shaf
11-04-2002, 08:23 PM
Okay, I finally remembered to write this up. :D
I washed my car last week and tried out a couple new products I had bought in the process (running out of EO). Mothers Tire & Rubber Cleaner, and Turtle Wax Rim Brite. AFAIK, neither of these products have been reviewed or mentioned here before.
Mothers Tire and Rubber Cleaner comes in their unique 650 mL (22oz) "round bottomed" semi-translucent spray bottle and appears to be a purple liquid. It says it`s biodegradable and safe for all rubber, polished, and painted surfaces. The directions state that tires are to be sprayed down first (wet), the product applied, scrubbed with a sponge or brush, then rinsed off. It also recommends its use on vinyl trim around the vehicle - applied directly with a cloth. Warnings: Eye irritant, do not swallow. Product # 06822
Cost: $6.50 Cdn (discounted) (about $4.25 USD)
Turtle Wax Rim Brite comes in a 775mL (oz?) orange spray bottle. It says it cleans all wheels and has spray on, hose off ability. It also says it is safe for all rim types, non-acidic, and non-toxic. The instructions say to hose down the wheel first (wet) then spray it on, letting it dwell for a minute. Warnings: Eye irritant. Product # T-309C, but may have been replaced by a newer biodegradable product called Wheel Brite.
Cost: $5.49 Cdn (about $3.50 USD)
I wanted to try these new products because both of them have fewer health warnings on them than the corresponding Eagle One products I currently use, EO Tire Cleaner and EO A2Z All Wheel Cleaner (orange). Also, I wanted to see if the Mothers tire cleaner would be stronger than the EO, and if the TW wheel cleaner would work as well as the A2Z since it`s much cheaper for me. I also experimented with the TW wheel cleaner as a tire cleaner, which the A2Z says you can use it for as well. My tires are lightly dressed with TW Emerald Series Tire Gel, which I imagine to be similar to the 2001 gel still used by some people here. Wheels are untreated. Tire cleanliness was checked by wiping a white rag over it to see how much dirt remained.
The first test was a 1/2 and 1/2 single wheel using the new products vs EO on each side, following the instructions on the bottles. Since both the Mothers and TW products specify hosing down the surfaces first, this was done while trying to avoid getting the other side of the wheel/tire wet. The TW wheel cleaner was sprayed on first, quite liberally, without scrubbing. Then I sprayed on the Mothers tire cleaner, scrubbing it as per instructions. Then on the other side I sprayed on the EO tire cleaner and then A2Z last. Neither were scrubbed. After letting the A2Z sit for 30 seconds I sprayed off the entire thing thoroughly.
I also did a test using the Mothers tire cleaner unscrubbed, another test using both Mothers and EO cleaners scrubbed on a dry tire, and a last test using the TW wheel cleaner on both the tire and wheel (dry, unscrubbed).
TW Rim Brite: Pretty disappointing. Even when sprayed on initially, little wheel dust was flowing off the way I`d gotten used to the way A2Z does. Has an appearance and consistency of a strong soap more than anything else. When rinsed off, a visible brown film of brake dust remained. Only maybe 50% of the dust was removed. A second treatment right afterwards still couldn`t remove it. It did little better on a dry wheel, but (as you should expect from a wheel cleaner) did very well at cleaning the rubber tire, leaving the least dirt with a light scrubbing.
EO A2Z: Fantastic. Tons of brake dust started flowing off almost on contact. Even the wet TW side was subsequently cleaned with A2Z when the TW failed. True "spray on and hose off" strength! It also works well on the tires too (I did this a month ago), but I won`t do it again as A2Z is more expensive and seems like a nuclear bomb-type solution. The downside of this stuff is that it`s pretty toxic and it`s bad news getting it on your skin.
