Top Wheel Cleaners

Years ago I bought a wheel cleaner that turns purple when it interacts with brake dust and iron deposits and I never looked back. It is a really interesting product that helps differentiate between the brake dust, iron and dirt. For a while I would just get pissed, just moving dirt around with my boars hair brush thinking I was making a difference to my wheels. It didn't seem to matter even though I use the two-bucket method when washing a car and use a boars hair brush. I was still finding dirt in the barrels, on the faces and lips of my wheels after a full drying cycle. I even tried not putting as much effort into wheel cleaning so I didn't get bummed when they looked dirty after drying --- didn't work.

Surprisingly, that's where the wheel cleaners that turn purple come in. They help lift the brake dust and iron deposits (that come from the brake pads when they touch the rotors to slow the car down) away from the surface of the wheel and can be wiped away from the surface easier. Without much water pressure and effort from the cleaners body and brushes. It's a great addition to help make wheel cleaning easier! Especially when you want that deep clean!

But first, lets quickly go over how to fully utilize wheel cleaners as a whole.

Steps To Fully Utilize Wheel Cleaners :

Items Needed :

   Wheel Cleaner of Your Choice
   Boars Hair Brush or Bristle Brush or 2 Rags
   Water Hose or <1200 PSI Pressure Washer

Not needed but nice to use : Two Wash Buckets. One for clean water, one for dirty water.

Setup

Make sure you're in a shaded place where the wheels will not be directly in the sun so the wheel cleaner and agitated dirt do not dry and "bake" on the wheels. Making it harder, even sometimes permanent, to remove the "baked" stains on the wheels.

   Spray - Spray the wheel with the Wheel Cleaner of your choice. Make sure you spray at all angles  and  the wheel is covered 100%. If you're using a boars hair brush, bristle brush or rag, spray that once or twice as well
   Agitate - Use your brush, rag or whatever equipment you're using  and  brush the wheel cleaner  and  grime around. You do not want it to sit  and  dry so make sure you move swiftly.
   Soak - Wash away the Wheel Cleaner with your hose or pressure washer.
   Dry - If you used a rag to clean the wheels  and  use one to dry off the wheels, make sure you use two seperate rags for each occasion. Otherwise you can use a leaf blower to dry off the wheels.

1. Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner

Griot's Garage has been a classic for me, their wheel cleaner has also never let me down ontop of a great brand. That says a lot to me not only does their brand have a strong image that they uphold, but a strong product to match the customer service. I won't lie, I normally don't even look for those things - I could care less but when they happen... You just can't not notice it.

The Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner is a very strong and potent product. It is my go-to in every wheel cleaning situation because it can handle anything. Whether the issue is severe : you haven't cleaned your car in 3 years. You drive 78k miles per year and you get your brakes changed 1 time a year. All of that accumulated brake dust will vanish from the face, barrel and rim of your wheels. It doesn't matter if you wash your car every Wednesday at 7:30 PM on the dot and over the past week you've accumulated more road dust than brake dust. It'll leave a classic shiney and freshly cleaned look. It is the best for every situation.

Sometimes I soak my passenger front wheel and by the time I walk and go to soak my passenger rear wheel, the front already has brake dust and iron deposits flowing down the face of the wheel. At first I would try and do all four wheels at once but I learned after a few tries that will not give me the best results. By the time I got to the fourth wheel, the first wheel I started with would have some dried brake dust and iron deposits that I would have to scrub again and essentially start the process over. Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner works incredibly fast. So incredibly fast and honestly, that is one of my favorite qualities about it. I now wash one wheel at a time and focus solely on 3 things while I clean each wheel :

   Face - Use my Boars Hair Brush to get in the acute angles  and  crevices that a rag cannot reach. Also reach inbetween each spoke  and  lug nut.
   Barrel - Use my Long Bristle Brush to reach behind the face  and  access the barrel. This is surpringly where the most brake dust  and  iron accumulation can accur. It is also the most over looked area while cleaning the wheels.
   Lip - If your cars wheels have a lip, use the Boars Hair Brush to agitate any brake dust  and  iron deposists.

Changing my technique a little to this sequence has dramatically increased how clean my wheels look at the end of the process. The shine and overall cleanliness always looks perfect because I do not like overly shiney, Top Wheel Cleaners gloss-like, wheels. I also love the ability to run my hand over my wheels and it feel insanely smooth, like freshly decontaminated car paint.

2. Meguiar's Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner

Meguiar's is a long standing company and is probably one of the most commonly used brands related to automotive detailing. You see them at all the major retailers and they have an insanely large line of products. Most of which are not even in stores, only available online. With such a large product line, they have many different options when it comes to wheel cleaners and related items.

Now when I hear about an "insanely large" product line I can't help but wonder... are their products really that good? I mean if the company is this large and they have so mant products, there is a very big chance they cut corners on the quality of the item or they do not have that great of Quality Assurance. Meguiar's Ultimate All Wheen Cleaner though... it does not fall short. You can tell this is a product they care about and that people recurringly purchase, over and over and over again.

