Originally Posted By Cycolac:
I can tell you that Reliable 1 cleaner works great for brake dust stuck on wheels. You still have to work it but it gets the job done pretty quickly.

Originally Posted By Zhukov:
Are you talking about this stuff? I didn't see them making a dedicated wheel cleaner on their website.

https://reliableproductsonline.com/cdn/shop/files/RV-128-11-2.jpg?v=1785387278&width=800


Wheel cleaners fall into three broad categories:
1) Acid wheel cleaners. Many of them are hydrofluoric acid based, which scares the crap out of me. I have worked with fuming red nitric acid, and would rather do that than HF. They work exceptionally well on brake dust and iron and are cheap to boot, but like I said: HF scares me.
2) Newer color-changing wheel cleaners. Instead of acid, they use Sodium mercaptoacetate/thioglycolate to chemically dissolve brake dust. Their efficacy is directly related to how concentrated the ingredient is with the more concentrated stuff being more expensive.
3) Alkaline wheel cleaners. Most of use sodium metasilicate and sodium hydroxide with a pH north of 13. There's usually always a surfactant too, as well as 2-Butoxyethanol (an excellent solvent). Super Clean, Purple Power, Dark Fury, etc. They are noticeably cheaper than other cleaners.

2-Butoxyethanol, to a varying degree, is in just about every cleaning product it seems. It is a very powerful chemical.

Originally Posted By Cycolac:

That's the one. I don't know what's in it .

My dad suggested it to me for the oxidation on my travel trailer. I used it full strength and the oxidation just ran off. I did use a brush for better results.

As for the wheels, I had some stubborn spots that had been growing for a few years. The Reliable 1 worked well with a soft bristle brush. The wheels are getting dusty again and I'm confident a light mist of cleaner and a rag would do the trick.

I did get some cleaner mist in my eye. I rinsed it out with water and noticed a little white haze for a day or so.

I bought a rectangular container of the stuff - maybe 100ish ounces - and it was on sale at the rv place for 25 bucks. I thought that was a darn good price considering how well it worked. It did my entire 35' trailer, trailer wheels, and truck wheels with some left over. I'm a believer.

Originally Posted By boomfab:
It is a very deep rabbit hole.

I buy most of my chemicals from autogeek.  

A dedicated soap cannon is awesome if you don't have one.

I have a hot/cold ALL soft water spigot near my car wash area outside my garage.  So nice to not have to deal with cold hard water.

I've tried a million different tire shine products and never really liked the long term effects on the tires.  So I started using a dedicated mitt to scrub the tires to clean them with just car wash soap/water and never use a tire chemical.  They stay pretty nice.

Originally Posted By Bladeswitcher:
All I know is that I used to hire a guy who would come to the house and do your car. I hired him a couple of times before selling cars. It was incredible the transformation. My cars, which had been rode hard and rarely been washed or vacuumed when I owned them looked practically brand new when he got done.

His work trailer contained its own water supply, generator, power washer, etc. He charged like $250 per car but it was worth it. Made my cars much more presentable/marketable. I have no doubt I recouped his cost when I sold my cars. BTW, he would spend about 4 hours on each car he did for me.

Originally Posted By Zhukov:
Central Texas has incredibly hard water, and pretty much everyone here has a water softener. I also ran a line outside so I can use it for washing cars - it makes a huge difference. It's not hot water, but in the Texas summers it might as well be.

Tires look so nice when you first coat them, but they'll never stay glossy. Accepting that fact made life easier for me. I use Meguiar's tire shine out of a spray can and like it a lot. Really cheap at Costco or Sams Club (can't remember which one), but I have about 16 cans at $3/can.

Originally Posted By Crash1433:
It's a deep hole to go down. I would call myself an amateur as I do my own stuff for car shows and my own personal vehicles to keep them looking decent. I also work at a car dealership so seeing dirty cars drives me nuts. But you can spend hours trying to figure out what is best. And i don't know if the small difference in results is worth the massive difference in costs between the "good" stuff and the "cheap" stuff for most people. If you are just keeping your own stuff looking nice probably not.