Mothers Tire & Rubber Cleaner: Not bad. It sprayed on evenly, if a little thin. Adjustable (twist) spray head. The liquid looks clear when sprayed on and clings to the tire better than the EO. Cleaned pretty well in the 1st test, but that was to be expected since it was scrubbed first. Unfair test, really. Interestingly though, it left the tire beading water rather than sheeting, even though it was cleaner. When used unscrubbed it cleaned slightly worse than the EO. Cleaned pretty much as good as the EO when both were used dry and scrubbed.
EO Tire Cleaner: Not bad. Applies in a coarser spray of distinctive blue/purple liquid. Non-adjustable spray/stream head. Seems to get very thin and runny once scrubbed and doesn`t cling as well to the tire as Mothers. Didn`t clean too well in the 1st test because it wasn`t scrubbed. This is the complaint I had with it and wanted something I could just hose on and rinse off, like their A2Z. Once scrubbed, the EO tire cleaner worked as well as the Mothers cleaner.
I could not discern any appearance difference between any of the tires cleaned with any of the products used - even the TW Rim Brite. Either there is still a bit of the tire gel dressing remaining on them, or the tires are perfectly clean, because they all looked great (if undressed) once fully dried.
Conclusion: The Turtle Wax Rim Brite is a weak product. I will try it again sometime on a set of waxed wheels to see if it can handle that, but probably won`t be using it again. It worked great as a tire cleaner, though I`m not sure what the long term affects would be of using this product for this. I give this a :down for its intended use and claims. A2Z may be more dangerous and expensive, but it works far better. Mothers Tire & Rubber Cleaner worked just as well the EO Tire Cleaner in the end, and I liked how the product clung to the rubber better. I also like how it`s safer and I will want to try it at cleaning rubber/vinyl trim later on. However, it still is about $1 more for 100mL less currently, making it a relatively poor buy for me. Neither product is "great" because I still have to scrub the tires to get an acceptable amount of dirt and grime off - neither of them had "spray on, hose off" capability, which is what I`d like. At the moment it`s a bit of a toss-up and I think further use and experience might be needed for me to make a decision, however marginal. Ignoring dollar value though, I`d give a slight edge to the Mothers cleaner.
I washed my car last week and tried out a couple new products I had bought in the process (running out of EO). Mothers Tire & Rubber Cleaner, and Turtle Wax Rim Brite. AFAIK, neither of these products have been reviewed or mentioned here before.
Mothers Tire and Rubber Cleaner comes in their unique 650 mL (22oz) "round bottomed" semi-translucent spray bottle and appears to be a purple liquid. It says it`s biodegradable and safe for all rubber, polished, and painted surfaces. The directions state that tires are to be sprayed down first (wet), the product applied, scrubbed with a sponge or brush, then rinsed off. It also recommends its use on vinyl trim around the vehicle - applied directly with a cloth. Warnings: Eye irritant, do not swallow. Product # 06822
Cost: $6.50 Cdn (discounted) (about $4.25 USD)
Turtle Wax Rim Brite comes in a 775mL (oz?) orange spray bottle. It says it cleans all wheels and has spray on, hose off ability. It also says it is safe for all rim types, non-acidic, and non-toxic. The instructions say to hose down the wheel first (wet) then spray it on, letting it dwell for a minute. Warnings: Eye irritant. Product # T-309C, but may have been replaced by a newer biodegradable product called Wheel Brite.
Cost: $5.49 Cdn (about $3.50 USD)
I wanted to try these new products because both of them have fewer health warnings on them than the corresponding Eagle One products I currently use, EO Tire Cleaner and EO A2Z All Wheel Cleaner (orange). Also, I wanted to see if the Mothers tire cleaner would be stronger than the EO, and if the TW wheel cleaner would work as well as the A2Z since it`s much cheaper for me. I also experimented with the TW wheel cleaner as a tire cleaner, which the A2Z says you can use it for as well. My tires are lightly dressed with TW Emerald Series Tire Gel, which I imagine to be similar to the 2001 gel still used by some people here. Wheels are untreated. Tire cleanliness was checked by wiping a white rag over it to see how much dirt remained.
