Wheel Acid

J

Jpostal

Excellence Auto Gallery
I am a mobile "detailer" and have typically done high volume work...ex-rental cars, lower end used car dealerships, pre-sale minivans, etc. It's not the most glamorous work but it is consistent and pays the bills. Because I do volume work speed/efficiency is obviously important and there is nothing worse than spending 15 minutes scrubbing one wheel. I have always used otc wheel cleaners that still require a lot of elbow grease to remove the stubborn built up brake dust, etc. Today I broke down and bought a gallon of Wheel Acid from Carbrite and tried it on a minivan I was preparing for sale. I was amazed with the effortless spray on rinse of results even with a dilution ratio of 4:1. Anyway, the reason for the thread...



I have read that Acid Wheel cleaners can do serious damage to wheels and my health. I understand the health hazards involved and plan to use safety glasses and gloves to protect myself. What I am not sure about is the negative side effects on the wheels. Are the horror stories by the anti-wheel acid folks over exaggerated? Is wheel acid a valuable tool to have in my tool chest if used correctly? Obviously I only plan to use it on extremely dirty wheels. If wheel acid is not the way to go, is the non-acid wheel cleaner a good alternative? I also plan on purchasing a VX5000 steamer in May...could this be another alternative to wheel acid?



Thanks for the advice.
 
If its a coated wheel (most are) then the acid can really cause a problem. Today a buddy of mine stopped by with a P/U that had acid put on the wheels and totally killed them.
 
My distributor swears that it is safe on coated alloys and damage will occur only if the coating is already damaged (peeling, bubbling, etc). According to him un-coated aluminum and polished aluminum wheels are easily damaged by acid. I actually originally wanted the non-acid cleaner but he strongly suggested the acid cleaner.



What to do, what to do???
 
I use it all the time on every car! Except bmw,Benz and anything going upwards. But I have never had an issue. Unless the wheel is straight aluminum then your good to go. All you need to do is let it sit for about 20secs or so and it's all good. Wheel acid is also good for Chrome and muffler tips.





There is another wheel cleaner that is just as good that was posted up here a few days ago (3-4 days) that is a brown color which is not an acid but work better.



Good luck.
 
alloutdetailing said:
I use it all the time on every car! Except bmw,Benz and anything going upwards. But I have never had an issue. Unless the wheel is straight aluminum then your good to go. All you need to do is let it sit for about 20secs or so and it's all good. Wheel acid is also good for Chrome and muffler tips.





There is another wheel cleaner that is just as good that was posted up here a few days ago (3-4 days) that is a brown color which is not an acid but work better.



Good luck.
Click to expand...



Are you talking about high alkaline truck wash?
 
JPostal:

If you do use an acid type wheel cleaner, be careful using it on concrete. I've etched my home driveway with Meg's Wheel Brightener.

WEAR RUBBER GLOVES or you'll burn your skin from prolonged exposure.

The face mask is your call, but if you do alot of wheels in a day, wear one.

Hydroflouric acid is very nasty stuff
 
Jean-Claude said:
Are you talking about high alkaline truck wash?
Click to expand...



Ardex



6230 ATTACK An Acid Concentrate This is our Aluminum Truck Trailer Acid Kleener. Many detailers use this sort of acid cleaner on wire wheels and mag wheels. It is very fast, very powerful. Preferred by high volume operations.

(Personal protection is a must when using Attack.)
 
alloutdetailing said:
I use it all the time on every car! Except bmw,Benz and anything going upwards. But I have never had an issue. Unless the wheel is straight aluminum then your good to go. All you need to do is let it sit for about 20secs or so and it's all good. Wheel acid is also good for Chrome and muffler tips.





There is another wheel cleaner that is just as good that was posted up here a few days ago (3-4 days) that is a brown color which is not an acid but work better.



Good luck.
Click to expand...
I agree. The product is called Brown Royal.
 
JPostal said:
My distributor swears that it is safe on coated alloys and damage will occur only if the coating is already damaged (peeling, bubbling, etc). According to him un-coated aluminum and polished aluminum wheels are easily damaged by acid. I actually originally wanted the non-acid cleaner but he strongly suggested the acid cleaner.



What to do, what to do???
Click to expand...
Your distributor is correct. Don't use it on damaged wheels...the acid will get under the coating and damage the finish.

