P&S Brake Buster Non-Acid Wheel Cleaner(first use)

rlmccarty2000

rlmccarty2000

Active member
I prefer not to say bad things about products, I like to find and post details about good products that we Autopians can use and get great results, unfortunately P&S Brake Buster is not one of them. I read some good reviews over on “the Dark Side” about Brake Buster and at $7.99 a bottle and it sounded good, nope. I should have taken pictures but a wheel cleaner is fairly boring and normally they work pretty good, not this time.

Now the wheels that I was cleaning were medium dirty, they were not extremely soiled. They were on a Buick LeSabre, so not BMW brake dust bad. First I pressure washed the wheels well, then I sprayed the wheels very liberally with Brake Buster. I gave them time to dwell and then scrubbed with a Wheel Woolie and then power rinsed the wheel. Normally with a degreaser or Poorboys Wheel Cleaner or Sonax Wheel Cleaner this would be sufficient to get wheels looking pretty good, uh uh, no. The wheels still looked terrible (pictures needed). I picked up a bottle of Britemax Iron Remover and gave the wheels a spray and another scrub, then powerwashed again, now the wheels are clean. I do like Britemax Iron Remover.

Unfortunately for me I bought a gallon of P&S Brake Buster as I figured my AG friends knew what was what when it came to cleaning wheels. Take it from me and avoid this weak sister of a product. It does not remove dirt, grease, grime, or brake dust, Epic Fail!
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I prefer not to say bad things about products, I like to find and post details about good products that we Autopians can use and get great results, unfortunately P&S Brake Buster is not one of them. I read some good reviews over on “the Dark Side” about Brake Buster and at $7.99 a bottle and it sounded good, nope. I should have taken pictures but a wheel cleaner is fairly boring and normally they work pretty good, not this time.

Now the wheels that I was cleaning were medium dirty, they were not extremely soiled. They were on a Buick LeSabre, so not BMW brake dust bad. First I pressure washed the wheels well, then I sprayed the wheels very liberally with Brake Buster. I gave them time to dwell and then scrubbed with a Wheel Woolie and then power rinsed the wheel. Normally with a degreaser or Poorboys Wheel Cleaner or Sonax Wheel Cleaner this would be sufficient to get wheels looking pretty good, uh uh, no. The wheels still looked terrible (pictures needed). I picked up a bottle of Britemax Iron Remover and gave the wheels a spray and another scrub, then powerwashed again, now the wheels are clean. I do like Britemax Iron Remover.

Unfortunately for me I bought a gallon of P&S Brake Buster as I figured my AG friends knew what was what when it came to cleaning wheels. Take it from me and avoid this weak sister of a product. It does not remove dirt, grease, grime, or brake dust, Epic Fail!
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I thought I was the only one who was disappointed by Brake Buster. I could never get a dilution rate that worked for me. At higher concentrations, it seemed to do fairly well, but always left a residue. At lower concentrations, it was ineffective on anything but a fairly clean wheel. I tried using it sprayed on, as well as through an IK foamer......a tiny bit better but the same results. Sadly, I bought a gallon too, which I`d gladly give to anyone who wanted to pick it up. Sticking with Sonax and Optimum Power Clean from now on. To provide some perspective.....I found Chemical Guys Diablo wheel cleaner to be better.
 
I’ve had no problem with residue it and cleans OK. With all the excitement felt it was.... meh. A tad better than soap and water. Will stick with my Megs ultimate once done


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Similar experience here. Bought a gallon based on reviews. Tried it twice on coated wheels on my VW Golf R that makes insane brake dust. Both times the cleaning ability was mediocre. Used it full strength then agitated with speed master wheel brushes; my normal procedure. Wheels weren’t that clean afterwards. Went over them with Adams wheel cleaner (which is a color changing wheel cleaner) with same process immediately afterwards and wheels turned purple. Wheels were immaculate after using Adams. So, no reason to use the P&S in my experience. Tossed the rest of the gallon of P&S in trash.
There are other P&S products that I really like, interior cleaner and carpet cleaning trio, but the wheel cleaner wasn’t useful for me. As with all products, YMMV.
 
