Meguiars Ultimate Wheel Cleaner: On Paint

[Eldorado2k]

Hello everyone Lets get right into it...
So I’ve been meaning to do a somewhat major decontamination on the Kia after it somehow ended up with a ton of overspray a couple of weeks ago.. I decided to hold off on doing it until I had some kind of iron decon to use as a pre step and it was a good time to check out this new product from Meguiars.

https://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-ultimate-all-wheel-cleaner.html

I started very early in the morning and the vehicle was already wet from the condensation, so I went ahead and gave it a good rinse, then sheeted most of the remaining water off the paint. Then I sprayed every panel with the Megs Wheel Cleaner.

The bottle only has a single on/off setting which sprays somewhat in between stream/foam, but more towards stream. It sprays clear liquid and I couldn’t detect any scent at all.

This is what the roof looked like about 5-6 min. after it had been sprayed.

Here’s the hood after 5-6min.

Sides of the vehicle... Must’ve been free of embedded iron contaminants, because very little color changing happened here on the sides.

The rear saw the most color changing at the 5-6min. mark.

I sprayed the vehicle off with the hose and moved onto the next step...

But before I did I decided to spray 1 of the front wheels just to see if there was any iron contamination on it.. These wheels are maintained with Meguiars Wheel Brightener.

Sprayed.

After dwelling for 6min... No iron detected. Looks like the Wheel Brightener is doing a fantastic job of keeping the wheels perfectly clean [touchfree to top it off]

Final thoughts after my 1st use.
Pros:
It’s odorless
It’s very economical [$8.99 per 24oz]

Cons:
It’s clear liquid, which makes it slightly difficult to tell if you’ve sprayed enough on a panel [this isn’t really a factor when used on wheels]
It would be nice to have different spray options instead of just 1 setting.
Maybe it’s just me, but I went through alot of it compared to when I use DUB Wheel Cleaner for the same purpose.

 

[Eldorado2k]

...And as far as the overspray?

Meguiars claybar w/D114 as claylube took it right off without any marring.

Excellent.

That was just 1 small section of the hood. So much overspray came off. Felt great.

 

[Buster906]

...And as far as the overspray?

Meguiars claybar w/D114 as claylube took it right off without any marring.

Excellent.

That was just 1 small section of the hood. So much overspray came off. Felt great.

If I understand correctly, you have used Dub on the clearcoat

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[Eldorado2k]

If I understand correctly, you have used Dub on the clearcoat

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Yes, and I think I like the DUB better.

I think it sprays better. It foams so the bottle goes a long way. It's bright green coming out of the bottle so you can see where you've sprayed. Imo it clings good. Plus I like the way it smells vs. no scent.

 

[Buster906]

Yes, I think I like the DUB better.

I think it sprays better. It foams so the bottle goes a long way. It's bright green coming out of the bottle so you can see where you've sprayed. Imo it clings good. Plus I like the way it smells vs. no scent.

Thank you for the reply. I have a bottle of Dub. I have looked on YouTube for Dub on the clearcoat. I am going to try once I get a warm day. My Ram is white so the green will show nicely. Thank you for the confirmation

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[Eldorado2k]

Thank you for the reply. I have a bottle of Dub. I have looked on YouTube for Dub on the clearcoat. I am going to try once I get a warm day. My Ram is white so the green will show nicely. Thank you for the confirmation

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Just make sure that by warm day you don’t literally mean warm day... Because you don’t want to spray onto a warm panel. Always in the shade on cool paint.

 

[Buster906]

Just make sure that by warm day you don’t literally mean warm day... Because you don’t want to spray onto a warm panel. Always in the shade on cool paint.

Affirmative. I used IronX in the past. I like that Dub is available locally. For the most part my truck and my wife's Durango are contaminate free and smooth. Staying on top of fallout and other debris is important to me...Zang

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[FrankS]

...These wheels are maintained with Meguiars Wheel Brightener.