Meg's Wheel Brightner will melt away caked on brake dust.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. Out of curiosity, what kind of damage can be expected if used on the wrong type of wheel or if left to dwell too long, etc??? A lot of the cars I work on would still probably look better with slightly etched wheels than the horrendously dirty wheels they have, but anything more than minor etching may not be worth the cleanliness.
 
i use acid 4:1. it is a must on some neglected cars. if it is used straight, it will yellow the clear. but diluted, as long as you are fast with the water it should be ok. if you use acid on raw aluminum it will literally smoke and haze them. i use it to clean raw wheels but i always follow with a polishing wheel and rouge
 
I have heard that after using the acid I should follow it up with a cleaner/degreaser on the other end of the ph spectrum. Is this sound advice or will a thorough rinsing with water be enough?
 
This stuff is proven to be dangerous, so why even bother to use it to save a few minutes. Yea, I know time is money, but it is not worth your health or an insurance claim on an expensive wheel. With lots of wheels a quick rinse with a pressure washer and dry with a MF towel is all that is needed. I suspect the steamer in conjunction with a damp MF would also work quite well.
 
There is a youtube video of a guy using steam on wheels...seems to work fairly well. Once I get my steamer I will use it when I can, but a lot of the cars I do have been seriously neglected and I think the acid may be a necessary evil if I want to get them as clean as possible. At this point I don't think I would use it on a high end wheel just in case...
 
alloutdetailing said:
I use it all the time on every car! Except bmw,Benz and anything going upwards. But I have never had an issue. Unless the wheel is straight aluminum then your good to go. All you need to do is let it sit for about 20secs or so and it's all good. Wheel acid is also good for Chrome and muffler tips.





There is another wheel cleaner that is just as good that was posted up here a few days ago (3-4 days) that is a brown color which is not an acid but work better.



Good luck.
Click to expand...



its not as good. i have both megs wheel brightener and brown royal. wheel brightener melts whatever brown royal cant. they say to use it at like 4:1 but even at 1:1 brown royal isnt as strong as wheel brightener 4:1

its stronger than the pH balanced stuff like p21s gel of course.

im not sure if i can attribute this damage to the brown royal or what but i did a set of g35 sport 19's and one of the wheels got this damage. used at around 2:1 and 2 minute dwell time.



i cant find a pic of wheel brightener damage but it usually is just yellowing of the clearcoat, offwhite-yellowish squiggly lines under the clear, or hazing of polished aluminum. its definitely something to be careful with because ive etched my driveway and damaged a few beatup wheels that had cracks or chips in the coating so it seeped into it.

i dont like using acid, but a lot of times its needed. bmw neglected brake dust wont budge with non acid cleaners. brown royal can only get like 70-80% off, pH safe cleaners even less.
 
<quote>Hydroflouric acid is very nasty stuff</quote>



I wonder if any of us would continue using it if we spent any time at all really researching the chemical.... this **** penetrates anything moist - like your lungs and skin!



Use that Google thing for five minutes. See if you can find a reason to continue...



Not allowed in my Shop.



JB
 
HTML: 
Hydrofluoric acid is very nasty stuff



I wonder if any of us would continue using it if we spent any time at all really researching the chemical.... this s**t penetrates anything moist - like your lungs and skin!



Use that Google thing for five minutes. See if you can find a reason to continue...



Not allowed in my Shop.



JB
 
If used with the proper pre-cautionary devices (gloves/eye mask/respirator) Hydrofluoric Acid is a viable product for cleaning chrome & clearcoated wheels with heavy brake dust buildup. When brake dust particles cake onto a surface, it virtually impossible to clean them without using acid. Alkaline products *can* clean most wheels, but not when you need an acidic product to melt away baked on rust.
 
David, I'm not starting an argument... I just want to emphasize, especially to newbies, the very real health hazards associated with Hydrofluoric Acid.



Again, not allowed in my Shop. And, wheels go out clean, trust me. Just takes a little time.



JB
 
alloutdetailing said:
Ardex



6230 ATTACK An Acid Concentrate This is our Aluminum Truck Trailer Acid Kleener. Many detailers use this sort of acid cleaner on wire wheels and mag wheels. It is very fast, very powerful. Preferred by high volume operations.

(Personal protection is a must when using Attack.)
Click to expand...



Now thats a wheel cleaner!!!!! :hifive:
 
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