Acid-free, yet effective, wheel cleaners...

eagle one all wheel & cleaner has worked great for me and i haven't had any problems thus far, other than the size as i tend to go through a bottle pretty quickly....
 
I gotta say P21S Gel. Even if I don't agitate it, it works wonders just using a high pressure blast from a fire hoze nozzle on moderately dirty wheels. I used it on the wheels of my G35C which had Brembos up front and dusted like crazy, yet I wanted something gentle to use on them. I love it. With very little agitation with the supplied foam scrubber, it's a very effective and gentle cleaner.
 
Phosphoric acid is a good acid depending on how strong you use it. I have been using Phosphoric acid for a long time now and it does a real good job but there is ways to safely use w/o causing damage to even the cheapest of rims or any kind of metal. A can of coke can be used for a cleaner because it has Phosphoric acid. I only dilute it so strong and using a spray bottle and paint brush when rinse real good and wash using a slightly alkaline wash /w car mitt just for rims. As long as you use the right dilution rate and rinse good and wash afterward where will be not harm the surface at all. Even cleaning uncoated aluminum rims it is safe again use the right dilution rate and rinse good and hand wash.

Working with chemicals takes knowledge and there are a lot of tricks of cleaning. One is called 321 cleaning that is used in the Professional Pressure Washing industry. How 321 cleaning works is like this a acid base cleaner is used with the right dwell time and when a alkaline cleaner is used to neutralize to pH and a good rinsing. Acid and alkaline cleaners can be your best friend or your worse nightmare.

One cleaner I really love is called D-limonene that is made from orange peels which is called a Citrus cleaner but Citrus cleaners can be made out of any thing like grapefruit peels which does not work as good. D-limonene is an amazing cleaner you might not thing so by sticking your finger in it but it does work good. I use a 40% D-limonene dilution rate for general cleaning 60% for heavy duty, metal brightening cleaner and 90% for heavy duty cleaning which is a solvent cleaner. D-limonene has oils to it. It will make rubber nice and black, metal brightening specially aluminum. D-limonene cleans engines real good because it will not harm painted surfaces in the engine. D-limonene can dull painted surfaces like glossy latex paint. D-limonene is an alkaline of about 12
 
I have used Zymol, PS21 Meguiars, Eagle One A to Z, Sonus and so on and so on and by far the wheel cleaner that does not tarnish non clear coated wheels but cleans wheels and tires and is very lo in acidity would be Wolfgans wheel and tire cleaner. It is a gel and does require agitation but by far is the product I would recomend. It has a very low PH content and cleans tires and fender wheels great as well.



http://www.wolfgangcarcare.com/wg4600.html
 
D-limonene is a solvent and as a general rule solvents do not have PH's. So it must be mixed with a very very alkaline detergent of some sort.



D-limonene is what i was refering to in my previous post. However I've read and talked to a few people who have commented (yeah sister's, uncles, cousins dog kinda of thing) that d-limonene will soak into clear coats and delaminate them from the paint layer. It is also not a great thing to put on a tire and leave there. Hence my insistance that you would need an alkaline detergent to remove the d-limanene from the wheel and tire region.



Like all things these are professional industrial chemicals, as the professional you should know what they do, how they work, how to stop them from working and how to neutralize them.
 
Another vote for Detailer's Pride Gel Cleaner...it does require slight agitation to remove dust accumulation. An added bonus is that it can be used as a tire cleaner as well. According to Autogeek, it can also be used to remove bugs and tar (never verified this claim however). It's currently on sale so it might be worth checking out for a couple of dollars. Sorry I could not locate an MSDS sheet for you.
 
I love Detailing Dynamics Wheel Shampoo, but I feel it is a lill too expensive to use on anyone else car but my own. I have aftermarket, annodized lip wheels and it does a great job! I only use it if my wheels are exceptionally dirty.
 
G35stilez, have you tried the Amazing Roll Off as a wheel cleaner? Not sure if it contains any acid, but from the description it sounds like it is pretty safe. Plus they say it leaves protection behind which might help with the brake dust the next time you clean the vehicle. After reading about this product I am very tempted to buy some to use instead of harsh chemicals for wheels, door jams, engines bays etc... Just need to find the cheapest place to buy from as i can see myself using this stuff quite often.
 
