Review: Meguiars Wheel Brightner

jlb85 said:
Good results!

If you look at one of our STi writeups, we compared sonax, wolf chemical, p21s and wb on some nasty bbs wheels. WB is a necesity if you work on typical german wheels. The others battle it out as being safer. Never tried the broen stuff, though.
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Can you please share this write up? I would like to see how they compare?

The only reason I'm staying away from WB is because of its acidic nature... I'm a big fan of sonax because it's pH neutral and an effective cleaner at the same time.
 
grambow said:
I havent tried Sonax because of the price. Also, when I asked for recommendations, not a single person suggested it. I read a review a while back that basically said it was good but not as great as they say it is. My goal is to narrow down my arsenal to products that just work and not have an entire cabinet of so-so half-full products.

I considerd Brown Royal but other than the companies reviews, I hadnt read or seen and consumer reviews. I would be interested to see what it actually does.
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You can buy the 2 5L jugs for only $160 and have an extra discount like the memorial day 15% off which will bring it down even more. The cost of a 500mL is really low when you do this.
 
seem to be following z around these boards. my two favorites brown royale and ag wheel cleaner
 
Those rims would look much better if you moved the weights to the inside of the rim.

I had Discount Tire do it for $14 per wheel
 
nice, so you did 5 parts of MB and 1 of water? sorry about the dumb question but I need to be sure, because I always know that 1:5 is 1 to 5.
 
I NEED some WB for my wheels, there's some brake dust that's caked on...really bad. However, I can't justify buying in the commercial size that Meg's offers if I'm only going to do one set of wheels.

It looks like great stuff though!

OP, look into ceramic pads as they eliminate dusting and +1 for moving the weight to the inside of the wheel or even better, get sticky weights.
 
nissenc1337 said:
I NEED some WB for my wheels, there's some brake dust that's caked on...really bad. However, I can't justify buying in the commercial size that Meg's offers if I'm only going to do one set of wheels.

It looks like great stuff though!

OP, look into ceramic pads as they eliminate dusting and +1 for moving the weight to the inside of the wheel or even better, get sticky weights.
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Let me know if you need any have like 50 oz left if you wanna try some
 
I use it myself and diluted it works great for me. I use a "bleach sprayer" from lowes to disburse mine as it can hold up to the power of the wheel cleaner better.
 
Thoughts on using Meg's Wheel Brightener heavily diluted 20-1 for everyday maintenance cleaning when I wash the work vehicle weekly? Seems like it would save time and cost, while still supplying a somewhat aggressive clean?
 
looks like it does a good job and comes in bulk. I think the best time to use this is when brake dust is caked on or the whole rim is covered in dust. Overall, for a wheel like that , I would have used zep citrus or mothers
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
Thoughts on using Meg's Wheel Brightener heavily diluted 20-1
for everyday maintenance cleaning when I wash the work vehicle weekly?

Seems like it would save time and cost, while still supplying a somewhat aggressive clean?
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Without even taking into account any affects a vehicle's surfaces may encounter being exposed to such a D140-regimen...
Will diluting this product, and using it as you suggest above, actually reduce the:
OH! So Harmful-to-ones-health potentiality of HF acid?

Please...Entertain extreme caution with/around this product.

Bob
 
It's cheap....try it

It can be found in a 32oz "Sampler" size $9.99 with a Meguiar's WB Spray Bottle Included.

Used it twice in the last two days on dirty wheels. I did agitate and rinse, but I am pretty sure I could have sprayed, wait one minute and rinse.

They looked great and it saved me the expense of using Sonax Full Effect.
 
As somebody already mentioned, the dangers of wb of to your personally health not to the wheels.
You must know that even when used correctly and on the correct wheels this product will for whatever reason dull some wheels...even streak them.

I just got sick of the guessing game.

That said...many other strong wheel cleaners, even the ones that claim to be all wheel safe, will dull wheel finishes.

I have had iron x dull factory clearcoated wheels more than once. Actually 3 times to be exact. Once on an old gmc truck with factoey rims, one on a 93 accord, and once on a 97 jeep grand cherokee.
People praise iron x so much that they cant see its faults.