I watched on video where a guy in europe spent an hour plus trying to figure out the best pad/buffing compound for a car.

Originally Posted By Zhukov:
Are you talking about this stuff? I didn't see them making a dedicated wheel cleaner on their website.


Wheel cleaners fall into three broad categories:
1) Acid wheel cleaners. Many of them are hydrofluoric acid based, which scares the crap out of me. I have worked with fuming red nitric acid, and would rather do that than HF. They work exceptionally well on brake dust and iron and are cheap to boot, but like I said: HF scares me.
2) Newer color-changing wheel cleaners. Instead of acid, they use Sodium mercaptoacetate/thioglycolate to chemically dissolve brake dust. Their efficacy is directly related to how concentrated the ingredient is with the more concentrated stuff being more expensive.
3) Alkaline wheel cleaners. Most of use sodium metasilicate and sodium hydroxide with a pH north of 13. There's usually always a surfactant too, as well as 2-Butoxyethanol (an excellent solvent). Super Clean, Purple Power, Dark Fury, etc. They are noticeably cheaper than other cleaners.

2-Butoxyethanol, to a varying degree, is in just about every cleaning product it seems. It is a very powerful chemical.

Originally Posted By pogmothoin:
used to film wrap myself but wife she was tired of helping me hold down the ends and swearing when she let it move. so i have it done professionaly. i still do the polishing and ceramic coating my self with either feynlab  or gtechnic crystal serum light with exo v5 over it.

Originally Posted By Chowser:
I wouldn't use it on my personal car but at work, we can wash our work vehicles in the garage that is hooked up to our jail.  There's a toilet bowl cleaner dispenser (along with other cleaning products) attached to the wall.  That stuff removes brake dust like it was nothing.  lol

Originally Posted By CPshooter1:

This will ruffle some feathers, but ceramic coats are a total waste of money.  I can't believe how much $ people pay "pros" or dealerships to do a ceramic job on their car.  I did it myself by the book, prepping every square mm of every panel of my 2019 Nissan Armada with the isopropyl-soaked "prep pad," etc. etc.  It was gorgeous after the final microfiber rag polish.  After about 2-3 weeks of seeing the elements outdoors, the paint was sticky to the touch again and no longer beading or sheeting off water.  Regular modern paste waxes like Mothers or Meguiars are so much more effective at staying slicker and resisting the elements for a lot longer.  Like 1 or 2 months minimum if not 3+.
]

Originally Posted By CPshooter1:

Clay bar is DUMB.  It just picks up harmful particles and rubs them around your clear coat, causing swirl marks in no time.  Yes, you're supposed to "fold over" the clay to cover the trapped particles and start fresh, but by then it's already too late.  You've already rubbed them across your paint with the very 1st swipe that picked up the particles...
]

Originally Posted By CPshooter1:
Two bucket hand wash, soft water, Sonax car shampoo (Blue Dawn works in a pinch although I've heard it can degrade weather seals and cause squeaking over time)

Originally Posted By boomfab:


Dawn will strip any wax or spray-on coatings off the paint.  Do not use it on a car.

Originally Posted By CPshooter1:
Two bucket hand wash, soft water, Sonax car shampoo (Blue Dawn works in a pinch although I've heard it can degrade weather seals and cause squeaking over time), a quality microfiber chamois sponge, leaf blower dry.  That's the basic recipe for gorgeous paint over a lifetime of ownership.

For wheels, I use a soft nylon bristle wheel brush + a clean NEW microfiber rag.  Sonax wheel cleaner in a spray bottle to pre-soak before using the brush.  For bugs, I have a special microfiber mesh sponge and Sonax bug remover chemical in a spray bottle.  I believe the bug remover chemical is relatively harsh if you leave it on the clear coat for too long, so I only spray it on after a little pre-soak with the car shampoo, then lightly scrub with the mesh sponge, then rinse off ASAP.  Then, I'll go back again with just the car shampoo and the mesh sponge to get any remaining bug bits if I want it perfect.  After everything is dry, I'll give it a quick once-over for any road tar, tree sap, etc.  3M adhesive remover on a microfiber rag does the trick there.

