Looking for a wheel cleaner?

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KiaTia

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Ok from this forum I finally found a couple of good tire dressing now I need a wheel cleaner. I have one car with painted wheels the other chrome factory GM. Right now I am using Turtle Wax wheel & tire cleaner there has to be better..

Thanks
 
Sonax is good stuff but I personally am not paying $15.99 for 16oz of wheel cleaner. No way. I bought Mothers on bogo here a few months ago and loaded up, it works just fine.
 
SONAX is pretty good stuff. Also like cg Diablo and eagle one a2z

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Any of the pH neutral color changing wheel cleaners are going to be a step up from TW. Griots heavy duty and meguiars dub are both on the lower cost end of the type of cleaner. The latest sonax revision really at the top of the food chain. None of these cleaners are cheap.
 
I buy the Sonax full effect in 5L containers. Awesome stuff.
 
Honestly, I'm going to give you some advice most people here probably won't give you. But it's the easiest way to go about this.

First, I'm guessing you have dirty wheels. Dirty wheels = high dust brake pads. Change your brake pads to ceramic pads. No more dust issues. This is cheap and easy to do.

Second, coat your wheels with some spray type coating: Permanon / Hydro2

Third, buy some quality wheel cleaning tools from AG.

Fourth, clean your wheels with car wash soap.

....Either that, or be prepared to buy bottles of wheel cleaner for like fifteen bucks each and be prepared to buy a lot of them and spend a lot of time cleaning wheels.
 
Meg's DUB wheel cleaner, off the shelf. Just as good as Sonax FE, IMO.
 
swanicyouth said:
Honestly, I'm going to give you some advice most people here probably won't give you. But it's the easiest way to go about this.

First, I'm guessing you have dirty wheels. Dirty wheels = high dust brake pads. Change your brake pads to ceramic pads. No more dust issues. This is cheap and easy to do.

Second, coat your wheels with some spray type coating: Permanon / Hydro2

Third, buy some quality wheel cleaning tools from AG.

Fourth, clean your wheels with car wash soap.

....Either that, or be prepared to buy bottles of wheel cleaner for like fifteen bucks each and be prepared to buy a lot of them and spend a lot of time cleaning wheels.
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Amen
 
swanicyouth said:
Honestly, I'm going to give you some advice most people here probably won't give you. But it's the easiest way to go about this.

First, I'm guessing you have dirty wheels. Dirty wheels = high dust brake pads. Change your brake pads to ceramic pads. No more dust issues. This is cheap and easy to do.

Second, coat your wheels with some spray type coating: Permanon / Hydro2

Third, buy some quality wheel cleaning tools from AG.

Fourth, clean your wheels with car wash soap.

....Either that, or be prepared to buy bottles of wheel cleaner for like fifteen bucks each and be prepared to buy a lot of them and spend a lot of time cleaning wheels.
Click to expand...

This should be sticky ^^
 
Mask said:
This should be sticky ^^
Click to expand...

Not really. Because once you shoot #1 in the head the rest die with it.

A lot, and I mean a LOT of todays performance cars come with very dusty pads. The Focus ST is a prime example. All of the people that have tried ceramics, EBC's, Hawks, etc all say that braking performance is degraded. So you live with dusty wheels. I'm sure the new Mustang's aren't much different.

If you're driving Mom's Camry fine, have at it. Some of us like our performance cars to stay performance cars. .
 
I've used the CG Diablo and 3D yellow rim/tire degresor. For the price you pay for the Diablo, IMO is not worth it. The 3D yellow cleaner is about $12-$14 for a gallon and can be diluted 1-4 for heavy duty cleaning. It doesn't have that color change perk but it gets the job done without breaking the bank. My DD has been getting washed once a week, I can probably get by with just soap and water but since it's cheap, I spray it down just for fun.

I've also used this product on 2 recent details both with very dirty wheels and it cleaned it up very well.
 
For the most part, I agree with the other posters about using car wash soap. I do this most of the time, but my wheels also don't get very dirty. I haven't tried a coat in yet, but I will.

As for specific cleaners, I have experience with Sonax and Chemical Guys Diablo. I'm not paying the price for Sonax, but CG Diablo seems very reasonable when diluted per the directions. It works well and smells good, too!

Next on my list to try is the Meguiars Non-Acid Wheel and Tire Cleaner.
 
I have some Sonax, but, I don't use it very often. It is just way too expensive for every week washes. I like eagle 1 A to Z. It is cheap and works well. I spray onto the wheel that is a bit wet. I also spray a quarter spray onto the brush. My Focus ST wheels that get so dusty so fast come out looking new. In a block they will be black again, but they come clean.
I also have a few coats of a wheel sealant on them, I think that helps.
 
