[scopriobharath]

Dirty rims were making my Santro wheels look dull. It was a 7.5 year old car and it badly needed some cleaning. The quest for some good cleaning solution started with youtube and to my frustration, most of them were imported and not available in india. Next I started by browsing popular online sites like Snapdeal / Amazon / Flipkart etc. even searched TBHP classified and give away thread for a quick money saver, but failed. The last stop was Olx an Quikr but nothing turned up.

I decided to buy 1st hand (had no other choice) and even enquired in brick and mortar shops. They gave some local options but nothing branded. I was not comfortable buying unbranded stuff, eventhough there were assurances(false ?) that many garages and workshops use this product.

Somehow, over the years, Amazon fulfilled has been my favorite and I found it to be pretty dependable and fast.

When searched on Amazon, I found Abro WC-160 , Armorall 40330US and Meguiars G9254 hot rims. Customer feedback was good for meguiars and called it overpriced and not VFM. Abro did not have reviews, nor were there any videos on product usage on youtube.

The above factors, made me narrow down to Armorall. I purchased it online and it arrived in two days to my home. Amazon's not so good delivery experience: For the first time, I found the product to be packed in a normal plastic envelope with a bubble wrap. The product arrived leaky. I was at the very least expecting a cardboard outer box, but was totally disappointed.

Amazon's pathetic leaky packaging



Below is a step by step guide on how to use this product. I followed these steps and the results were very very good IMHO. I have demonstrated using the spare wheel (stepney) but the process is same for other wheels too

Products needed - Wheel cleaner & an old tooth brush


front side of the wheel - before wash


rear side of the wheel - before wash


Mist / rinse the wheel (optional) & Spray the cleaner lavishly and generously on the rim, wheel and tyre. The product shoots out a foam like substance. The mechanism is similar to "colin" bottle


Make sure to be generous in the holes also


Wait for about five minutes - allow the product to work. Step out and just do something else to kill time (you will be tempted to wash it off immediately)


You will notice break-dust and grime rolling off the tyre (brown color waste)


Dirt rolling off


repeat the same for the other side of the wheel also


If you are an enthusiast, use an old tooth-brush to agitate the foam. Apply more cleaner as needed and agitate


More dirt rolling off after agitating rims, wheel and rubber.


Rinse off the tyre


all dirt and grime being washed away


allow it to dry in a semi-open place (balcony)


Repeat the above steps for each of the other four wheels

Pros:

1. The product is very good. Will last for about 25 tyres (5 times washing the entire set of 5 tyres)
2. Can be used on alloy wheels and steel wheels alike
3. Suitable for chrome and painted finish wheels

Cons:

1. Quantity is too much.
2. Not suited for the non-enthusiast.
3. Cleaning Power is good but not extraordinary. Given that in india, most are non-enthusiast, no one would have bothered to clean the back side of wheels, so logically, a higher power chemical is needed.

If there are any questions, Please feel free to post it here, I will answer it. If you need to use this product, please come over to my apartment in Velachery, Chennai and I will let you use this cleaner.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Tyres Section. Thanks for sharing!

[SDP]

Bharat, thanks for sharing the details.

Don't want to sound too negative, but I somehow believe that some of these 'specialized' products are more of a hype. Does the alloy attract any special type of dirt because of which it needs a special type of different cleaner liquid? Somehow, I don't think so.

Have not tried it myself, but I do believe that regular diesel would do at least as good a job of cleaning the alloy as this product.

Would try it over a lazy weekend and share I find anything interesting.

EDIT: Specifically talking about cleaning the alloy. Leaving the tyre-cleaning out of it.

Thanks again for sharing the detailed pics and your experience!

[sumitdongerkery]

I have used this. In fact I ordered this after reading through a detailed thread on car cleaning and detailing on Team BHP. I personally clean my car on the weekends and on most of the occasions car is normally clean including the rims. But this over enthusiasm of keeping the car completely dirt free pushed me to pick this up. I am not complaining but it was too strong for the rims and i felt the rims loosing their shine after the wash. I personally feel these add ons work really well on the vehicles which are exposed to lot of dirt and are not cleaned regularly. Cars which are regularly cleaned do not need this.

Cheers

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by SDP

Bharat, thanks for sharing the details.

Don't want to sound too negative, but I somehow believe that some of these 'specialized' products are more of a hype. Does the alloy attract any special type of dirt because of which it needs a special type of different cleaner liquid? Somehow, I don't think so.

Have not tried it myself, but I do believe that regular diesel would do at least as good a job of cleaning the alloy as this product.

Would try it over a lazy weekend and share I find anything interesting.

EDIT: Specifically talking about cleaning the alloy. Leaving the tyre-cleaning out of it.

Thanks again for sharing the detailed pics and your experience!

Hey !! Good one - I did not know Diesel would work out. There is a challenge (at least in Chennai) getting some diesel in a bottle from the fuel pump. However, I will try it out someday.

I tried automotive shampoos but is did not remove the brake dust a wee bit. I finally decided to try out the Wheel cleaner and somehow it worked.

[aditya.bhardwaj]

Even i was thinking of getting a wheel cleaner but instead while washing the car with the 3M car shampoo, i used it on the wheels and it is a fantastic option. Trust me on this. It cleans the wheel and the brake dust very well. Do surely give it a try. I am using a 175 ml bottle of car shampoo from the past 4 months and it still has half of it left ( this includes cleaning the whole car). It is extremely cost effective.