ACID or NON-ACID WHEEL CLEANER

What are you detailers using to clean wheels?

Do you use acid wheel cleaner?

Do you use non-acid wheel cleaner?

If you do not use acid cleaner why not?

If you use acid wheel cleaner what safety precautions do you take with this deadly cleaning chemicals.


Regards
Bud Abraham

non acid multi purpose cleaner, not dedicated wheel cleaners. dont work on cars with filthy wheels luckily

Let's get some things a bit more clear regarding "acid wheel cleaners".
The really dangerous to humans, to the wheel finish, are"wheel acid" which contain hydrofluric acid, usually in a percentage of 3 to 4%, and then some may add a small percentage of sulfuric acid to that. So, a gallon of "wheel acid" using these components is about 93 to 95% water, and that is the only "inhibitor" in the product.
It is possible to make a safer "wheel acid" cleaner, using some other blends of acids, however, while these are not normally dangerous to the human using them, they can, under the right conditions, damage the finish on a wheel.
There are "wheel acids" which are a combination of sulfuric, phosphuric, and citric acids.
These do work, but not as fast as the "hf" blends.
Normally, with old, large deposits on the wheels, these safer "wheel acids" require longer dwell time and since the deposits where deposited on the wheel in a series of times/layers, the safe acid will normally remove the deposits one layer at a time.
The goverments around the world, with health and safety administrations/agencies, are working to remove the HF based from normal distribution.
Hydrofluric fumes damage the lungs, it attacks skin cells, it enters the body without the user being aware and slowly decalsifies the persons bones, etc, etc.
That said, I have some of this product, which is not labeled as a "wheel cleaner" but with another name, as it is used in another service industry.
It was distributed by one of the largest suppliers to this other industry, and I got the last case that they told me would ever be in their distribution chain due to the dangers of it and new govement regulations in the works.
It is DANGEROUS!.

I use it to acidize aluminum before buffing, to clean old brass and copper items of their build up before polishing, etc.
I wear a rubber apron, high chemical proof boots, a respirator, chemical proof gloves and a face shield when I do use it.

Ketch/Grumpy

Used to buy tens of gallons of Meguiars Wheel Brightener, which I believe is a pretty watered down acid-based wheel cleaner, a year.

Techs wore gloves when using. Sprayed on already wet wheels. Pressure washed off. 90% of the time...never had to scrub the wheel.

Saved big time and big $. Never had skin or lung problems.

I don't know if you ever heard of Maxolen products from Switzerland. I use their range a lot and they have a very good acid wheel cleaner. Its pretty safe as well.