Disappointment in Chemical Guy's citrus wheel cleaner

Anyone else use this? For the first car show of the year last week, I had pulled the wheels off the Shelby for a deep cleaning of each recess and to get the barrels nice a new looking. I used the black magic no scrub wheel cleaner, but after letting it sit a minute, i used a wheel brush to agitate the brake dust. The wheels turned out nearly perfect.

The car show was at a detail garage which specializes in Chemical Guy's products, so I figured I'd go ahead and try some of their products. I asked what they recommended for a soap that was safe for the ceramic coat on the Shelby, and a wheel cleaner that will break down brake dust (as the EBC pads dust quite a bit) but be safe for powdercoating (as both the Shelby and the FoST have powdercoated wheels). They recommended Hydro Suds ceramic car wash soap and sticky citrus gel wheel cleaner.

I haven't tried the wash yet, but today i pulled the wheels off the FoST and did the same process with the Chemical Guy's citrus cleaner as I did the Black Magic wheel cleaner. The face of the wheel came out okay - pretty similar for both products, but the barrel of the wheel is NOTICEABLY not as clean with the citrus cleaner than with the black magic.

The best cleaner I've used is by Meguiars but i had bought that in Germany and I don't know what the product was.

What does the collective recommend for powdercoated wheels that will dissolve brake dust with minimal effort in scrubbing. I'm not as concerned with the scrubbing as I am with making ALL the brake dust disappear and the wheels look new.

I’m in to learn too although I’ve been using the CG you speak of. I’m not upset by it but like it’s pretty easy and friendly to use. But if theirs something friendly that better at using, I’d love to know too.

From what you are describing, your best bet is to ceramic coat your wheels. Nothing on the market is going to completely leave your wheels spotless without agitation. Even ceramic coating requires you to use some light effort to remove brake dust.

I use Adams wheel cleaner. Gets the bulk of everything off but you still have to agitate to get them perfect.

FleeMan said:

From what you are describing, your best bet is to ceramic coat your wheels. Nothing on the market is going to completely leave your wheels spotless without agitation. Even ceramic coating requires you to use some light effort to remove brake dust.

I use Adams wheel cleaner. Gets the bulk of everything off but you still have to agitate to get them perfect.

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+1 on the ceramic coating. I had mine done, went thru a winter of salt and about 15k miles of driving when I washed them in the spring the dust and dirt came off like it was just cleaned the weekend before.

and Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself.

Meguiars tire and wheel cleaner, then coat with Gyeon Quartz Rim.

Squeezed out with help from the svtperformance.com mobile app

For iron deposits I use Sonax or McGuires iron decon.

For everyday or maintenance cleanings I use McGuires acid free wheel cleaner purchased by the gallon.I dilute it since I’m always staying ahead.

P&S brakebuster is good too as is Adams.

Chemical guys stuff probably won’t get a lot of love from the detailing experts, sorta the Bama of car care....

Ceramic coating is awesome and one of the ways I can use diluted non acid cleaner and wheel woolies to stay ahead.

Yeah, my experience with cleaning off brake dust is that you have to agitate the product after applying it, especially in areas like the barrels of the wheels. I use the Adams wheel cleaner.

In case you want to go the route of ceramic coating your own wheels yourself. This is who I bought the kit from. Initial cost isnt cheap but its better than paying a shop 4x that amount for only doing it once.

BEADLOCK WHEEL & SUSPENSION CERAMIC COATING Kit

FleeMan said:

In case you want to go the route of ceramic coating your own wheels yourself. This is who I bought the kit from. Initial cost isnt cheap but its better than paying a shop 4x that amount for only doing it once.

BEADLOCK WHEEL & SUSPENSION CERAMIC COATING Kit

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That looks to be a good setup. I have no issues doing the ceramic coat myself on wheels.

For consumer available coatings I have used Crystal Serum Light on car and on wheels with great success.

I got tired of using multiple solutions, paint, wheels etc.

Use on calipers too

It’s reasonable and easy to use.

As always prep is key.

A large bottle will probably do a car and wheels.......

Crystal Serum Light Crystal Serum Light Usa.gtechniq.com

I realize the thread surrounds wheel cleaning specifically, but just to add my two cents regarding CG's products... I'm new to the world of DA's and compounds/polishes so I assumed it was user error on my part. But, reading what others have said, I must add that I too was unimpressed by some of CG's products. Namely the VSS scratch and swirl remover + polish. I'm fairly certain it's just nicely-scented light blue spunk. I varied pad, speed, and pressure with no identifiable visual improvement. If anything, I took two steps back before moving forward, but with Meguiar's products instead. Pardon the interruption. Resume wheel talk.

