Cleaning my wheels

I thought I would share my experience with the two ValetPro wheel cleaners we recently got in stock. I only got around to testing them on my car the last weekend and I thought I would snap a few pics.

For those who may not know, Bilberry and Dragons Breath wheel cleaners are both acid free cleaners. Dragons breath being totally ph neutral. Acid free wheel cleaners get the job done far safer than their acid based counterparts. Acidic wheel cleaners can be caustic and over time even corrosive. They will get the job done but in much more aggressive manner.

Bilberry is brilliant because it is super concentrated which means you can dilute 1:3 right down to 1:10 for weekly maintenance. And it smells great. Dragons breath is ph neutral which means it can be used on both the wheels and paintwork. It targets in bedded iron particles and dissolves them, making the removal as simple as a hose off. Most cases these iron particles are invisible and you will only notice the chemical reaction when the solution turns reddish to purple. In extreme cases, the iron deposits are caked onto the wheel and require repeated treatments to completely remove them.

Anyways let me share my personal experience with the products:

I started off with fairly soiled wheels. I diluted bilberry 1:3 which meant 100ml gave me 400ml of wheel cleaner:





Using our foam blaster trigger to create decent foam, I sprayed the wheel and let the product dwell.



It didn't take long for it to work its magic, here it is dissolving road film and grim:



I aggitated with the Daytona wheel brush for the back of the wheel and the Mothers wheel brush for the face:



This is what the inside of the wheel looked like after a rinse:



While the wheel was fairly clean there were still spots on the inside of the wheel. I then pulled out this:

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It immediately got to work by reacting with the iron particles, and turned reddish purple in the process:





The results was an almost spot free surface: (note the spots left behind are actually tar deposits. That will be my next focus, with the ValetPro tar and glue remover)





The end result is a much brighter wheel that looks visually bigger and bolder, and with the inside of the wheel deep cleaned, it adds depth to the wheel as well.