# CarPlan Trade Wheel Cleaner



## monkfishh (May 3, 2017)

Hi all,

I was just wondering if any of you had experience with this stuff:

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/wheel-tyre-cleaning/carplan-trade-wheel-cleaner-5l

I was looking at it purely because you get so much for a decent price, and I need to do a wheels off cleaning job on a car that is nearly 14 years old and probably not had a wheels off clean before!

Any feedback would be appreciated. I have tried some Bilberry, which is excellent for my normal maintenance washes, but not so good at removing the real hard stuff.

Thanks in advance!


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## Radish293 (Mar 16, 2012)

Can’t comment of it’s effectiveness but I picked up some Auto Finesse imperial on CP4L recently for £17 it’s now £24 on ECP. Based on it’s dilution rates it’s better value for money.


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

Like the rest of the Carplan Trade Valet stuff, this is the same stuff as the Demon equivalent, so this is Demon Wheels, High Wax Rinse is Demon Shine etc. Only difference is that this is £12 for 5 litres while the Demon Wheels is £7 for just 1 litre. 

It works very well on neglected wheels, but that’s because it is highly acidic, so good on wheel crud, not so good on the wheels themselves. For very occasional use it’s fine but if the wheels have any significant damage I would avoid it and stick to elbow grease. I decant it into a spray bottle, spray on and leave to dwell until I get back to the first wheel then brush it in and rinse off immediately, make sure you rinse thoroughly and if you are spraying it, wear eye protection. 

If you only have 1 or 2 cars to look after then you might not get to use this very often so it could end up being a waste of money even though it is very good value per ml, if you don’t mind leaving it on the shelf most of the time then it does come in handy in an emergency.


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

Radish293 said:


> Can't comment of it's effectiveness but I picked up some Auto Finesse imperial on CP4L recently for £17 it's now £24 on ECP. Based on it's dilution rates it's better value for money.


Imperial is a non-acidic cleaner so much safer to use and kinder to the wheels, but might require more agitation and repeated application to get the same result as an acid based cleaner. Personally I use the AF Revolution wheel soap on a regular basis, prevention is better than cure, but I keep the Carplan on standby for every time someone comes and says 'I just can't get this stuff off my wheels'.


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Mcpx said:


> Imperial is a non-acidic cleaner so much safer to use and kinder to the wheels, but might require more agitation and repeated application to get the same result as an acid based cleaner. Personally I use the AF Revolution wheel soap on a regular basis, prevention is better than cure, but I keep the Carplan on standby for every time someone comes and says 'I just can't get this stuff off my wheels'.


Imperial may not be acidic, but is an alkaline wheel cleaner.

Strong alkalis can be just as damaging as strong acids.

Don't fall into the "acid Free" marketing . :thumb:


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

fatdazza said:


> Imperial may not be acidic, but is an alkaline wheel cleaner.
> 
> Strong alkalis can be just as damaging as strong acids.
> 
> Don't fall into the "acid Free" marketing . :thumb:


Never looked at Imperial in that much detail tbh but you are quite right. I know the Revolution I use is PH neutral.

Look at it this way, any wheel cleaner that is strong enough to cut through baked on brake dust with little to no physical agitation is not going to be kind to any bare metal surface. Think of your generic wheel crunge as a disease, if you neglect it for too long it will require surgery with a high ph cleaner being the scalpel. Regular maintenance, little and often, with a less aggressive treatment is much easier and far less risky, so a ph neutral cleaner used frequently is your apple a day. Of course you can go one step further and get private health insurance in the form of a wheel ceramic and then not have to worry about the disease for a year or two.


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## monkfishh (May 3, 2017)

Thanks for your replies, it looks like it may be what I need for that 'once in a blue moon' kind of thing. It won't be used often but I know the wheels are bad. If this does not work, then I think the wheels will require a full on refurb!

Thanks again for your responses.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

fatdazza said:


> Imperial may not be acidic, but is an alkaline wheel cleaner.
> 
> Strong alkalis can be just as damaging as strong acids.
> 
> Don't fall into the "acid Free" marketing . :thumb:


Strong alkalis can actually be worse for the acrylic based lacquer on most wheels than acids. Plus acids are more effective as they dissolve the fine layer of rust surrounding the particles embedded in the lacquer so it comes free. Much like a dedicated fallout removed does.

For really neglected wheels you're better off doing a couple of bits of an acid based cleaner than multiple hits with an alkaline cleaner plus agitation.


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