Car Valeting by Auto Shine UK » Alloy Wheels

Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener

rory — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:59:04 +0000

Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener is a powerful acidic based alloy wheel cleaner.
Previoulsy I have only used Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner on alloys and yes that does an excellent job on alloys that are maintained weekly or that are sealed with a product like Chemical Guys Wheel Guard.

Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener is the ideal next step for heavily contaminated alloy wheels that either haven’t been cleaned in years or just to get rid of brake dust build up that other cleaners just wont shift.
I recently used Wheel Brightener at 3:1 which is slightly stronger dilution than the 4:1 that Meguiar’s recommend but I knew I had 2 sets of alloys that where heavily soiled.

Firstly I had mad my solution of Wheel Brightener made up in a Handi-Hold Bottle which hold just short of 1 pint. Which doesn’t really sound like a lot but I was really surprised that cleaned one very heavily soiled set of alloys with 2 passes (2 passes due to not removing alloy). And BMW 1 Series which hadn’t been cleaned in about 1 year which got the same regime and I still had about ¼ of the bottle left.
Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener will not remove tar but does an amazing job with built up brake dust.
The best way I found to use Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener was
1: Spray on to alloy wheel (make sure there cold) and on to a brush
2: Agitate the the alloy wheel face with a soft brush
3: Now work on the inner rim and make sure you clean the backs of the legs aswell
4: Rinse of with hose

This can be quite a dirty job and you’ll more than likely end up covered in dirt so be aware

Meguiars Wheel Brightener

Chemical Guys Wheel Guard

rory — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:49:11 +0000

Another excellent product from Chemical Guys, Wheel guard gives your freshly cleaned alloy wheels that new sparkle again.
When the Chemical Guys Wheel guard pot arrived I was itching for a look and smell as I do with all products I order. Once the lid is unscrewed there’s a small paper cover on top, heres a warning remove this slowly as my tub was full of product and because it’s a cream and not a hard paste mine went everywhere.
I was slightly skeptical on what was the best way to apply Chemical Guys Wheel Guard, I opted for a slightly damp Microfibre cloth. This can be slightly messy and hard to get a thin coat so I found it was best to aim to spread it thinly once it’s on the alloy wheel, I left it for about five minutes to cure then I buffed it all off. I would recommend 2 coats just to makes sure all the wheel has been covered and leave around 20 minutes between coats. If you have time it pays highly to take the wheel off and do the inner rim as well.
Brake dust now just falls of my alloy wheels when I wash then with the pressure washer and they still have that new sparkle.
If only the application was less messy this product would get 10 stars

Chemical Guys Wheel Guard

Valet Pro – Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:57:20 +0000

The Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner from Valet Pro is a great non acidic wheel cleaner.
Personally I have used half of the 1 litre bottle of Bilberry Wheel Cleaner neat on a variety of soiled wheels, from well maintained wheels cleaned weekly with no sealant applied, to those alloys that get washed once every two months. It’s recommended that Bilberry is used diluted 1:1 for heavily soiled wheels or 1:4 for normal (weekly) usage.
Having used it on alloys recently that have been pressure washed a few times in their life, and had been subjected to two years hard life I thought I’d give the Bilberry Wheel Cleaner a shot at 1:1
I gave the alloy wheel a good spray, pretty much covering the face of the alloy and then sprayed some on the Vikan – Extra Long Wheel Brush. I gave the insides of the alloy wheel a good brushing down. After I had agitated with my small brush I left the Bilberry to dwell for around 4-5 minutes then rinsed off.

Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner

As I had expected most of the brake dust had gone which was great but I was aiming to remove some staining as well with the 1:1 dilution, as I knew that a 1:4 dilution would have shifted the brake dust with a bit more agitation.

After 2 Attacks With Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner

Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner is a great product to use weekly or every fortnight as part as of your regular car wash routine, but to shift aged stains and tar spots I feel something slightly more heavy duty might be required like Meguiars Wheel Brightener.