"Impressive"4-Way Wheel cleaner test & Tire Shine Comparison

[IID]

Well I have not had the time lately until today to post these product reviews.The review will be done on a very neglected 2000' Buick LeSabre Custom.

I'm also going to be cleaning the tire's with my FAVORITE tire cleaner-OPC.Note that ALL tires are sprayed with OPC and dwell the same time as the wheel cleaner on each wheel.
I will test these (3) wheel cleaners:
Sonax,GG HD,IronX

Wheel #1 will be the driver front,testing Sonax:

Spayed the wheel down and let the Sonax dwell while I move onto the next wheel:

On to wheel #2,which will be passenger front.

This wheel will be sprayed with IronX and then let to dwell:

Then onto wheel #3 which is the passenger rear:

And wheel #4,which is the driver rear:

Thou the rear wheel's are not as bad as the front two wheel's (good thing as you will see later),I sprayed the GG HD on both rear wheel's and let dwell:

As I let the wheel cleaners dwell for several minutes,I retrieve my wheel/tire cleaning brushes:

After agitating the wheels with the brushes (and they ALL did need agitation to clean),here is the outcome's.

Sonax:

before:

IronX:

before:

GG HD:

I walked around each wheel and inspected a lil' closer.All the wheel cleaning product's did very well but upon further review,the GG HD left some contamination behind that the others did not:

Now I thought I did a real thorough job of cleansing/scrubbing each wheel with it's corresponding product.After further thinking,I remembered that the (2) wheels that I applied the GG HD to were not as bad as the front wheels.I scrubbed each wheel well enough to my satisfaction to think they would all be clean.
So I decided to hit the (1) rear wheels again with Sonax where previously I applied and scrubbed with GG HD.Here is what came off additionally:

And the other (1) wheel with IronX that had been previously cleaned/scrubbed with GG HD:

I am NOT saying the GG HD is a sub-par product but I am saying (personally) I think the IronX and Sonax does a better job cleaning.

Now onto the (4) tire dressings.
I'm just showing each product's applied/finish appearance on each of it's tire's.

AutoGlym Tyre Shine (sorry AG for mentioning this product as this is one of my favorite tire dressing).I know the bottle is NOT AutoGlym but that's what is in it:

EcoTouch Tire Shine (another good one as well):

CarPro PERL,is whats in the Wagner:

And Finally,Wolfgangs Black Onyx Tire Gel:

Thank You for looking

 

[V3AutoDetailing]

I agree with your findings, After trying the GG wheel cleaner on very dity wheels to dusty ones. I am not very impressed with its cleaning powers. It does work good on lightly soiled wheels, but it does leaving something on the table. The cost is reasonable though.

I have not used sonax but have it in my cart for the next order i put it. Great review

 

[IID]

I have to apologize to all because the title should have read,3-Way Wheel cleaner test! I'm sorry for any and all confusion. :doh:

Maybe a Moderator would PLEASE change it for me?

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Whitewalls? My last whitewall was 1980, I think. Nice test.

 

[Rei86]

IME I found Iron X to do noting for the baked on brake dust. Glade to see this review and how well it worked for your IID

 

[IID]

Whitewalls? My last whitewall was 1980, I think. Nice test.

Yeah,the whitewall's would not be my personal 1st choice but it did help show the cleaning power of the OPC.
Thank you.

 

[IID]

IME I found Iron X to do noting for the baked on brake dust. Glade to see this review and how well it worked for your IID

I actually thought the IronX cleaned the best out of all the wheel cleaners.

 

[Dubbin1]

Great job on the 3 way Chris One of these days I'll get one of those wheel cleaners.

 

[Twister]

Thanks for posting your findings. I was courious how they all compared

 

[rwright]

I agree with your findings. None of the tires appear dressed, just really clean. I've had 2 customers with Bridgestone tires and they pretty much refuse dressing. On one vehicle I applied 3 different dressings in multiple layers with the same results :dunno:. I was using Sonax for wheels and Iron X for paint, but now I just use Iron X for both.

 

[IID]

Great job on the 3 way Chris One of these days I'll get one of those wheel cleaners.

Hey bud,haven't seen you around for awhile.Hope all is well

Thanks for posting your findings. I was courious how they all compared

My pleasure

I agree with your findings. None of the tires appear dressed, just really clean. I've had 2 customers with Bridgestone tires and they pretty much refuse dressing. On one vehicle I applied 3 different dressings in multiple layers with the same results :dunno:. I was using Sonax for wheels and Iron X for paint, but now I just use Iron X for both.

Yes,I think how tire dressings appear depends somewhat on the manufacture and design/pattern on the face of the tire(sidewall).

 

[Scarelane]

Great review! I would like to try the Sonax. Lots of positive reviews on that one! I have used the Griot's HD Wheel Cleaner many times with great results. Even on my wife's cruddy, abused wheels! But I want to try the Sonax.....Always room for another product in the arsenal!

Have you tried the Griot's Vinyl & Rubber Dressing? That's my favorite so far.

 

[IID]

Great review!

Have you tried the Griot's Vinyl & Rubber Dressing? That's my favorite so far.

Thank You Ted.

