best non corrosive wheel cleaner?

Crafoo

Crazy Fool!
Apr 30, 2005
5,498
4
At home
Another vote for Bilberry here, very good at cutting through the brake dust and not harmful at all to the wheels.
 

STU3Y

Active Member
Nov 11, 2013
1,271
2
Kent
I used to use gunk universal degreaser on my scooby, it's delicate on polished rims etc. I dont need amy now though as my wheels are powder coated so I just seal them with autoglym extra gloss protection sealant
 

JMAC

Active Member
Feb 18, 2015
652
3
Valet Pro Dragons Breath or Bilt Hamber Auto Wheels. Both great, no agitation required - just spray on, dwell (watch the deep red colour change) and rinse off. Bilt Hamber smells a bit better than Dragons Breath.

VP Bilberry isn't a patch on either of these IME.
 

marty_34

Active Member
Apr 21, 2012
1,183
2
TEESSIDE
Valet Pro Dragons Breath or Bilt Hamber Auto Wheels. Both great, no agitation required - just spray on, dwell (watch the deep red colour change) and rinse off. Bilt Hamber smells a bit better than Dragons Breath.

VP Bilberry isn't a patch on either of these IME.

dragons breath and bilt hamber are similar to iron x more like a fallout remover so they require little if any agitation thats why it will appear they are more reactive than bilberry

dragons breath stinks near as bad as iron x :D, need to be careful with bilt hamber as think i read somewhere it strips any wax/sealant off
 

JMAC

Active Member
Feb 18, 2015
652
3
dragons breath and bilt hamber are similar to iron x more like a fallout remover so they require little if any agitation thats why it will appear they are more reactive than bilberry

dragons breath stinks near as bad as iron x :D, need to be careful with bilt hamber as think i read somewhere it strips any wax/sealant off

I can never find IronX in stock :-( I have some Sonax fallout remover so I might give that a mix with what Bilberry I have left and see what it's like.

I've just got a few new Bilt Hamber goodies and I'm pleased with it so far. The Finis wax looks amazing on my (Apollo) blue ST FR. Thanks for the heads up on the Auto Wheels.

OT - Great to see loads of owners from the Boro on here :D
 

duncinascoob

Active Member
Jun 28, 2010
158
0
Scotland
To make life easy the best thing to do is take the wheels off and clean them properly then polish and protect them with a sealant. After that they can be cleaned very easily for months!
I've tried many different ways and products and have settled on the following.

Remove wheels and spray with Autosmart tardis. Leave to dwel for 10 minutes then agitate and rinse off.
This will remove tree sap, tar and other spots and marks. This can also be used to remove any old sticky strips from previous wheel balance weights.
Sometimes a second application and microfibre cloth is needed.

New repeat with Iron X product. Personally I use Gyeon Q2M Iron.
This will remove metal contamination. But be warned it smells and will leave red residue on the ground if not rinsed away.
Rinse thouroughly and dry well.

Polish wheels. In truth there will be very little (read zero) difference between different polishes.
2 coats for good measure.

Seal wheels with a good wheel sealant. I find Poorboys to be very very good. Easily 6 months protection and stands up well to everything I've put it through.

After that you will find the wheels very easy to clean. I can normally clean them pretty well simply with the power hose. But to get them clean you can use a number of wheel cleaners as long as they dont strip the protection off. A very under rated product is 3M wheel and tyre cleaner. Very cheap and does a great job.
I used that for a while but I'm now trying Wolf's Clean and coat nano wheel cleaner. Its also very good.
Spray on, agitate and rinse off. With many wheel designs you can see alot of the alloy behind the spokes so if you have these I'd also advise the use a wheel wooly to properly clean in behind without the need to remove the wheels.

That way they are protected and easy to clean :)
 

Crafoo

Crazy Fool!
Apr 30, 2005
5,498
4
At home
Seal wheels with a good wheel sealant. I find Poorboys to be very very good. Easily 6 months protection and stands up well to everything I've put it through.

I've found the Poorboys stuff to be very good too, makes subsequent cleaning of the wheels a breeze.
 

JMAC

Active Member
Feb 18, 2015
652
3
Hmmm might have to give the PB's a try then. I have a full tub of Chemical Guys Wheel Guard which I won't be using any time soon, very disappointing. It doesn't really repel dirt or make them easier to clean next time round. Waste of time and money :-(

I've been using Armorall Shield for Wheels recently and it's pretty good stuff. I think it does prevent the wheels getting as dirty between washes and it's quick and easy to apply:

https://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/acatal...Wheels-16300EN-300ml-ARM_16300EN.html#SID=367
 

duncinascoob

Active Member
Jun 28, 2010
158
0
Scotland
It all depends how the wheels were prepared for the sealant, how it was applied and how many coats.
Also depends what you put on there afterwards as many products will strip it off.

I normally power hose the car, then foam (Autofinesse Avalanche - not too strong a dilution)
Then make up my 2 buckets while that dwels - I use a mild dillution of Poorboys super slick & suds.
Then I rinse the wheels and clean them before power hose the foam off.
Clean the car with mitt and 2 buckets before rinsing down with the hose (no power hose).
Pat dry to avoid any water spotting if possible.

The good thing is when its time to re-do the wheels in a few months its so much easier. Normally any contamination is in the product and not baked onto the wheels so when you spray on the de-contamination products it just washes off. :)
All in my opinion and findings of course, I dont do it for a living, just a hobby that I dont get to spend enough time on :)
 
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Pandybmx

Active Member
Jan 30, 2013
22
0
The Polishing Booth's own one, I think its under optimal car care. It stinks but its brilliant, search for it on ebay