Bad Luck With Meguiars Hot Rims Chrome Wheel Cleaner

[PWORLDSTANG]

I tried the product out a few months ago. I followed the directions and made sure I sprayed it on with the rims cool, and wiped dry in 15 seconds. But after I was done, there was a white filmy residue left on my rims. And It wont come off. It's been on there for the past few months. It almost looks like dried up spit on my rim, literally.

One of my friends who lives in SoCal recently went to a Meguiars car wash class in Irvine, and he brought my wheel problem to their attention. They told him to tell me to try the same product again, but this time be sure to follow the instructions (I did the first time), and it should "bond" and come off. So this weekend, I tried it again, and again it left the filmy white residue on my rims.

It's bugging the **** out of me. And because of the stuff that's on there, they don't shine as much as they should. They look half clean all the time.

My question is, what can I buy or do to get this stuff off of my wheels, and get them to shine like new?

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

By the way, I'm not trying to talk bad about Meguiars car care products. I use a lot of their other products and they have have been working great for me. This product is the only exception.

I have searched and read through a few threads, but couldn't come up with an answer. I'm just trying to get my rims clean and shining how they're supposed to.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Steeda30]

Try polishing them with some metal polish and then rub some corn starch powder on them to buff off the residue. I recently found out about this trick and it works extremely well to remove the annoying residue left by most all metal polishes.

 

[mblgjr]

Mother's Chrome Cleaner works great for me.

I'd hit them with diluted Simple Green and see if that takes the film off. Your experience is one of the things that made me stay away from wheel cleaners in general. I use the Meg's All Wheel cleaner for getting really bad brake dust/grime off the inner barrels when I rotate the tires.

 

[HISSMAN]

Eagle 1 chrome wheel cleaner. Then follow with Never Dull.

-Jeff

 

[HandoZiZle]

get mothers power ball washer thing......it's this little red ball that you attach to a power drill and put mothers chrome polish all over it. i had my old car repainted and they got paint all over my 20" and that power ball made the chrome shine to almost brand new apperance.

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

Mother's Chrome Cleaner works great for me.

I'd hit them with diluted Simple Green and see if that takes the film off. Your experience is one of the things that made me stay away from wheel cleaners in general. I use the Meg's All Wheel cleaner for getting really bad brake dust/grime off the inner barrels when I rotate the tires.

I'm a bit hesitant to use any kind of chrome or wheel cleaner after this. Primarily, I just want to get this stuff off the wheels. Within a few feet of the car, It really takes away from the looks of it, especially when it's washed and waxed. It makes the wheel look ashy and half way clean. .. But I'll try that Simple green and see how it works.

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

Eagle 1 chrome wheel cleaner. Then follow with Never Dull.

-Jeff

I've heard good stuff about the Eagle 1 wheel cleaner. But everytime I visit an autoparts store their sold out :cuss:

When I searched, I found a bunch of info on the Eagle 1 never dull. Everyone seems to like it, but I came across one thread where someone said it WILL scratch the wheels. I believe the thread is still on the first page of this section too.

But Is this true? The last thing I want to do is scratch the wheels..

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

Thanks for the responses guys. Keem em coming..

 

[Jim D.]

I tried the product out a few months ago. I followed the directions and made sure I sprayed it on with the rims cool, and wiped dry in 15 seconds. But after I was done, there was a white filmy residue left on my rims. And It wont come off. It's been on there for the past few months. It almost looks like dried up spit on my rim, literally.

One of my friends who lives in SoCal recently went to a Meguiars car wash class in Irvine, and he brought my wheel problem to their attention. They told him to tell me to try the same product again, but this time be sure to follow the instructions (I did the first time), and it should "bond" and come off. So this weekend, I tried it again, and again it left the filmy white residue on my rims.

It's bugging the **** out of me. And because of the stuff that's on there, they don't shine as much as they should. They look half clean all the time.

My question is, what can I buy or do to get this stuff off of my wheels, and get them to shine like new?

I'm not seeing a "rinse" step before the "wipe dry" step.

It's important to rinse wheel cleaners that are desined to be a spray-on, hose-off product.