I have Not tried the GG V&RD-yet but I'm always looking for a durable tire product that also makes the tires look (1) step above clean (very very little shine).

 

[Kristopher1129]

Interesting. I'm kinda bummed out about your findings, ha. I just bought a gallon of GG HD wheel cleaner to try it out. I just went through two of the 5 liter containers of Sonax. As much as I like the Sonax...I just can't swallow that hefty price tag. I can buy 3 gallons of GG HD for the price of two 5 liters of Sonax.

I was willing to bust out the money for the Sonax simply because I have a few guys working for me now...and I wanted something safe on all rims for them to use. I just didn't really wanna risk coming around the corner to find one of my guys confused as to why the rims are spotted, haha.

I guess my question now is....how much is Iron X? lol

 

[Rei86]

Interesting. I'm kinda bummed out about your findings, ha. I just bought a gallon of GG HD wheel cleaner to try it out. I just went through two of the 5 liter containers of Sonax. As much as I like the Sonax...I just can't swallow that hefty price tag. I can buy 3 gallons of GG HD for the price of two 5 liters of Sonax.

I was willing to bust out the money for the Sonax simply because I have a few guys working for me now...and I wanted something safe on all rims for them to use. I just didn't really wanna risk coming around the corner to find one of my guys confused as to why the rims are spotted, haha.

I guess my question now is....how much is Iron X? lol

CarPro Iron X 5 Liter Refill

Its pretty damn expensive but you can use it on the cars paint too so it can double duty. I forgot the member but he did a side by side with Iron X on one side of a white truck and Sonax FE (Paint mind you) and Iron X did its job. Where Sonax just kind of stayed green.

I actually thought the IronX cleaned the best out of all the wheel cleaners.

Yeah it just didn't do anything for my rims

 

[Kristopher1129]

CarPro Iron X 5 Liter Refill

Its pretty damn expensive but you can use it on the cars paint too so it can double duty. I forgot the member but he did a side by side with Iron X on one side of a white truck and Sonax FE (Paint mind you) and Iron X did its job. Where Sonax just kind of stayed green.

Yeah I looked up the price. Definitely hefty. I think if anything I would buy Iron-x strictly for paint use only. It's nice that you can use it on rims too.

But honestly...I've never had a problem getting rims clean no matter what product I use. I've tried all different kinds, and of course some work better than others. But still, I don't think it's worth the money to save myself from scrubbing just a bit more. I'd rather have something on the cheaper side that works fairly well, and is concentrated.

I'll be asking my distributor what he has for a non-acid wheel cleaner. The acid stuff I have around now from him is just too risky to have around.

 

[IID]

Interesting. I'm kinda bummed out about your findings, ha. I just bought a gallon of GG HD wheel cleaner to try it out. I just went through two of the 5 liter containers of Sonax. As much as I like the Sonax...I just can't swallow that hefty price tag. I can buy 3 gallons of GG HD for the price of two 5 liters of Sonax.

I was willing to bust out the money for the Sonax simply because I have a few guys working for me now...and I wanted something safe on all rims for them to use. I just didn't really wanna risk coming around the corner to find one of my guys confused as to why the rims are spotted, haha.

I guess my question now is....how much is Iron X? lol

I was bummed out as well that the performance wasn't on par(for me)with the IronX/Sonax.
The way I think about it is:
if you have to use more of a product(or physically work the product harder),are you really saving over a product that is more expensive?
If you can get the job done with a product that's more effective(less product usage to get the job done),it'll justify a more expensive product.
If you have to physically work less(less effort=less time),it'll justify a more expensive product.
********In my personal opinion********

 

[Kristopher1129]

I was bummed out as well that the performance wasn't on par(for me)with the IronX/Sonax.
The way I think about it is:
if you have to use more of a product(or physically work the product harder),are you really saving over a product that is more expensive?
If you can get the job done with a product that's more effective(less product usage to get the job done),it'll justify a more expensive product.
If you have to physically work less(less effort=less time),it'll justify a more expensive product.
********In my personal opinion********

I hear ya. I agree with you on that. But, in this particular case...my normal wheel cleaner is about $30 for a concentrated gallon that makes 5 more gallons...I think that logic gets tossed out the window when something like Sonax is $80 for 5 ready to use liters that I blow through pretty quickly.

Also, the wheels come out just as clean with my product and I don't necessarily use more product. I just basically always have to agitate...but I do that with Sonax as well.

But yes, I more than agree with you that time is money. I think in this particular case for me...it's more of a business decision. It's either refill with Sonax every few weeks for $80, or go for months for just $30. No brainer I guess in my case.

I do like the Sonax though...just got a find a way to keep it around for painted, and aluminum rims only. When it's around...I tend to use it up! lol

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

You can't use IronX on chrome, but you can use Sonax. For wheels, Sonax > IronX

 

[Setec Astronomy]

You guys are confusing me on this pricing--gallons, liters, dollars...rounding off a little I come up with this:

Griot's: $13.21/liter
Sonax FE: $20/liter, $19/liter (on sale), $16/liter (buy 2 on sale)
Iron-X: $25/liter

That's buying the Griot's in gallons and the others in 5-liter.