Meguiar's Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner is a different wheel cleaner than most. Its consistency is thick, almost like a gel and it reacts fast when it touches brake dust and iron deposits. The finish shines well in the light and has a clean finish that lasts a long time.

One of the first things I noticed while using the Meguiar's Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner, was how long the brake dust stays off my wheels face and lip. The wheels barrel was still very dirty but that is nearly impossible to keep clean longterm. Im not sure if Meguiar is using something to make the brake dust and iron deposits not stick to the wheels, but it sure seems like it.

So how does a brand that has been around for 117 years keep staying on top of it's competition? Personally, I think Meguiar's is constantly coming out with high quality, new, innovative products and their Meguiar's Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner is one of those products. It maintains your wheels and keeps them clean, it has a durable coat that shines and is a reliable wheel cleaner that will not let you down.

3. Car Guys Wheel Cleaner

3 years ago this was not a brand I had ever used... As stated earlier, I have my go-to wheel cleaners but I am not scared to change it up. A little history about me, in the past I had lived in up-state New York for over 5 years. Now living in Florida for over 2 years and can never go back to frozen hell. When I lived in frozen hell, I was recommended Car Guys during my last winter. I was getting my car washed at the local Automatic Car Wash chain (I know, I know, that's terrible for the paint on my car. I am covered in swirls now. 20/20. What're you gonna do?) and after I'd gone through the cycle, I get out and make sure there is no dried salt remnants on the exterior of the car, like my bumpers, wheels and trim. If I saw any salt I would pull up to the brushing stations (I am screaming inside right now as I write this thinking about all the gunk and grime inside that community brush at the Automatic Car Wash... getting on my car... and wheels...) and scrub away any of the salt.

One day as I was washing away the salt remnants on my wheels, a gentleman came over and said he detailed for a living. Offered a Wheel Cleaning Service for $19 that'll keep the salt off for more than a day or two. I said no since I was already paying $25 a month to the Automatic Car Wash for the unlimited car washes, but I still asked what type of product he was using to get salt off. He showed me the Car Guys Wheel Cleaner.

When I left NY... err frozen hell, I left the bottle behind with a friend since I was only taking clothes on a flight to Florida planning to start over again. My friend uses it pretty often on his Chevy Malibu and he loves it :

   It's great for the entire year, I use it on my summer wheels  and  my winter beaters. Super reliable wheel cleaner. I'm not as fancy as "WheelCleanUp" with the whole two bucket -- whatever. My ONE microfiber  and  garden hose do the trick!

So not only did we learn my friend completely ditched everything I taught him about car washing when I left, but we learned Car Guys Wheel Cleaner is a great wheel cleaner. Not only great in the winter, it's great in all seasons. and added bonuses, it's made here in the USA, 100% Money Back Guarantee and follows all the same steps as the huge brands. Except Car Guys Wheel Cleaner also does more! Here the more :

   pH Balance
   Non-Acidic
   Attacks Iron Deposits  and  Brake Dust
   Attacks Salt
   Safe on ALL Finishes
   Focuses on Environmentally Friendliness

4. Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect

Wheel Cleaner Full Effect by Sonax is an outstanding product but lands at 34 as it does has some faults compared to the others. We will get to those in a moment though. First, let's get into the great things about Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect :

   pH Balanced
   Non-Acidic
   Acts Fast
   Sprays Yellow, Changes to Purple
   Scrub-Free

Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect is a great product that contends with the more established products on this list. Supporting great qualities like the ones listed above, you also get a Wheel Cleaner that is scrub-free and specifically attacks tough dirt and grime. It's also safe on wheels that are powder coated, painted, chrome, plasti-dipped and many more materials.

Since the Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect is fast acting, I would also recommend working on one wheel at a time. Making sure you do not let the wheels dry or the dirt, grime, brake dust and iron deposits will stick to the face, lip and barrel of the wheel. Then use your hose or pressure washer to rinse off the nasty, now purple, dirt and grime. Once you've gotten the routine down, cleaning your wheels with Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect is super easy and becomes a small task when you wash your car.

Now lets get into the faults of this wheel cleaner :

   Sonax advertises their Wheel Cleaner Full Effect as safe for all wheels, but in their listing in the fine print, it says "Use caution when applying this product to anodized wheels and brake systems - test in an inconspicuous area prior to use."
   "Interesting" Smell
   Not truly scrub-free

Overall, I still recommend Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect because it's strong, works great and I agitate the cleaner on my wheels everytime I wash them. I do not mind the smell because I only smell it while cleaning and it only lasts maybe a minute.

Honestly, now after writing this I feel like I could talk about Wheel Cleaners to anyone. Testing these was a lot of fun and I cannot wait to be sharing my experiences with Wheel Cleaning. It is an obsession of mine that randomly started while learning about the best techniques to wash a car.

Feel free to check out my other things that I share here on WheelCleanUp.com.