#36 or Hot Rims/Cool Care All Wheel Cleaner

[Wasatch]

What`s the difference between the two? Which one would you prefer?

[Pats300zx]

I have had really good success with Hot Rims. It works great and is probably just as good as EO A to Z when I have compared the 2.

[JustinR32]

Aurora40 likes #36 a lot, I`m indifferent to it (tried it the other day) it has a place, I`m sure. Many wheel cleaners are kinda harsh; I think EO A2Z is a great wheel cleaner, but I`m not willing to accept it`s harshness for my wheels. It ate at the cadmium plating on my rotors, too (but not as bad as the Armor All cleaner did). So, a better cleaner than many, but not as good as others, with the trade for less effectiveness being more safety.



I don`t know about the Hot Rims WC; I`m kinda not sold on any wheel cleaner, for now, anyhow.



A caveat about these kinds of questions, John. I`m just a guy in a garage with an applicator in my hand (literally, right now; I`m taking a break from a job) who likes to write about car care products on the internet. I may or may not be using the products correctly. My subjective tradeoffs might be different from yours. In the end, you have to decide for yourself. You don`t want to fall victim to the cacaphony of varying opinion, like playing "Lets Make A Deal" with equal parts of the audience shouting "DOOR 1! DOOR 2! DOOR 3!"



My opinion is, when deciding among Meg`s products, you can`t go wrong choosing the brown bottles, generally speaking. You will always get consistent, high quality results from the Mirror Glaze line if you use the products properly.





Tom

[imported_Aurora40]

#36 is much more mild than Hot Rims. I love #36 because it is gentle, pH balanced, non-toxic, and foams up. I think it does a better job of breaking up brake dust than car wash soap, but it isn`t very much stronger than it. It is very mild.



Because it is mild, it doesn`t work very well on really cruddy wheels. So you need to decide what to try based on your wheels.



Hot Rims is much stronger and I wouldn`t use it on my wheels as it is way overkill. If you have really crappy wheels, then you might find A2Z to be better. A2Z feels a bit harsher (though it is alkaline, not acidic) than Hot Rims, but only barely. But it busts through crud much better. Hot Rims is good stuff, but A2Z works better. Hot Rims is very similar to the old A2Z formula, IMO.



So basically, think about what you want from a wheel cleaner, and then go from there.

[Wasatch]

Thanks everyone.



Mosca,



I know, but I don`t want to buy everything and test it out for myself. I will try what most people like and go from there.



Aurora40,



Very informative answer, thanks alot.

[JustinR32]

Cool, enjoy then... and welcome to Autopia!





Tom