Same experience here with it last year. Bought a gallon of the wheel cleaner - - completely underwhelmed when compared against my other products.

To give due credit to P&S, their interior detailer is quite good. About to do a repeat buy on it.
 
tom p. said:
Same experience here with it last year. Bought a gallon of the wheel cleaner - - completely underwhelmed when compared against my other products.

To give due credit to P&S, their interior detailer is quite good. About to do a repeat buy on it.
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Agreed.....I really like the interior cleaner, and am now a fan of the Pearl Shampoo as well.....very economical....cleans well, rinses clean, good lubricity
 
Ill add my poor experience to this list. My normal go-to is Meguiars Non-Acid Wheel and Tire cleaner and this sounded just like it. Well just like everyone else I was VERY LESS than impressed. Tried a second round with more this time and longer dwell...NOPE. Bust out the NAW&T and BOOM nice bright silver clean wheels. Beadmaker is AWESOME just as advertised but NOT this wheel cleaner.
 
Has anyone contacted P&S about this "problem" with this non-acid wheel cleaner?? I would be interested to hear their side of the story and how they intend to handle this less-than-satisfactory customer experience.

By the way, thanks to rlmccarty2000 for starting this thread and telling us his honest experience. Not all car-care product perform as expected or are as good as other products on the market. The fact that other Autopians have had a similar experience and opinion gives more credibility to this thread, that this is not a singular or user-error problem with a car-care product. I also like the fact that many of you mentioned you like or even love to use other products offered from P&S , which, in my opinion, also give them a good reputation and credibility as a car-care product manufacturer.
 
Lonnie said:
Has anyone contacted P&S about this "problem" with this non-acid wheel cleaner?? I would be interested to hear their side of the story and how they intend to handle this less-than-satisfactory customer experience.

By the way, thanks to rlmccarty2000 for starting this thread and telling us his honest experience. Not all car-care product perform as expected or are as good as other products on the market. The fact that other Autopians have had a similar experience and opinion gives more credibility to this thread, that this is not a singular or user-error problem with a car-care product. I also like the fact that many of you mentioned you like or even love to use other products offered from P&S , which, in my opinion, also give them a good reputation and credibility as a car-care product manufacturer.
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Funny you mention reaching out to P&S. When I got mine, it looked to be a different color than what I`d seen prior. I did reach out to AGO customer service, because I wanted to make sure the product was not old stock. They assured me they contacted P&S, and the production date was recent. I offered to return the gallon, as I`d not opened it.....we were able to work it out. AGO customer service has always been very good to deal with, and this case proved to be no exception.

P.S. if there are any Jersey guys out there...who want to try this stuff....shoot me a PM....it`s yours free. All you have to do is pick it up
 
Looks like a lot of us bought the gallon and got stuck with a lemon. I used it at full strength. I can’t imagine trying to dilute the stuff. I would give mine away but it is not worth the shipping cost.
 
Yeah first p&s product and waslikely last but i got the xpress for like $10 for the gallon. Figured why not.

It gets good reviews but so did BB before i bought it.

It and TW Seal &Shine only forum recommended products I wasn’t impressed with


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Not a fan Of BB myself. If not using a wheel acid for the truly nasty stuff, 3D Yellow degreaser at 4:1 is great for wheels, tires and plastic wells. I have a fear 3D yellow may be discontinued tho. Only a hunch and I’m not sure.
 
I grabbed a gallon as well during a sale last year I think more or less to hit a dollar amount for a sale. I realized then I didn`t really need it that much as I clean the vehicles I take care of often enough that they`d probably clean up as good with Reset. I`m sure the ceramic pads have more to do with it. Think I had been using some Diablo Gel that had to be a lesser dilution then called for.

Think some of the rationale was putting the IK foamer I picked up a while back into use since I never really bothered with it. I think I`ve got it at about 3:1 and didn`t have much issue with it but don`t take care of anything with a proper braking system or neglected cars either.