TerminatoRS said:

I realize the thread surrounds wheel cleaning specifically, but just to add my two cents regarding CG's products... I'm new to the world of DA's and compounds/polishes so I assumed it was user error on my part. But, reading what others have said, I must add that I too was unimpressed by some of CG's products. Namely the VSS scratch and swirl remover + polish. I'm fairly certain it's just nicely-scented light blue spunk. I varied pad, speed, and pressure with no identifiable visual improvement. If anything, I took two steps back before moving forward, but with Meguiar's products instead. Pardon the interruption. Resume wheel talk.

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Perfectly alright. This is a learning experience for me as well. I had heard of Chemical Guy's, but never used it. I had the Shelby ceramic coated and per the coater, have been using meguires soap in my foam cannon. I am running low, as because it was at that car show, i bought soap that is supposed to work with ceramic coat. Based of just the discussion about the wheels, i'm hesitant to use it on the Shelby and may just end up using it on my truck.

M91196 said:

Chemical guys stuff probably won’t get a lot of love from the detailing experts, sorta the Bama of car care....

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LOL, damn.

CG does have some good stuff. Wheel cleaner isn't one of them.

A lot of their original products work well for us detailing dumb asses.
Problem; they market something "new" and it's the same product from 4 years ago, different skunk scent, different color and label.

Bama has zero anything that's good. Facts

Super Clean

Adam's (my go to), Sonax, P21S.

All outstanding wheel cleaners. Spray on, let it dwell, agitate/brush, rinse. Done.

If you don't want to ceramic coat your wheels you can always look into a product like McKee's37 Hydro Blue. It's a spray on water activated sealant and works great on wheels/calipers/etc. It'll last a couple months...

Hope this helps!

NastyGT500 said:

Adam's (my go to), Sonax, P21S.

All outstanding wheel cleaners. Spray on, let it dwell, agitate/brush, rinse. Done.

If you don't want to ceramic coat your wheels you can always look into a product like McKee's37 Hydro Blue. It's a spray on water activated sealant and works great on wheels/calipers/etc. It'll last a couple months...

Hope this helps!

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I use M37 Hydro Blue Si02 on my wheels and it doesn’t get any easier than that!

I'm not really a huge fan of CG..

FWIW, a detailer buddy suggested years ago that I use ZEP 505 diluted for wheels. I probably would standoff-ish to a set of unprotected aluminum wheels, but I remember it was the only thing that made a dent on my wifes old M5 with burned in brake dust.

It's helpful that it's cheap.

Also, NOT ZEP purple, that shit kills your lungs, the 505 is way easier to deal with and it works well.

OP- I use Shine Supply Cool Guy wheel cleaner, great results and works on powder coated wheels. As always test on an inconspicuous sport first. I usually spray it on, let it dwell for 2-4 minutes, agitate with an ez detailer brush work with mitt then rinse away. CG makes some good products, they also make some wildly mediocre products to say the least. In general I stay away from them. Coating your wheels is always a good idea. Gtechniq C5 wheel armor is a solid choice if you are looking to treat your wheels, easy to apply and easy prep work.

M91196 said:

For consumer available coatings I have used Crystal Serum Light on car and on wheels with great success.

I got tired of using multiple solutions, paint, wheels etc.

Use on calipers too

It’s reasonable and easy to use.

As always prep is key.

A large bottle will probably do a car and wheels.......

Crystal Serum Light Crystal Serum Light Usa.gtechniq.com

Click to expand...

I have used it on my wheels too, works great. I have also used it on exterior plastics/trim, works really well if you have enough left over. Great product.

TerminatoRS said:

I realize the thread surrounds wheel cleaning specifically, but just to add my two cents regarding CG's products... I'm new to the world of DA's and compounds/polishes so I assumed it was user error on my part. But, reading what others have said, I must add that I too was unimpressed by some of CG's products. Namely the VSS scratch and swirl remover + polish. I'm fairly certain it's just nicely-scented light blue spunk. I varied pad, speed, and pressure with no identifiable visual improvement. If anything, I took two steps back before moving forward, but with Meguiar's products instead. Pardon the interruption. Resume wheel talk.

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I used that recently on a friends car. He wanted to use CG and ended up getting some CG products. We tested their VSS to to see how it worked. Outside of it smelling like fake blueberries it did virtually nothing for swirl marks. Tried it on three different LC pads. Went back to M105 and went right through it.

^^^I'm glad to hear it wasn't just my lack of skill. I cycled through my supply of pads and varied speeds as well. Zippity doo dah for improvement.