Nice review!

What dilution ratio do you use with the Megs WB?

I know the directions say up to 1:4 but some use 1:10 for maintenance.

 

[DBAILEY]

You can pour it into your own spray bottle with spray trigger of your choice if you don't like the sprayer it comes with.

 

[Klasse Act]

Nice review Eldo and like the curveball you threw out there with how you used it. I have a bottle of DUB still and may infact use it in my spring coating prep, even though I have a bottle of McKee's iron remover still.

Looks like that Megs MB is really amazing, next time around I'm going to get it

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[DBAILEY]

I agree that these products need to not be clear liquid and have at least a slight color to it so that you can see where you've sprayed already.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Nice review!

What dilution ratio do you use with the Megs WB?

I know the directions say up to 1:4 but some use 1:10 for maintenance.

Thanks.
As far as the Wheel Brightener, I’ve only ever used it @4:1. I figure it would be somewhat ordinary @10:1

You can pour it into your own spray bottle with spray trigger of your choice if you don't like the sprayer it comes with.

I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a bad sprayer, it’s just that it’s normL stream pattern combined with it being clear [especially on a white vehicle] made it hard not to use a bit more than I probably had to this time around.

Here we can see the difference in spray nozzles. That tip allows the DUB to have foaming action.

But now that I think about it, this new Ultimate Wheel Cleaner does better at clinging to the paint vs. DUB. All things considered I personally still prefer the DUB.

Nice review Eldo and like the curveball you threw out there with how you used it. I have a bottle of DUB still and may infact use it in my spring coating prep, even though I have a bottle of McKee's iron remover still

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Thanks bud.
I pretty much only use these types of cleaners for the paint. Between Megs Wheel Brightener and Brown Royal, I can handle any wheels that come my way.


Btw, let me remind everyone that this new Megs Ultimate color changing wheel cleaner has no scent as far as I could tell.

 

[Ochnob]

I heard (maybe incorrectly) that you should watch the fallout cleaners around trim. Has anyone ever had a problem with discoloration on trim?

 

[VISITOR]

here's a reply/response in regards to using this product on paint on MOL...


We do not recommend using our Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner or any of our other wheel cleaners for applications other than wheels. We know and understand other products use similar color changing/iron reacting chemistry for applications other than wheels, but Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner is designed just for wheels. Keep in mind with any product which uses this color changing ingredient, that color changing ingredient could be one of many other ingredients in the formulation, and even though the color changing ingredient is widely known for it's effective yet safe cleaning ability, the other ingredients included in the formulation may be geared towards a more specific application like wheels, to help with all sorts of variables in performance, and those ingredients geared towards a more specific application may or may not work well or be safe for certain surfaces.

Hope this helps.

Nick

 

[Eldorado2k]

I heard (maybe incorrectly) that you should watch the fallout cleaners around trim. Has anyone ever had a problem with discoloration on trim?

I’ve never experienced an issue, but I do my best to keep it away from headlights and to a lesser degree plastic trim. I too heard something similar a long time ago about it not being ideal for certain plastics.

 

[The Guz]

Nick Winn of Meguiar’s made this post on their forum.

Thought I would pass this along.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Nick Winn of Meguiar’s made this post on their forum.

Thought I would pass this along.

That reply is expected as he’s a company employee and therefore can be considered “official word”, and it’s in the company’s best interest to err on the side of caution.

You have to keep in mind that Megs Ultimate Wheel Cleaner is a consumer product, which means there’s a much higher amount of “Bubbas” out there who might just be stupid enough to somehow find a way to actually ruin the paint on their brand new vehicle with this stuff. [i.e. spraying it on their paint and leaving it to sit all day in direct sunlight on a hot summer day]

....But in the real world, is anyone who’s Posted in this thread dumb enough to make that mistake? No.

Once upon a time Meguiars employees wouldn’t recommend using D114 as claylube...

