Wheel Cleaners

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jw3571

New member
I`m looking for a wheel cleaner that will work well with black BMW and Porsche wheels. I can`t take any chance of damaging the wheels so it needs to be safe. I have been using the regular cleaner from Griot`s. Is there anything better or should I just stick with that?
 
jw3571 said:
I`m looking for a wheel cleaner that will work well with black BMW and Porsche wheels. I can`t take any chance of damaging the wheels so it needs to be safe. I have been using the regular cleaner from Griot`s. Is there anything better or should I just stick with that?
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Has it been working for you? If so, then why switch? Once your wheels are clean, coat them and you won`t need a dedicated wheel cleaner.
 
I`ve tried them all and keep coming back to Griot`s. The price by the gallon is reasonable and I haven`t had anything I couldn`t get clean. You aren`t missing out on anything.
 
I would suggest two different wheel brake dust cleaners:
P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel (they do make a liquid wheel cleaner as well, the gel just clings more for better cleaning)
Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus (they also make a Wheel cleaner called Full Effects, but it is not a powerful for REALLY dirty rims)

These are both safe for your black (and expensive) BMW and Porsche rims. Both brake dust wheel cleaners are also a little pricey.

If you do get the wheel rims coated as suggested, then the Sonax Full Effects might be good choice for maintenance washes of the rims. That said, many Autopians just clean their rims with car wash soap after coating the rims, as the brake dust just does not adhere to the rim`s surface when coated. However, your driving style and the fact that you have a BMW and Porsche vehicles that are notorious for generating copious amounts of brake dust that may necessitate the use of a wheel cleaner, hence my suggestion.

For myself I use Meguiar`s Detailer Line D143 Non-Acid Wheel Cleaner because it is inexpensive in the gallon jug (AKA cheap) when diluted 3:1, very safe on rims and tires, and almost all the vehicles I clean/detail are more "pedestrian" daily drivers.

Also, what are you using for a wash media to clean the rims themselves: boar`s hair brush, Wheel Woolies, EZ Detail Brush/Speed Master Brush, and/or microfiber wash cloth or foam finger pad??
 
I keep an array of wheel cleaners on hand. However, my daily/go-to product has become the Nanoskin non-acid product. Very good and it`s diluted 4:1.

There`s nothing wrong with the Griot`s variants - - I`ve used them for years. I`ve also used the Autoglym product but it`s far too difficult to obtain.
 
I too am a fan of the Griots wheel cleaner (the green one). Right now I`m using Poorboy`s World Non-Acid Wheel Cleaner. Like the Griots it seems to be safe and effective, but I find it`s a little thicker and sticks where you spray it rather than runing right off like the Griots.
 
Thanks for the replies. I`ll answer a few of the questions people have asked. I usually wash my car weekly or every other week. I usually use a grout sponge for my wash media.
 
jw3571- If you`re using the sponges for wheel duty, you might look into some of the other options. If you decide to try a BHB for Wheels, the one from Wheel Woolies would be my choice (it`s better than the offerings from my usual source).

I won`t use a SpeedMaster/EZ/etc. brush on my wheels for fear of marring them, but that`s just me and I take the approach of "If I wouldn`t use it on the hood of a black car, I won`t use it on my wheels."

What kind of damage are you concerned with? I`ve had plenty of German cars that were supposedly awful with regard to brakedust, but it`s never *really* been an issue. Coatings can be great as they shed dirt readily and last a long time. Durable conventional LSPs do the same but need redone more often. Bare wheels cleaned with Wheel Cleaners (I too like the Griot`s, and P21s, and other mild ones) can be fine if you do them frequently, but in your case I think I`d be a little worried about leaving them completely unprotected. If you miss some area repeatedly (say...on the back side), it could be trouble with zero protection on there.
 
If you have the PCCB. Porsche Carbon Ceramic BRAKES DO NOT USE ANY WHEEL CLEANER. CARWASH SOAP ONLY.

if they are not the above I’d use car wash soap only. I only used wheel cleaner on my BMW rims with the are trashed. After winter reset wash. I’m careful not to spray it on the shiny rotor hats as they get pitted. I use P21s gel usually.
 
If you have Ceramic brakes, you probably don’t need a wheel specific cleaner. I use Griot’s iron and fallout remover exclusively for wheels. About the same price as the others out there but contains twice the active ingredients as the other products. They used iron x and sonar as the measure when designing it.
 
If you’re using the green Griots pH neutral wheel cleaner; you can make something literally just about the same as it for pretty much free.

Just get 1 oz of your favorite car wash soap without wax & add it to 32oz of water with a foaming sprayer.

Safe on 100% of the wheels out there, free, and just as good as Griots IME.
 
I like the Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus as a maintance wheel cleaner. Less aggitations with a stronger yet safe wheel cleaner is also a benefit. For the most time it`s a touchless wash with this and a PW. It`s a little pricey but if you like it after trying it out you could buy the 5L jug of it and almost cut the price in half.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/sonax-wheel-cleaner-plus.html#.XSQyNaWew1I

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/sonax-wheel-cleaner-plus-5liter.html#.XSQ0bKWew1I

A good wheel sealant or coating does it even easier to maintain. For wheel brushes I would go with a set of Wheel Woolies. High quality and gentle material for maintance duty. Use a wheel bucket with a car soap solution to get a little more lubrication when aggitate the Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus. Also apply the wheel cleaner on a dry wheel so no prerinse needed if it`s not extremly amounts of loose dirt. The reason you apply it dry is to get the most out of the iron remover in Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus. Let it dwell for 3-5 minutes before you aggitate it and directly rinse it off. Don`t let it dry on you as with all chemicals.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/wheel-woolies-brush.html#.XSQ1CKWew1I

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/wheel-woolie.html#.XSQ1DaWew1I

/ Tony
 
Swanicyouth said:
If you’re using the green Griots pH neutral wheel cleaner; you can make something literally just about the same as it for pretty much free.

Just get 1 oz of your favorite car wash soap without wax & add it to 32oz of water with a foaming sprayer.

Safe on 100% of the wheels out there, free, and just as good as Griots IME.
Click to expand...

That`s interesting, wonder why our experiences differ?

I switched from GG Wheel Cleaner to a potent (moreso than 1:32) shampoo mix for my LSP/coated wheels. Works great on those no matter how dirty they get, but on the bare wheels that I run on the Tahoe in the winter, I need to use the GG Wheel Cleaner instead to really get the front ones (front disc/rear drum) clean.
 
I found the Griots green wheel cleaner to be very ineffective as well. It won`t get anything off that regular soap won`t. Meg`s APC seems to have way more power.
 
Well, between Dan and Swanicyouth it sure sounds like my experience is, uhm....different. Hmm, wonder if the Griot`s is milder than it used to be, maybe like their Car Wash apparently is. Gotta say I haven`t bought any for ages so maybe an update slipped under my radar.

I will say that the Sonus Wheel Cleaner is very different from my shampoo mix, works much better on those Tahoe wheels. But I didn`t notice it being appreciable stronger than my (old) Griot`s. Huh, another of those YMMV things I guess.
 
After I applied a few coats of FK1000p on my wheels, I don`t use any type of dedicated wheel cleaner. I`ll just use whatever I`m washing with at the time.

That FK1000p makes anything else unnecessary. I`m also lucky to have cars that don`t dust like the Germans.:)
 
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