SR77 said:
G35stilez, have you tried the Amazing Roll Off as a wheel cleaner? Not sure if it contains any acid, but from the description it sounds like it is pretty safe. Plus they say it leaves protection behind which might help with the brake dust the next time you clean the vehicle. After reading about this product I am very tempted to buy some to use instead of harsh chemicals for wheels, door jams, engines bays etc...
Click to expand...





Yep, without any desirable results.







I tried 4* Ultimate Gel back in the day with pretty good results. I think I am going to try the P21s route this time, but I have the rest mentioned in mind.





Thank you, again.
 
Sean, I've cleaned some pretty nasty wheels with Amazing Roll Off. It takes a little agitation but that's what you're going to get without acid.
 
brwill2005 said:
Sean- Just curious, but why the sudden change?
Click to expand...





I have read too many publications lately regarding acids and their danger.





I really don't care about the "be careful" speeches. I work very quickly when I detail and many times just opt out on the gloves, goggles, and mask when using Wheel Brightener or Wheel Acid. Now, to find out that contact with skin (mainly from misting) poses a threat, I'd rather "X" it all together.





I'm not a bulk operation, and to date, customers have responded very well when I stress the quality, ingredients, and reputation of a product. A little product price increase won't break the bank.





Plus, the damage to the braking system from acid is enough for them to change their mind :).
 
After using E1 A2Z for the longest time, I switched to TW Platinum Wheel/Tire Cleaner and like it much better. But, in your case, I doubt you would want to use it, as I remember the label giving some warning about some potassium type acid I think...



Anyhow, have you tried just critus based degreasers/cleaners? They may not clean as effectively as a stronger chemical acid, but I think it may work better than just wash soap....
 
Go back to 4* GR

"The active ingredient in this Ultimate Wheel Cleaner Gel replaces the harsh acids and butyl ethers found in most tire and wheel cleaning products made in the USA. While are effective cleaners, they are also very harsh on skin and soft metals, like aluminum. These chemicals are also known to cause respiratory distress when inhaled and are unfriendly to our environment. The new ingredient in Ultimate Wheel Cleaner Gel is the state-of-the-art in non-butyl cleaning technology, and meets California's strict environmental safety standards.

Ultimate Wheel Cleaner Gel is an advanced, state-of-the-art wheel cleaner designed to properly clean all wheel finishes. Using breakthroughs in non-ionic surfactant technology, Ultimate Wheel Cleaner Gel safely cleans tires and all types of wheels including factory clear coated, painted, polished, chromed, aluminum and anodized."
 
^^Yep, even orange blast isn't bad. :D



Sean, do you have dealer supply house near you? Perhaps they have a house brand that would work for you.
 
SpoiledMan said:
Sean, I've cleaned some pretty nasty wheels with Amazing Roll Off. It takes a little agitation but that's what you're going to get without acid.
Click to expand...



Agreed - Ive had great results with it as well...Use it for wheels/wells/tires/door jams..anything and everything. Even highly diluted it performs well on filthy wheels with some agitation.
 
ebpcivicsi said:
^^Yep, even orange blast isn't bad. :D



Sean, do you have dealer supply house near you? Perhaps they have a house brand that would work for you.
Click to expand...





Yep. P21s US Headquarters is 30 mins away :D.
 
The best non acid wheel cleaner I've ever used is TOL's. I'll put it up against any non acid wheel cleaner on the market. The only downside is that its effectiveness greatly diminishes when the tempeture of the wheel gets close to freezing. That's when I have to switch over to a mild acid based wheel cleaner. I use the TOL wheel cleaner everyday at the dealership and 95% of the time it works perfectly with a quick spray, let dwell about a minute(don't let it dry),and pressure wash the wheel. Any remaining residue is easily wiped off when I dress the tires.
 
This may come as a surprise, but I tested TOL's wheel cleaner with a PH strip once. It has an acidic Ph. In fact the Ph was very similar to Hi-Temp's 710 wheel cleaner which is a very mild acid formulation. TOL's is more powerful, but it ruined countless spray bottles so I stopped using it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top