Ccrew said:
Not really. Because once you shoot #1 in the head the rest die with it.



A lot, and I mean a LOT of todays performance cars come with very dusty pads. The Focus ST is a prime example. All of the people that have tried ceramics, EBC's, Hawks, etc all say that braking performance is degraded. So you live with dusty wheels. I'm sure the new Mustang's aren't much different.



If you're driving Mom's Camry fine, have at it. Some of us like our performance cars to stay performance cars. .
Click to expand...



Dunno about others, but I'm not driving a Camry either. The ceramics work fine on my BMW M for the street. I've been running them for years. The initial bite may be a little less - but that is about it. It's a very subtle difference compared to the the BMW pads.

What's not subtle is the amount of dust and how clean the wheels stay. I'm running PBR/Repko ceramics and they make zero dust. It's an amazing contrast compared to the BMW factory pads.
 
Ccrew said:
Not really. Because once you shoot #1 in the head the rest die with it.

A lot, and I mean a LOT of todays performance cars come with very dusty pads. The Focus ST is a prime example. All of the people that have tried ceramics, EBC's, Hawks, etc all say that braking performance is degraded. So you live with dusty wheels. I'm sure the new Mustang's aren't much different.

If you're driving Mom's Camry fine, have at it. Some of us like our performance cars to stay performance cars. .
Click to expand...

Another alternative will be to clean them as many times as possible and not to sacrifice the performance on brake.
With that said, car soap is all that needed.
Frequent wheel care is easy wheel care ^^
 
I use Sonax, and have purchased it when the price has been right. My next step is getting the 5L.

I'm going to wait for a 15-20% off special and split it with my neighbor. That will equate to 2.5L for $40 or so. It sure beats $15 for 16.9 oz.

When you go that route, it's not so bad. It is also not a wheel cleaner that you need to use every time you wash the car. If your wheels are really dirty to begin with, you would do it more often, but once you get them clean, maintaining them is much easier.
 
If brake dust has never been allowed to bake into your wheels then there is no need to use an iron neutralizing cleaner every time. I regularly use Optimum Power Clean and or LATA on dirtier wheels. If either of those cleaners aren't an option for you then you can't go wrong with Eagle1 AtoZ wheel cleaner and or Meg's cleaners. That said, even with ceramic pads, if you still steel rotors then you will probably still accumulate some iron deposit on the wheels and vehicles' finishes over time. So doing an initial decontamination and maintaining a sealant or coating on the finishes is probably the most economical option until the brakes need servicing.
I use Poorboy's World wheel sealant and can wipe my wheels clean after weeks of heavy driving. I am currently running EBC Green Stuff pads and EBC Ultimax slotted rotors on my S10 and they don't dust as bad as some setups but, way worse than ceramic pads, as far as I've seen. I guess to really decide you have to figure what your brake performance requirements are and what options are available for your vehicles to meet said requirements while having limited dusting. Also, if your pads still have plenty of life then you need to decide which is more cost effective at this point; new pads or some cleaner and sealant or coating?... That said I would coat the wheels at the time of changing the pads/brakes just for ease of cleaning/maintaining the into the future. To each his own.:)
I just got some of the new Sonax wheel cleaner plus and it starts working as fast as IronX but, has a longer dwell time. As soon as it comes in a 5 litter container I will purchase it. For wheels that need a deep clean and decon, it's worth it for me. It also required minimal agitation on some fairly dirty MB wheels, and rejuvenated the shine beyond what I was expecting, which made me and the client happy.:) But for general cleaning and maintaining I prefer just doing a water-less wash wipe down and or a traditional cleaning using OPC.
 
swanicyouth said:
Honestly, I'm going to give you some advice most people here probably won't give you. But it's the easiest way to go about this.

First, I'm guessing you have dirty wheels. Dirty wheels = high dust brake pads. Change your brake pads to ceramic pads. No more dust issues. This is cheap and easy to do.

Second, coat your wheels with some spray type coating: Permanon / Hydro2

Third, buy some quality wheel cleaning tools from AG.

Fourth, clean your wheels with car wash soap.

....Either that, or be prepared to buy bottles of wheel cleaner for like fifteen bucks each and be prepared to buy a lot of them and spend a lot of time cleaning wheels.
Click to expand...
This is really the best thing.

Buying wheel cleaner gets expensive after a while.

At work we use DUB, Sonax, and when wheels aren't too bad, S100 wheel cleaner.
 
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