Clay bar is DUMB.  It just picks up harmful particles and rubs them around your clear coat, causing swirl marks in no time.  Yes, you're supposed to "fold over" the clay to cover the trapped particles and start fresh, but by then it's already too late.  You've already rubbed them across your paint with the very 1st swipe that picked up the particles...

This will ruffle some feathers, but ceramic coats are a total waste of money.  I can't believe how much $ people pay "pros" or dealerships to do a ceramic job on their car.  I did it myself by the book, prepping every square mm of every panel of my 2019 Nissan Armada with the isopropyl-soaked "prep pad," etc. etc.  It was gorgeous after the final microfiber rag polish.  After about 2-3 weeks of seeing the elements outdoors, the paint was sticky to the touch again and no longer beading or sheeting off water.  Regular modern paste waxes like Mothers or Meguiars are so much more effective at staying slicker and resisting the elements for a lot longer.  Like 1 or 2 months minimum if not 3+.

ETA:  Don't use a power washer for any reason during a car wash.  Even a regular foam gun that attaches to your garden hose is more than sufficient for a shampoo pre-soak.  High pressure "foam cannons" are unnecessary.  Rinse with flowing water right out of the hose.  I used one end of an old garden hose and made a little rinsing wand that doesn't have a metal fitting at the end so I can't accidentally scratch my paint or wheels when rinsing.  I came up with that idea after learning a hard lesson while rinsing my old 2007 Carrera S.  

Originally Posted By NIevo:


Lol...a lot wrong with that post, but boomfab pretty much covered it.

Ceramic coating is incredible and useful on everything.  Paint, wheels, brake calipers and even my leather seats get it.

Originally Posted By tortilla-flats:
I'm of the mind that the vast majority of the products are either just repackaged/relabeled the same stuff and/or straight up snake oil.

For the special products for wheel cleaning, just cleaning with a rag/brush and a good soap doesn't work for you? My biggest issue is the constant accumualtion of brake dust with is better managed with a wax/coating.

I need to do a paint correction on my car but I'm not looking forward to breaking my back.

Originally Posted By NIevo:
I have the Gyeon Window Treatment as well as their Leather Shield for my new ride but have yet to get them applied.  The previous owner had a Bob Moses ceramic applied which uses an 8yr Sensha Ceramic that's imported from Japan.  We will see how long it actually lasts though, I'm skeptical of those type of claim.

Originally Posted By tortilla-flats:
Wow! Great looking truck! And I love that color!

Originally Posted By tortilla-flats:
Wow! Great looking truck! And I love that color!

Originally Posted By Gator96:


Thanks. I thought about selling it for years but glad I didn't. After it hit 25 the aftermarket replacement parts opened up finally and I've been pretty aggressive in getting it back to new for the last 24 months. Replaced the dash, still lacking a couple interior plastic seat handles but all original 350TBI and 4L60. It's an awesome truck.

Originally Posted By CPshooter1:
Two bucket hand wash, soft water, Sonax car shampoo (Blue Dawn works in a pinch although I've heard it can degrade weather seals and cause squeaking over time), a quality microfiber chamois sponge, leaf blower dry.  That's the basic recipe for gorgeous paint over a lifetime of ownership.

For wheels, I use a soft nylon bristle wheel brush + a clean NEW microfiber rag.  Sonax wheel cleaner in a spray bottle to pre-soak before using the brush.  For bugs, I have a special microfiber mesh sponge and Sonax bug remover chemical in a spray bottle.  I believe the bug remover chemical is relatively harsh if you leave it on the clear coat for too long, so I only spray it on after a little pre-soak with the car shampoo, then lightly scrub with the mesh sponge, then rinse off ASAP.  Then, I'll go back again with just the car shampoo and the mesh sponge to get any remaining bug bits if I want it perfect.  After everything is dry, I'll give it a quick once-over for any road tar, tree sap, etc.  3M adhesive remover on a microfiber rag does the trick there.

