My 1st legit wheel cleaning disaster…

Eldorado2k

Eldorado2k

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Had an unfortunate situation occur on the most recent vehicle I detailed. The entire SUV showed up pretty dirty so without even thinking I assumed the wheels were equally dirty so I went with Brown Royal @full strength. Something I’ve done on countless other wheels without an issue.

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I sprayed the entire wheel and within about 45 seconds it started to foam and turn orange in color, something I’ve never seen it do before. I’ve never seen this product foam like this.

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I quickly grabbed the pressure washer gun to rinse it off and this is what it looked like afterwards.

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This vehicle seems to have been sitting outdoors parked for some time based on its condition and expired tags, I guess what I’m trying to say is the finish on the wheels wasn’t exactly strong enough to handle that aggressive of a cleaning but I never expected this to happen. It’s just terrible. It’s like it took the top coat of paint right off. 2 wheels on the drivers side, same result.

1st time this has ever happened. Non acid wheel cleaner just in case you’re wondering.

Here’s the 2nd wheel.

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Yikes!

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In the 1st pic it looks like the finish was already deteriorating. It was only a matter of time before the entire wheel was like that.
 
I'm assuming from what you are describing, That the wheels were originally black. From the first picture I would've thought they were mat silver. If this was the case, could you just remove all the black? If the customer expected them to come out in black I would explain the finish was going to come off if you used Windex!
If he really wants black then tell him you will use a rim color restorer and Plastdip them.
 
DanaDetailingPros said:
I'm assuming from what you are describing, That the wheels were originally black. From the first picture I would've thought they were mat silver. If this was the case, could you just remove all the black? If the customer expected them to come out in black I would explain the finish was going to come off if you used Windex!
If he really wants black then tell him you will use a rim color restorer and Plastdip them.
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They were originally like the 1st picture, silver. The black was under the silver.
 
DanaDetailingPros said:
Gotcha! How did it go down with the customer?
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Honestly, I haven’t seen or heard from the customer. He sent 2 of his employees to come pick up the vehicle. 1 of the guys took a hard look at the wheels before he jumped in but didn’t say anything. [awkward moment]lol.

I’m laughing but it’s not funny man it was really bothering me yesterday… The thing about this vehicle is the owner wanted me to detail it because he said he had a potential buyer coming to purchase it and needed it ready asap. I hope it sold!
 
That's pretty wild. Based on how this played out, I'd say the finish was toast before they truck every came into your possession.

Did you touch/feel the wheels when they were dry before cleaning? From what you describe I wouldn't be shocked if the finish came off on your finger with just a swipe.
 
Desertnate said:
That's pretty wild. Based on how this played out, I'd say the finish was toast before they truck every came into your possession.

Did you touch/feel the wheels when they were dry before cleaning? From what you describe I wouldn't be shocked if the finish came off on your finger with just a swipe.
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I didn’t touch them beforehand, but afterwards I did and I had a bunch of that black paint come onto my fingers like soot. So I sprayed 1 wheel again and quickly hit it with a wheel brush hoping the black would clean off but it didn’t.

Afterwards the surface felt rough almost like concrete for lack of a better word.
 
I can’t find it but I’m guessing brown royals being non acidic but advertised as a touchless wheel cleaner has a VERY high PH. Old paint on wheels couldn’t handle the truth….


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Coatingsarecrack said:
I can’t find it but I’m guessing brown royals being non acidic but advertised as a touchless wheel cleaner has a VERY high PH. Old paint on wheels couldn’t handle the truth….
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A quick Google search pulled up an old post from here at AG and it's mentioned Brown Royal has a PH of 10 or 12. That's really high on the basic side of the scale. So technically it is non acid, but it is very basic and still corrosive in it's own right. That seems a little disingenuous...non acidic, but high PH.
 
Desertnate said:
A quick Google search pulled up an old post from here at AG and it's mentioned Brown Royal has a PH of 10 or 12. That's really high on the basic side of the scale. So technically it is non acid, but it is very basic and still corrosive in it's own right. That seems a little disingenuous...non acidid, but high PH.
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Disingenuous is the middle name of wheel cleaner marketing. The worst was the ABF wheel cleaners, which claimed to be "non-HF" because Ammonium Bi-Fluoride is a salt...which when mixed with water...becomes hydrofluoric acid. We had a member on Autopia who went ballistic when he found out a popular "non-HF" product he was using...turned out to be HF in disguise.
 
Agent6er said:
I wonder if they were originally black and had a bad repaint?
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Highly doubt it, but you never know…
Here’s some pics from when I detailed it 3yrs. ago. It was cherry when I detailed it then.
3yrs. of baking in the sun did it no favors.

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In your defense, you can see the black coming though the silver in the first picture. The front passenger wheel is clear, it was starting back then.

I can see in on the driver side also, but not as obvious.
 
Agent6er said:
In your defense, you can see the black coming though the silver in the first picture. The front passenger wheel is clear, it was starting back then.

I can see in on the driver side also, but not as obvious.
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I noticed that too. Before even reading the text in the post, my eye caught that passenger side wheel and noticed something not looking quite right. The finish doesn't look right.
 
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