sonax FE, and it never seemed to change color for me, ceramic pads? Even on my car that had German-type dust before I changed the pads, I'd get very little color change and it would take a long time to do anything. I did a back-to-back on that car and found my (non-HF) acid wheel cleaner worked better (which isn't really available in consumer quantities anymore).

However, yesterday I was cleaning the back of winter-wheel hubcaps, that are bare plastic and always a nuisance to clean, and the GG Heavy Duty was just the ticket.
 
I am planning of coating my wheels and was hesitating between sonax FE and GG HD wheel cleaner. The fact that it seems more pleasant to use based its capacity to clean to the wheel and the smell (improved smell) made me pull the trigger...
 
looks like another solid offering from GG... :props:
 
I haven't used it in a couple years but it's a good wheel cleaner.
 
I tried this product yesterday. Over all I was pleased. As you will see in the final picture I still hove some work to do.

Before:


Close Up Before:



Dwelling 5 MIN:



After Agitating:


After Rinse:


Dry:

 
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