The fact is that wheels, for god knows why, are super sensative!!!!!

The point is that if you are even the least bit concerned you should test a small section of the wheel first because even the super safe wheel cleaner can cause problems...wheel brightener probably more than most.

I usually use wb about once every 2 or 3 months when some moron brings in a bmw with wheels that have never been cleaned.

Btw: wb will destroy the center cap of most bmw wheels.

I chuckle every time a wb thread pops up. Haha
 
I'm hoping this helps fix my concentrated problem. goldendodo19 has offered to send me a sample.
 
FUNX725 said:
Without even taking into account any affects a vehicle's surfaces may encounter being exposed to such a D140-regimen...
Will diluting this product, and using it as you suggest above, actually reduce the:
OH! So Harmful-to-ones-health potentiality of HF acid?

Please...Entertain extreme caution with/around this product.

Bob
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I'm not sure what anything you said above means? That's not an insult, I just didn't understand your post. Anyway, I used to own a commercial cleaning business before my current full time career (detailing is just by appointment only, we only have 3-5 clients weekly) and won contracts on everything from international airports, to nationwide franchises, and even professional hall of fames (Football Hall of Fame), where we used chemicals that could melt skin off the bone - so I have tools, masks, gloves etc... that's not an issue. But, I guess the instinct of people online is to assume the person asking questions is completely inept and unprepared.
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
I'm not sure what anything you said above means? That's not an insult, I just didn't understand your post.
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Sorry you didn't understand my post. :dunno:
Dynamic_Detailing said:
Anyway, I used to own a commercial cleaning business before my current full time career (detailing is just by appointment only, we only have 3-5 clients weekly) and won contracts on everything from international airports, to nationwide franchises, and even professional hall of fames (Football Hall of Fame), where we used chemicals that could melt skin off the bone - so I have tools, masks, gloves etc... that's not an issue.
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Thanks for posting your stated extensive background/experience with cleaning chemicals.

Dynamic_Detailing said:
But, I guess the instinct of people online is to assume the person asking questions is completely inept and unprepared.
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However...Considering the above (along with your chemicals-experience):
I now don't understand why you even bothered to post the following:
Dynamic_Detailing said:
Thoughts on using Meg's Wheel Brightener heavily diluted 20-1 for everyday maintenance cleaning when I wash the work vehicle weekly? Seems like it would save time and cost, while still supplying a somewhat aggressive clean?
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_______________________________________________________________________________________________

I was very serious when I posted:
FUNX725 said:
Please...Entertain extreme caution with/around this product.
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Why??...Because for those folks that are not as prepared as you say/appear to be:
HF acid can be a killer!!

Bob
 
I was very serious when I posted:

Why??...Because for those folks that are not as prepared as you say/appear to be:
HF acid can be a killer!!
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Thanks Bob - I will absolutely not take this product lightly. I'm looking forward to it! :)
 
maximus20895 said:
Yes and yes. It's alkaline I believe and not acidic. It even works on bare aluminum which any acidic cleaner will ruin.

The flash site is the manufacturer and it is the only site you can but it from. The sad part is it costs $10 to ship. The good part is it is around $17 a gallon and can be diluted up to 8:1 so it's a helluva lot cheaper than any other non acidic wheel cleaner I can find. I bought the gallon for around $30 total. I'm really excited to try it!
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Careful what you say. Bare aluminum is highly reactive with certain alkaline cleaners. I know a thing or two about electro plating aluminum and one of the first steps in the process is etching the metal in an alkaline cleaner. Aluminum is rather inert in many acids.

That being said, brown royal is a great wheel cleaner and works wonders. Highly recommend it, but I don't really like the smell.

Wheel brightener is a form of hydrofluoric acid which cleans aluminum well but can give a nasty burn and ruin bone tissue. I think it's a good product too but you need to know how to properly handle it just to be on the safe side.

The only other caution I have with WB is do not overuse it or get it on your brake rotors or pads. It will attack them and you'll have great looking wheels but awful looking brakes. Trust me, I know from experience a long time ago.
 
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