Meguiar's acid-free wheel cleaner FYI

Circa40

Circa40

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Just FYI, D143 will eat away anodized finishes. My wheels have black anodized center caps which means I cant use the cleaner on my wheels :(
I tested the cleaner on a scrap piece of anodized aluminum and sure enough, it stripped the color.
 
Thanks for posting this. Good to know. I just purchased some. What ratio were you using? I think the reccomended is half and half out of the gallon jug...

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MiCVPI said:
Thanks for posting this. Good to know. I just purchased some. What ratio were you using? I think the reccomended is half and half out of the gallon jug...

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I used the recommended 2:1 ratio. I used it on a friend's car and it seems to be very effective on caked on brake dust. Its a shame I cant use it on my car.
 
Circa40 said:
I used the recommended 2:1 ratio. I used it on a friend's car and it seems to be very effective on caked on brake dust. Its a shame I cant use it on my car.
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I mixed mine at 50/50 and it works well. I think it works better at loosening dirt, grime and brake dust on tires than wheels but I like it. Ill have to try it at 2:1, I may like it even more.

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Unfortunately this is not all that surprising considering that the product is based on a caustic hydroxide. This sort of thing is a constant problem in the UK. Caustics are extremely good and cheap cleaners, there is no doubt of that. Unfortunately the reality is that sodium and potassium hydroxide are arguable every bit, if not more, aggressive than some of the acids they are used to replace. For a professional, this is not a big problem but you often find trade products crossing over (often driven by forum recommendations) and a general user isn't going to identify that there are potential hazards.

Caustics are common in wheel cleaners and heavy duty cleaners/vehicle cleaners. If you are using such a product and you are using it on something remotely out of the norm, you need to double check with the manufacturer that there is no potential harm. If harm then occurs, it is their problem.
 
PiPUK said:
Unfortunately this is not all that surprising considering that the product is based on a caustic hydroxide. This sort of thing is a constant problem in the UK. Caustics are extremely good and cheap cleaners, there is no doubt of that. Unfortunately the reality is that sodium and potassium hydroxide are arguable every bit, if not more, aggressive than some of the acids they are used to replace. For a professional, this is not a big problem but you often find trade products crossing over (often driven by forum recommendations) and a general user isn't going to identify that there are potential hazards.

Caustics are common in wheel cleaners and heavy duty cleaners/vehicle cleaners. If you are using such a product and you are using it on something remotely out of the norm, you need to double check with the manufacturer that there is no potential harm. If harm then occurs, it is their problem.
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What specific active ingredients should people be looking for in high pH wheels cleaners that would indicate it is safe or not-so-safe? I'm familiar with sodium/potasium hydroxides and their derivitives (sodium metasilicate) but are their others to be on the lookout for that are caustic?

Do you know of any high pH wheel cleaners out there (UK or US) that are using a safer pH modifier? I 've seen some US manufacturers claim their wheel cleaner is not caustic even though it contains sodium metasilicate; perhaps I'm misunderstanding sodium metasilicate as being caustic, but I know it can react badly with aluminum.
 
PiPUK is more qualified to answer this than I am, but I don't think it's the aluminum that has a problem with the caustics (which are used as bare aluminum cleaners), it's the coatings on the aluminum which are affected by the high pH cleaners, as the OP noted.
 
Audios S6 said:
What specific active ingredients should people be looking for in high pH wheels cleaners that would indicate it is safe or not-so-safe? I'm familiar with sodium/potasium hydroxides and their derivitives (sodium metasilicate) but are their others to be on the lookout for that are caustic?

Do you know of any high pH wheel cleaners out there (UK or US) that are using a safer pH modifier? I 've seen some US manufacturers claim their wheel cleaner is not caustic even though it contains sodium metasilicate; perhaps I'm misunderstanding sodium metasilicate as being caustic, but I know it can react badly with aluminum.
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Silicates would be one of the main stays of non-caustic cleaning. Caustic in this regard is meant as an hydroxide (caustic soda/potash/etc.). Silicate can be corrosive but it is much less so than the caustics. Hopping to another field, specialised pot and glass washes are often metasilicate based because of the reduced reaction with aluminium (common in pots and cooking/baking trays) and also because caustic based products are well known to cause frosting of glasses.

