Wheel Cleaner

[N16SHP]

Evening All! It was a lovely day yesterday so lined up Kirsten's manky S for a clean. Wasn't planning anything special as I did a lot of prep pre-winter so a good wash and dry would do the trick. I had a jaunt out to Polished Bliss earlier on in the week to get some new wheel products. I currently use Bilberry Wheel Cleaner and its great, but I am always left with teeny tiny bits of dust still baked on. I asked for some advice and they recommended Wolf's De-Ionizer. I also bought some new brushes Linky (http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/pb-wheel-woolies-cat4.html) a little pricey but performed really well and dead easy to use. The De-Ionizer is used by spraying on giving a good coat then leave it for 10-20 minutes to dissolve the baked on dust then power hose off. Results are below:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6830668391_dae67e2510_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6830658387_0ce210a10b_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6830679913_e9e029d508_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6830685243_bb14eb1f2c_b.jpg

Still getting left with this though :( :
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6830689827_93d2be11c7_b.jpg


Overall though, after 2 months of solid winter driving, a hose down, wash and dry 45 minutes later resulted in this:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6830695707_cf319020e5_b.jpg
Note that the trim still had to be treated!

As far as spray on, leave it alone, clean the car and then hose off it was just amazing, but sadly as you can see it still left little bits of dust in the corners of the alloys :( I also tested it by just spraying on and hosing off and also tried it on another wheel with a bit of agitation and still left some behind. So, any advice? I'm thinking my next step is an old clay bar? Any help shall be greatly received. :thumbs up:

[GCA3N]

Nice job matey.

[Craig]

For the black bits left, I'd try Tardis Neil, then if your still having problems, sometimes a polish will do it like AG SRP.

I have that wolfs cleaner but never needed to use it yet as my Autosmart smart wheels does the job well, however it's rare that any of my cars do 7 days without a wash ;)

[GCA3N]

Like Craig regular cleaning is the only way to stop this. Tradis might work too.

sent from my galaxy S ll

[N16SHP]

Yeah tried Tardis too :( my car has the same and with my white alloys they have to be cleaned once if not twice a week. I suppose my car is now 5 years old so I cannot complain too much.

[stoney]

i was going to say tardis i find the auto smart wheel cleaner good as well and to help pevent it when you have go it off i would recommend poorboys wheel sealant

[ianking]

Tardid wont take that off as its not tar. Its hot bits of brake fallout that have stuck to the wheels. A metal contaminent remover such as the Wolfs stuff you have or IronX (I think IronX is better) will remove it. You will need to spray it on and actually agitate it though. I find an old toothbrush works well for the job especially on those crown spoke alloys.

I have the wheel woolies as well, they are great although like you say a bit pricey.

[grasshopper]

This might sound a bit crazy but WD40 on a small cloth will take care of those black marks,I have white alloys and spray them with a wheel cleaner then jet wash and any remaining marks get the WD40 out. :thumbs up:

[Stewart]

I have the Wolfs stuff and think it’s great. I had brake dust that came with the car and nothing shifted it till I got Wolfs on the case. I'm sure I read you can leave it to dissolve for a while with no harm.

Like the others have said I'd agitate and I'd give it a bit longer to work. I decided the first time I used it as the wheels were practically still clean a week after washing to go out and spray and left it for a few hours ( That idea came from DW and Wolf) as long as the car was not in strong direct sunlight and on a hot day….

[Craig]

You can leave wolfs brake stuff to go dry.... That might help to give it longer to work ;)

[N16SHP]

i was going to say tardis i find the auto smart wheel cleaner good as well and to help pevent it when you have go it off i would recommend poorboys wheel sealant

I have poor boys wheel sealant, but if I'm honest, I don't really rate it that much. Once I have more funds was gonna try something else.


Tardid wont take that off as its not tar. Its hot bits of brake fallout that have stuck to the wheels. A metal contaminent remover such as the Wolfs stuff you have or IronX (I think IronX is better) will remove it. You will need to spray it on and actually agitate it though. I find an old toothbrush works well for the job especially on those crown spoke alloys.

I have the wheel woolies as well, they are great although like you say a bit pricey.

Thanks Ian! I was swithering between the Iron X and Wolf's but because Polished Bliss was local, I try and give them my business as much as possible. Plus you can always get a nosey at what they are working on :thumbs up: I may get some Iron X too off another site just to see, after all it's only a £10er.



I have the Wolfs stuff and think it’s great. I had brake dust that came with the car and nothing shifted it till I got Wolfs on the case. I'm sure I read you can leave it to dissolve for a while with no harm.

Like the others have said I'd agitate and I'd give it a bit longer to work. I decided the first time I used it as the wheels were practically still clean a week after washing to go out and spray and left it for a few hours ( That idea came from DW and Wolf) as long as the car was not in strong direct sunlight and on a hot day….


You can leave wolfs brake stuff to go dry.... That might help to give it longer to work ;)

Yeah, I left it on for a good 20 minutes but next time I think I will just let it go dry and see what the outcome is. As I said though, as far as just spraying on and leaving it...wow!

[stoney]

I find with the poorboys you do need 2 coats but it is defo one of the better ones out there

[GCA3N]

Agreed with rob

[N16SHP]

Well in that case I shall persist and save my cash! Cheers lads!

[weefossy]

I like the idea of WD40, worth giving it a test!........and a lot cheaper.

[N16SHP]

Just thought I'd give a wee update on how I was getting on. I bought some Iron X and have to say, compared to Wolf's its night and day. Put it on, gave it a wee agitate, left it for 5 mins, gave it another agitate and hosed off...result? One completely spotless alloy. I dunno why I never used this stuff sooner. It absolutely stinks, but for what it does, who cares. There was one or two little spots left, but took an old clay bar to it and that shifted it all off. Over all, really happy, and for £10 has saved me getting my alloys refurbed! (sadly doesn't take care kerb marks :( )

[Stewart]

I was happy with Wolfs having not tried Iron X. I'll give it a try next time when the wolfs done.

I take it you had the Alloy's off?

Always good to read what members think of products.

[N16SHP]

I was happy with Wolfs having not tried Iron X. I'll give it a try next time when the wolfs done.

I take it you had the Alloy's off?

Always good to read what members think of products.

I didn't take the alloy off no, but I was only doing it on one to see how good it was. I will no go ahead and take all four off individually, work on them, then put on something like Jeff's Prime Strong and then seal it with Poorboys! I also got some Chemical Guys trim gel and that stuff was pretty awesome too! I had been using Megs tyre dressing, but the Chemical Guys stuff is much better.

[Stewart]

I have an almost new Trim Gel here, you'd never know it had been used but just can’t get it to work for me. I have the AS stuff that seems to be better for me and it cures and becomes water proof. Think the thing that did it was first time I used it looked great and during the night we had rain and next morning the roof trim had run down all the windows. ( too much must have been on)

The CG stuff ran even when I used to little and then went over with an old clean cloth. I keep thinking to try it again on the arch trim to give it another go.

[N16SHP]

I have an almost new Trim Gel here, you'd never know it had been used but just can’t get it to work for me. I have the AS stuff that seems to be better for me and it cures and becomes water proof. Think the thing that did it was first time I used it looked great and during the night we had rain and next morning the roof trim had run down all the windows. ( too much must have been on)

The CG stuff ran even when I used to little and then went over with an old clean cloth. I keep thinking to try it again on the arch trim to give it another go.

I think it's the Auto Smart stuff that Greig uses and recommended to me but I found it quite hard to come by. He also said he uses only a little and it lasts for months!