Stick with D155 diluted 1:1. We haven't seriously tested D114 as a clay lube so we aren't currently making a dilution recommendation.

How relevant is that post many years later?

I like to follow directions, but sometimes it just takes a bit of common sense. I mean if we were to obey the directions ever so strictly, then that would prohibit me from using Hyper Dressing. Look towards the bottom of the label. “FOR COMMERCIAL USE ONLY”

Do you think we should all stop using Hyper Dressing? Lol.

 

[fightnews]

...And as far as the overspray?

Meguiars claybar w/D114 as claylube took it right off without any marring.

Excellent.

That was just 1 small section of the hood. So much overspray came off. Felt great.

The only reason you don't see marring is because the car is white. I guarantee if you had Ebony black like me you would see marring with that clay bar. Not outside in natural lighting. You have to be inside with a powerful led swirl finder light. Even then you would have to look at it from an angle but it is there.

 

[fightnews]

That reply is expected as he’s a company employee and therefore can be considered “official word”, and it’s in the company’s best interest to err on the side of caution.

You have to keep in mind that Megs Ultimate Wheel Cleaner is a consumer product, which means there’s a much higher amount of “Bubbas” out there who might just be stupid enough to somehow find a way to actually ruin the paint on their brand new vehicle with this stuff. [i.e. spraying it on their paint and leaving it to sit all day in direct sunlight on a hot summer day]

....But in the real world, is anyone who’s Posted in this thread dumb enough to make that mistake? No.

Once upon a time Meguiars employees wouldn’t recommend using D114 as claylube...



How relevant is that post many years later?

I like to follow directions, but sometimes it just takes a bit of common sense. I mean if we were to obey the directions ever so strictly, then that would prohibit me from using Hyper Dressing. Look towards the bottom of the label. “FOR COMMERCIAL USE ONLY”

Do you think we should all stop using Hyper Dressing? Lol.

I see your point but I believe the guy when he says not to use the product on paint. There may be a chemical in there that going to do damage. But then again the product is safe for clearcoated rims. I have heard that the paint on rims is not the same as the paint on the car, Idk?

My philosophy is why use the rim cleaner on paint when I can get something thats made specifically for paint? I'd save the rim cleaner for rims. Mike is always saying to trust the chemists to do their job right?

 

[Eldorado2k]

The only reason you don't see marring is because the car is white. You have to be inside with a powerful led swirl finder light. Even then you would have to look at it from an angle but it is there.

Dude, I know how to spot clay marring. Remember, I’m the 1 who diagnosed the mysterious defects on your trunk [the strip underneath the rear glass] without even seeing a picture of it. And what were the defects? Clay marring. The same exact marring I experienced on the same kind of vehicle and I easily spotted it even though my paint is white.

Also, just a few weeks ago while prepping my Caddy for Gyeon Bathe+ I used a Med. claymitt w/rinseless wash from a bucket as claylube on just washed paint while still wet... That turned out to be a horrible method. 1st time I’ve ever marred my car while claying and I could easily see it all over my car the next morning even though my paint is metallic green [it hides defects just like metallic silver does]

I can see clay marring on any paint and don’t need no stinking light to do so. lol. j/k

...Powerful led swirl finder light. I’ve got 1.

I see your point but I believe the guy when he says not to use the product on paint. There may be a chemical in there that going to do damage. But then again the product is safe for clearcoated rims. I have heard that the paint on rims is not the same as the paint on the car, Idk?

Well it didn’t do any damage to my paint, bro. Unless the damage is some kind of slow kill damage that doesn’t show up until it’s had a few years and all of a sudden my paint flakes off 1 day... Then of course I’d be screwed when that day comes. Lol.

Yes it’s perfectly safe for clearcoated rims.
Either ways I’m good and like I stated earlier If I had a choice I’d go with DUB Wheel Cleaner for paint decon. Hopefully it’s not discontinued.