Anybody ever try the Auto Fanatic one?
 
gorram said:
I grabbed a gallon as well during a sale last year I think more or less to hit a dollar amount for a sale. I realized then I didn`t really need it that much as I clean the vehicles I take care of often enough that they`d probably clean up as good with Reset. I`m sure the ceramic pads have more to do with it. Think I had been using some Diablo Gel that had to be a lesser dilution then called for.

Think some of the rationale was putting the IK foamer I picked up a while back into use since I never really bothered with it. I think I`ve got it at about 3:1 and didn`t have much issue with it but don`t take care of anything with a proper braking system or neglected cars either.

Anybody ever try the Auto Fanatic one?
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Been thinking about doing so.....not interested in dragging out the power washer, so I`d have to invest in a foamer (I have a small IK).....Fathers Day is coming up....so maybe I`ll indulge myself
 
gorram said:
I grabbed a gallon as well during a sale last year I think more or less to hit a dollar amount for a sale. I realized then I didn`t really need it that much as I clean the vehicles I take care of often enough that they`d probably clean up as good with Reset. I`m sure the ceramic pads have more to do with it. Think I had been using some Diablo Gel that had to be a lesser dilution then called for.

Think some of the rationale was putting the IK foamer I picked up a while back into use since I never really bothered with it. I think I`ve got it at about 3:1 and didn`t have much issue with it but don`t take care of anything with a proper braking system or neglected cars either.

Anybody ever try the Auto Fanatic one?
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Klasse act got it and liked it.... kinda expensive and i dont think any cleaner can foam on rinse off and clean a 2 week old dirty wheel.

Honestly just foam what ever on and wash with car soap. If you take car of your wheels pretty simple


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Just bought a gallon and have not opened it yet. Got a 16 ounce bottle for free. Have used it with good results so far but all wheels have been pretty clean to start with. Sounds likeI should have paid a little more and stayed with my trusty Poorboys World wheel cleaner. P&S was on sale and a really good price. Guess on some things you do get what you pay for.
 
Van185 said:
Just bought a gallon and have not opened it yet. Got a 16 ounce bottle for free. Have used it with good results so far but all wheels have been pretty clean to start with. Sounds likeI should have paid a little more and stayed with my trusty Poorboys World wheel cleaner. P&S was on sale and a really good price. Guess on some things you do get what you pay for.
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If you keep your wheels clean it’s not a bad product especially at its price but with all the great reviews i was expecting magic i guess? It cleans well just not impressed more than any other wheel cleaner out their.


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I HAVE to bump this thread and ask if anyone has reached out to P&S about "problems" with their non-acid brake buster cleaner and anyone received any info back from them concerning this product.

Honest reviews by fellow Autopians about product experiences are one of the reasons I am a member of this forum and I find it invaluable in car-care product purchases.

I just wish car-care product manufacturers would have a customer-care/product/public relations representative respond to "concerns" and "problems" about their particular products. It just gives more credibility to their product line and company, although it may be difficult to admit a product chemical/manufacturing problem or diplomatically explain it may be a customer methodology/application user-error. Trying to defend a product`s performance or its price when it has undergone extensive development, testing, and marketing study viability by their company is not easy when all this time and money spent and the data analyzed to say it`s OK, but in the real world a good majority of the end-consumers are disappointed with a product, either because of "reasonable" price but no performance, or great performance but too high-priced.

Just because one product (Bead Maker) is a huge success and Autopia Forum Favorite does not guarantee that ALL the other car-care products will be of that same performance. That said, there is a company and product performance reputation to uphold, and this one bad experience may have a negative impact on the entire line. No one needs to remind any car-care manufacturer that they have a lot of car-care product competition out there and good customer service is part of earning a good business reputation and being economically successful.

By the way, isn`t P&S- Renny Doyle Double Black the preferred product line chosen to clean and detail the Presidential Air Force One jet?? Talk about a reputation to uphold!
 
I am bumping this thread AGAIN. (see above)
Still no answer to anyone from P&S about problems with their Non-Acid Brake Dust Cleaner?
I`d really like to here from them about "perceived" customer complaints.
Maybe that is the "problem"; no one is reaching out to P&S and asking for their feedback on this product.
 
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