The first test was a 1/2 and 1/2 single wheel using the new products vs EO on each side, following the instructions on the bottles. Since both the Mothers and TW products specify hosing down the surfaces first, this was done while trying to avoid getting the other side of the wheel/tire wet. The TW wheel cleaner was sprayed on first, quite liberally, without scrubbing. Then I sprayed on the Mothers tire cleaner, scrubbing it as per instructions. Then on the other side I sprayed on the EO tire cleaner and then A2Z last. Neither were scrubbed. After letting the A2Z sit for 30 seconds I sprayed off the entire thing thoroughly.
I also did a test using the Mothers tire cleaner unscrubbed, another test using both Mothers and EO cleaners scrubbed on a dry tire, and a last test using the TW wheel cleaner on both the tire and wheel (dry, unscrubbed).
TW Rim Brite: Pretty disappointing. Even when sprayed on initially, little wheel dust was flowing off the way I`d gotten used to the way A2Z does. Has an appearance and consistency of a strong soap more than anything else. When rinsed off, a visible brown film of brake dust remained. Only maybe 50% of the dust was removed. A second treatment right afterwards still couldn`t remove it. It did little better on a dry wheel, but (as you should expect from a wheel cleaner) did very well at cleaning the rubber tire, leaving the least dirt with a light scrubbing.
EO A2Z: Fantastic. Tons of brake dust started flowing off almost on contact. Even the wet TW side was subsequently cleaned with A2Z when the TW failed. True "spray on and hose off" strength! It also works well on the tires too (I did this a month ago), but I won`t do it again as A2Z is more expensive and seems like a nuclear bomb-type solution. The downside of this stuff is that it`s pretty toxic and it`s bad news getting it on your skin.
Mothers Tire & Rubber Cleaner: Not bad. It sprayed on evenly, if a little thin. Adjustable (twist) spray head. The liquid looks clear when sprayed on and clings to the tire better than the EO. Cleaned pretty well in the 1st test, but that was to be expected since it was scrubbed first. Unfair test, really. Interestingly though, it left the tire beading water rather than sheeting, even though it was cleaner. When used unscrubbed it cleaned slightly worse than the EO. Cleaned pretty much as good as the EO when both were used dry and scrubbed.
EO Tire Cleaner: Not bad. Applies in a coarser spray of distinctive blue/purple liquid. Non-adjustable spray/stream head. Seems to get very thin and runny once scrubbed and doesn`t cling as well to the tire as Mothers. Didn`t clean too well in the 1st test because it wasn`t scrubbed. This is the complaint I had with it and wanted something I could just hose on and rinse off, like their A2Z. Once scrubbed, the EO tire cleaner worked as well as the Mothers cleaner.
I could not discern any appearance difference between any of the tires cleaned with any of the products used - even the TW Rim Brite. Either there is still a bit of the tire gel dressing remaining on them, or the tires are perfectly clean, because they all looked great (if undressed) once fully dried.
Conclusion: The Turtle Wax Rim Brite is a weak product. I will try it again sometime on a set of waxed wheels to see if it can handle that, but probably won`t be using it again. It worked great as a tire cleaner, though I`m not sure what the long term affects would be of using this product for this. I give this a :down for its intended use and claims. A2Z may be more dangerous and expensive, but it works far better. Mothers Tire & Rubber Cleaner worked just as well the EO Tire Cleaner in the end, and I liked how the product clung to the rubber better. I also like how it`s safer and I will want to try it at cleaning rubber/vinyl trim later on. However, it still is about $1 more for 100mL less currently, making it a relatively poor buy for me. Neither product is "great" because I still have to scrub the tires to get an acceptable amount of dirt and grime off - neither of them had "spray on, hose off" capability, which is what I`d like. At the moment it`s a bit of a toss-up and I think further use and experience might be needed for me to make a decision, however marginal. Ignoring dollar value though, I`d give a slight edge to the Mothers cleaner.