From a general safety perspective, a product with a specific hazard class (in the EU - for instance, Irritant) can have 5-10x more metasilicate so that should show you that is is dramatically less dangerous.

The problem with MSDS watching is that you often need to look deeper. Sodium hydroxide is in lots of things and is totally safe because of its combination with something else. In the absence of chemical knowledge/experience, it is very hard to be definitive and hence you have to hope that the supplying brand has that knowledge. MSDS are still obligatory (if they wont give you one, they almost certainly shouldn't be trusted about anything chemical) but this is from a safety and first aid perspective.
 
c8n said:
Curious... why did you even try this on anodized wheels?

Meguiar's stated that D143 was not to be used on bare aluminum, anodized and powdercoated finishes.

Mid-Year Introduction - D143 Acid Free Wheel & Tire Cleaner
Circa40 said:
Autogeek didn't mention anything like that in their info page: Meguiars Non-Acid Wheel and Tire Cleaner D-14301

I based my purchase on their description.
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You may have missed it...But:
There was some invaluable information regarding this D143 product in this thread:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...rs-products-rinseless-wash-wheel-cleaner.html


TO WIT:
Michael Stoops said:
Well guys, it's looks like you've basically sorted out the whole pH aspect of this.
We clearly state that this product is not recommended for use on polished aluminum, anodized or powdercoated surfaces.
As has been pointed out, this is essentially a bulk, concentrated packaging of our Hot Rims All Wheel & Tire Cleaner.
We do recommend diluting this product 2:1 with water, further stretching the economy of the product.
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Hope this helps.

:)

Bob
 
this product is not recommended for use on polished aluminum, anodized or powdercoated surfaces
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Doesn't that eliminate the majority of the wheel finishes on the market? If it is that bad, I don't think I'd put it on painted wheels either because it would eat into the clear coat.

This thread reinforces my idea of only using car wash shampoo to cleam my wheels. I just watch them to make sure they never get so dirty that they would require anything else.
 
Desertnate said:
Doesn't that eliminate the majority of the wheel finishes on the market? If it is that bad, I don't think I'd put it on painted wheels either because it would eat into the clear coat.

This thread reinforces my idea of only using car wash shampoo to cleam my wheels. I just watch them to make sure they never get so dirty that they would require anything else.
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You would wonder! Our experience is that powder coat tends to be one of the more resilient finishes - certainly the products to strip powder coat are even more nasty than the heavy duty immersion paint strippers.

I can appreciate your view on wheel cleaning. The trouble the consumer faces is that facts are rather blurred with automotive products. The marketing men work harder than the chemists and it is hard for the consumer to find simple facts underneath all the 'spin'. As a smaller manufacturer dealing more with niche brands, we still see a big mix. There are brands which are not playing the marketing game. There are brands which spend their money on high quality products and not on marketing. There are brands who say no to the cheap/nasty but effective. Unfortunately they are rarely the ones getting the most press because the budget for marketing is being spent on the products. I can quite understand the guys spending big money on marketing, ultimately that is how they get discussed on forums, that is how they get into the hands of celeb detailers and that is how they get sold on big sites like AG.
 
PiPUK said:
I can appreciate your view on wheel cleaning. The trouble the consumer faces is that facts are rather blurred with automotive products. The marketing men work harder than the chemists and it is hard for the consumer to find simple facts underneath all the 'spin'. As a smaller manufacturer dealing more with niche brands, we still see a big mix. There are brands which are not playing the marketing game. There are brands which spend their money on high quality products and not on marketing. There are brands who say no to the cheap/nasty but effective. Unfortunately they are rarely the ones getting the most press because the budget for marketing is being spent on the products. I can quite understand the guys spending big money on marketing, ultimately that is how they get discussed on forums, that is how they get into the hands of celeb detailers and that is how they get sold on big sites like AG.
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That sums it up well.

My opinions are twofold:

1. Using a product from a reputable company that ends up disolving the protective coating on my wheels (has happened...more than once...)

2. Using reputable, gentle cleaners that don't work any better than car shampoo and a safe/soft brush; i.e P21S wheel cleaner. It was more economical just to use what I already had on hand in a gallon jug!

I'm not a pro and don't get some of the horror shows you guys do (I do see them on the road) with a customer expecting results. I'm sure good wheel cleaners do have their place.
 
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