ALDI shower cleaner for wheels

[MattSAU2XR8]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the correct category but happy for mods to move it.

I've been ruminating for a while about how to source an economical wheel cleaner for my current drive which is a VE SS - sorry, prior to that AU XR8 and G6E Ecoboost. At any rate the Bendix Ultimates I'm running make a lot of dust and it gets expensive to remove, particularly if I want the chemicals to do the work rather than scrubbing/scratching up the wheels.

Pretty much all the commercial cleaners seem to use acid or alkali to render the brake dust (which is probably mostly disc rotor) soluble. The only question then becomes how strong, and concentrated, the acid or alkali is.

Main concern seems to be that it may damage or tunnel under the plastic clear coat on the wheels.

Which brought me to thinking about food acids used as cleaners. As it so happens ALDI shower cleaner in the silver bottle contains citric acid and lactic acid and costs $2.29 for a 750 ml bottle. And doesn't seem to damage plastic fittings, eg. perspex soap holders, in the bathroom.

So I bit the bullet, bought a bottle, diluted it by 50 % with tap water, and then went to the usual 'wash your own car' wash with the pressure hose. Made sure the brakes/wheels were cool, sprayed about 1/4 bottle on each wheel, and then hosed it off. Removed about 98 % of the gunk (5000 kms of bendix ultimate) with a single application and no apparent damage to clear coat. Only problem is that the spray bottle doesn't spray very easily so hands get tired.

I think though it would work quite well in future if it were further diluted to one part in 3 in a pump up parts cleaner spray bottle and used once a month for a cost of about $1.00 per clean.

Only thing to be careful of is aftermarket wheels - I note a lot of them don't guarantee their finish with commercially available wheel cleaners...

[GO FURTHER]

I had Bendix Ultimates on my FG XR6T.
They are dusty but give awesome stopping power.

I found the best thing to do was to was to apply a coating of Qyeon Quartz Q2 wheel protection to the wheels.

Then you don't need to use any harsh chemicals to remove the brake dust.

You simply remove most of the brake dust with a pressure washer and then simply wipe them down using a microfibre cloth.

Here's the link to an article I wrote on how to apply the Qyeon Quartz Q2;

https://fordforums.com.au/showpost.p...&postcount=310

[Sioso]

I have been trying different cleaners on my Amarok wheels as they are a pain to clean with narrow channels cut all around the spokes - none of the cleaners were doing a decent job and they were costing me a fortune.
I ended up putting black steelies on it - problem solved.

[Pis-ton broke]

im not sure how dirty your wheels are, but ive used oven cleaner with great success. just be warned, it is highly caustic, use gloves, breathing mask (p1,p2) ,may affect materials (ie paint rubber) if left on to long. and kept kids, animals well away. sorry for all that but does work good, just be careful.

[mike_nofx]

Just a thought, but if you're worried about scratches and clear coat damage personally I'd not use those 'wash your own car' places with a pressure washer and a soapy broom. I believe they use recycled water too.

My VE SS also makes a LOT of brake dust on the front wheels, it comes off easily just with a bucket of soapy water and a microfibre cloth. Or wash mitt. But waiting 5000km between car washes probably makes it harder to remove the baked on brake dust too.

[CyberWasp]

+1 for bucket of car wash and microfibre sponge or cloth. All the fancy stuff is not needed. I just use a separate bucket to the car.

I have chrome wheels so I do them quickly once every week or so and dry with an old chamois.

I polish them every six months as Go Further is suggesting with the equivalent for painted wheels.

[Burnout]

You could give this a try. Easy to apply, then wash off:
http://www.bowdensown.com.au/product...e/wheely-clean

[Tonz]

Originally Posted by GO FURTHER

I found the best thing to do was to was to apply a coating of Qyeon Quartz Q2 wheel protection to the wheels.

Then you don't need to use any harsh chemicals to remove the brake dust.

You simply remove most of the brake dust with a pressure washer and then simply wipe them down using a microfibre cloth.

I have std wheels on ma ute with aftermarket chrome rims.... cheapskate I know... after 12 months the previous chrome rims were disposed of as rust pitted to budgery .. Would this stuff work on them?

[nstg8a]

Would want to hope the Aldi cleaner doesn't react with the car washes own cleaners in some way too. Some car wash owners keep an eagle eye to make sure customers don't contaminate their system.

[383hq]

old bikers trick is to use canubra wax on your wheels
one coat and the brake dust and grime wipe straight off week after week.

a few months down the track when it's not as effective (or you're sick of wiping your wheels)
apply another coat of canubra wax

Worked wonders on the white wheels of my RG500 years ago and have used that method ever since

[Pedro]

I have always washed the wheels when I wash the car ... which is sometimes 3 - 4 weeks between washes. I use Meguiars Gold wash on the car and the wheels (with a separate wash cloth for the wheels) and everything comes up sparkling. Mind you, my pads don't throw out much dust so my situation is a bit different from the OP.

[Cav]

Paint ya wheels white.

We all know that white doesn't show dirt as much.