And my personal wheel/tire routine is to hit it with an old wash mitt and suds for a final rinse/wash.

Personally, I like Mothers FX Wheel Cleaner... it provides more working time if you want to do a little light scrubbing, and I have found that it's milder than the Hot Rims All Wheel cleaner (which would be milder than the chrome cleaner).

And as the other guys have suggested, once they're clean, a PowerBall with Mothers Chrome Polish (it's a mild, non-gritty polish) would be excellent -- assuming you've got chrome rims.

 

[mystic04]

give klasses AIO a try i use it on my wheels and it works great. it will clean and shine your wheels.

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

I'm not seeing a "rinse" step before the "wipe dry" step.

It's important to rinse wheel cleaners that are desined to be a spray-on, hose-off product.

And my personal wheel/tire routine is to hit it with an old wash mitt and suds for a final rinse/wash.

Personally, I like Mothers FX Wheel Cleaner... it provides more working time if you want to do a little light scrubbing, and I have found that it's milder than the Hot Rims All Wheel cleaner (which would be milder than the chrome cleaner).

And as the other guys have suggested, once they're clean, a PowerBall with Mothers Chrome Polish (it's a mild, non-gritty polish) would be excellent -- assuming you've got chrome rims.

Now that I think about it, I don't remember If I rinsed it. But that's because I don't remember the directions off the top of my head. But I followed the directions directly from the back of the bottle. Whatever the directions said, that's what I did.

My wheels are chrome. Once I get them clean and get this stuff off, I don't know If I will ever try another cleaner or even a polisher on them. But If I do, I'll give that Mothers a shot. Thanks.

 

[mblgjr]

NeverDull is really biased towards being used on raw/polished metal surfaces; not chrome. It is a pretty rough cut and I'm not fond of using it on high-polished soft metals. However, nasty items/harder metals like stainless exhaust tips...it works GREAT.

 

[Scott P]

Are the wheels chrome, polished aluminum or coated aluminum? I am assuming chrome since you used a chrome wheel cleaner, but I wanted to be sure.

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

Are the wheels chrome, polished aluminum or coated aluminum? I am assuming chrome since you used a chrome wheel cleaner, but I wanted to be sure.

They're the stock factory Chrome Wheels..

 

[HISSMAN]

NeverDull is really biased towards being used on raw/polished metal surfaces; not chrome. It is a pretty rough cut and I'm not fond of using it on high-polished soft metals. However, nasty items/harder metals like stainless exhaust tips...it works GREAT.

I have been using it on chrome wheels for ages, and I have nothing but great results. You don't really need to sit and rub it in like a polish as you would on a machined or polished wheel. I just lightly rub it on the wheel's surface, then rub it off.

-Jeff

 

[BayareaSS]

Brandon,
I would try to use simple green first and if that doesnt work i would clay bar them. You could also try Mother's chrome polish. If its still on your wheels when i move back i'll get it off!

You already have heard everything i just said :lol1:

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

NeverDull is really biased towards being used on raw/polished metal surfaces; not chrome. It is a pretty rough cut and I'm not fond of using it on high-polished soft metals. However, nasty items/harder metals like stainless exhaust tips...it works GREAT.

Thanks for clarifying that for me! I wont be using this on my wheels then.

EDIT: What If I tried using the Never Dull using HISSMAN's technique? Maybe If I rubbed it softly to see If that would remove the film? I've never used or fealt the Never Dull product, but If it isn't abrasive when applied softly, I'd give it a try. I saw how they worked on a guys muffler tips in another thread, and I was impressed..

 

[P_RsSVT]

When my wheels got stained with brake dust I used mothers metal polish then followed with McGuires cleaner wax. Worked great for me. Now I just use the wax since they dont get too stained any more.

 

[texaswrx]

That is why I have not used wheel cleaners in years. I try to stay on top of the wheels, and find a diluted simple green works when they are really bad. My normal approach is a seperate bucket with a quality soap, for wheels only. This follwed by a quality quick detailer and drying have always worked for me. On my FR500s, I used Poorboys wheel wax prior to mounting the tires. On my 04 Chrome, I just did a good cleaning and again used the PB wheel wax.