2 euro shop Alloy Wheel cleaner.

L-M

Well lads,

I invested in a few bottles of "Window cleaner" and "Tyre shine" from the 2 euro shop. It was two bottles for three euro.

The window cleaner was very good, the tyre shine was ****e, but! I went in the other day and bought this Alloy wheel cleaner for €1.

Literally, sprayed it on, waited two mins and powerhosed it off. I was amazed with the result, found it very good without even brushings, and my wheels hadn't been washed in about a month.

On another note, I bought the Tesco wheel cleaner for €1.36 and it may as well have been red water.

In short, get thee to the 2 euro shop and invest in the €1 Alloy wheel cleaner. (I got mine in the Parkway shopping centre, Limerick.)

_Conrad_

Limerick man wrote: »

Well lads,

I invested in a few bottles of "Window cleaner" and "Tyre shine" from the 2 euro shop. It was two bottles for three euro.

The window cleaner was very good, the tyre shine was ****e, but! I went in the other day and bought this Alloy wheel cleaner for €1.

Literally, sprayed it on, waited two mins and powerhosed it off. I was amazed with the result, found it very good without even brushings, and my wheels hadn't been washed in about a month.

On another note, I bought the Tesco wheel cleaner for €1.36 and it may as well have been red water.

In short, get thee to the 2 euro shop and invest in the €1 Alloy wheel cleaner. (I got mine in the Parkway shopping centre, Limerick.)

Just don't get that on your hands or in your eyes, or ingest any of it. The cheap stuff does work, because it's nastier. Givin the auld parkway a bit of a boost there i see... it could do with it :pac:

It's better now but hasn't ever quite got over how much of a dump it used to be

Nonoperational

Be careful. It's probably very harsh. I wouldn't use it too often.

mickdw

Anyone can make an strong wheel cleaner. I could probably knock one together myself from a few serious chemicals. It will certainly clean wheels but it will more than likely cause serious damage to the wheel surface.
I go with a more respected brand.

MidlandsM

gpf101 wrote: »

Be careful. It's probably very harsh. I wouldn't use it too often.

yep, and once that cheap stuff gets under chipped laquer, its the long goodbye to nice rims, and hello, refurb.

Nissan doctor

Also make sure you don't use those harsh cleaners on any alloys that have kerb damage or any surface damage at all.

alexmcred

I use bilberry wheel cleaner no nastiness in it at all and does a great job.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/valet-pro-bilberry-wheel-cleaner-1-litre-/prod_499.html

http://www.shinearama.co.uk/search.php?fsearch=bilberry

deandean

The cheap wheel cleaners usually contain Hydrochloric acid IIRC.
Not good either for you or for the wheels in the long term.

L-M

I used to do Valeting, it's very far from harsh. I've used plenty of different wheel cleaners, you can literally smell a strong wheel cleaner from a mile away, this stuff is far from it.

At the "respected" comment, that's just sales pitch BS.

Edit:

Chronic toxicity: No adverse effects expected from repeated exposure.

http://www.astonishcleaners.com/documents/document-astonish-H7Ky.pdf

mickdw

Limerick man wrote: »

At the "respected" comment, that's just sales pitch BS.

Not really just sales pitch BS however the willingness to use these type of products Id say is directly proportional to the respect one might have for their alloys which in turn might be related to the cost of the alloys. IMO, if the wheels were worth €2000, one would be likely to fork out for a known product whereas if the whole car is worth €2000, one might be likely to use whatever was to hand to clean the wheels.
Yes, many of these cleaners can have a very strong smell but it doesnt follow that mild smell means mild cleaner.

I note the documentation attached and while it does seem to be legit, Id certainly still be wary of effect on wheel finish etc.
What I do with those type of products is use them on someone elses car first:D

MetzgerMeister

gpf101 wrote: »

Be careful. It's probably very harsh. I wouldn't use it too often.

MidlandsM wrote: »

yep, and once that cheap stuff gets under chipped laquer, its the long goodbye to nice rims, and hello, refurb.

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Also make sure you don't use those harsh cleaners on any alloys that have kerb damage or any surface damage at all.

deandean wrote: »

The cheap wheel cleaners usually contain Hydrochloric acid IIRC.
Not good either for you or for the wheels in the long term.

I agree with all the above. I have used TurtleWax Wheel Clean on my cars for years. On my last car and current car, it stripped the rust-protection off the brake callipers leaving rust all over them. Also, I have kerb damage on one alloy and that stuff made paint around it chip off.

Due to this, I will be bringing them to the WheelDoctor for a full refurb in the coming months. I will also be getting brake caliper covers until I can afford, and am prepared to send my calipers off to Big Red for electroplating.

I have since switched to Meguiar's Wheel Brightener as suggested by Seperate. You dilute it in a bottle and instead of smelling like acid, it smells like cherries It's nowhere near as harsh as the turtle wax stuff but still does the job very well.

Chriscl1

I use this stuff, it's amazing.

http://www.cleancar.ie/verycherryacidfreewheelcleaner5litre.html

L-M

mickdw wrote: »

Not really just sales pitch BS however the willingness to use these type of products Id say is directly proportional to the respect one might have for their alloys which in turn might be related to the cost of the alloys. IMO, if the wheels were worth €2000, one would be likely to fork out for a known product whereas if the whole car is worth €2000, one might be likely to use whatever was to hand to clean the wheels.
Yes, many of these cleaners can have a very strong smell but it doesnt follow that mild smell means mild cleaner.

I note the documentation attached and while it does seem to be legit, Id certainly still be wary of effect on wheel finish etc.
What I do with those type of products is use them on someone elses car first:D

I paid €1,400 for the wheels on my car, and they were over 2k sterling new. I've got them two years and I've used all sorts of ****e on them and they're fine It's bs