Clay bar is DUMB.  It just picks up harmful particles and rubs them around your clear coat, causing swirl marks in no time.  Yes, you're supposed to "fold over" the clay to cover the trapped particles and start fresh, but by then it's already too late.  You've already rubbed them across your paint with the very 1st swipe that picked up the particles...

This will ruffle some feathers, but ceramic coats are a total waste of money.  I can't believe how much $ people pay "pros" or dealerships to do a ceramic job on their car.  I did it myself by the book, prepping every square mm of every panel of my 2019 Nissan Armada with the isopropyl-soaked "prep pad," etc. etc.  It was gorgeous after the final microfiber rag polish.  After about 2-3 weeks of seeing the elements outdoors, the paint was sticky to the touch again and no longer beading or sheeting off water.  Regular modern paste waxes like Mothers or Meguiars are so much more effective at staying slicker and resisting the elements for a lot longer.  Like 1 or 2 months minimum if not 3+.

ETA:  Don't use a power washer for any reason during a car wash.  Even a regular foam gun that attaches to your garden hose is more than sufficient for a shampoo pre-soak.  High pressure "foam cannons" are unnecessary.  Rinse with flowing water right out of the hose.  I used one end of an old garden hose and made a little rinsing wand that doesn't have a metal fitting at the end so I can't accidentally scratch my paint or wheels when rinsing.  I came up with that idea after learning a hard lesson while rinsing my old 2007 Carrera S.  

Originally Posted By Zhukov:
Agree. I started with Turtle Wax Ceramic Spray coating, which lasted about 6 months - MUCH longer than any previous wax-type product I've ever used on the car. I was using either Zaino Z2 or Collinite 476 at the end before the ceramics hit. I've now got the vehicles coated with Adams Graphene Advanced, and it's incredible. 9 months on my wife's Bronco so far, and still beading like crazy.

When it comes time to replace the Adams, I'm planning to switch to Gyeon Mohs, but by the time the Adams wears off they may have even better stuff on the market.

Originally Posted By bluemax_1:

I like the way Dmitry does his testing. Repeatable and (mostly) objective (not counting the subjective 'how it looks' categories).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t96HNF-_F0U

Available on Amazon.

www.amazon.com/dp/B0F63R2XRS

Originally Posted By Zhukov:
I saw that. One thing I don't like about any of the tests is that they only test abrasion resistance or chemical resistance. Those are very important, but there's nothing that can substitute for exposure to the elements. I would rather buy a coating that has to be applied twice as often for half the price rather than the one that costs twice as much. My reasoning is that the durability starts to fade after a certain amount of time, and I don't want to go several years limping along a long-term coating "just because it's supposed to last X years." I'd rather slap a new coating on sooner that doesn't break the bank and enjoy the hydrophobics and gloss of the new(er) product. That's just a guess on my part.

I might have mentioned it earlier: I am currently using Adams Graphene Advanced. It cost me $120 for the entire kit on sale at Christmas, and I was able to coat two cars with it. That's a good price per car, especially since it includes some swag. The coating is 9 months old and still beads like crazy. I'll be happy if it lasts 3 years even though they advertise 9. I don't know if I'll ever figure out how long it lasts because I'm probably going to keep topping it every 3-6 months; at that time, is it the original coating that's still active or am I just seeing the effect of the topper?

Originally Posted By tortilla-flats:
To get that level of performance, are there restrictions or contraints about *how* and *with what* you can wash your car?

Originally Posted By Herc:
They are all going to say about the same thing, PH balanced car wash by hand, no automatic washes with brushes, wash one to four times per month. Remove bugs/tree sap/bird droppings immediately with a spray detailer. Every 3-6 months use a iron remover and a ceramic booster.

The booster really kills it for me, If I need to boost it that often, is it really any better than a spray on product that lasts 3 months? I'm lazy so the answer for me is simple. All this hands on work will definitely get you that last 3-5%, everyone needs to ask themselves if it's worth it.