# Fallout Remover, Dimishing Returns / No Longer Removing Baked on Brake Dust



## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

At the weekend I picked up some used alloys for my commuting shed, which compared to my existing ones look almost perfect on their faces. Bilt Hamber Korrosol has done sterling work, however in the single dipped recess behind each of the five spokes the remaining black baked on brake dust just won't shift.

I suppose I'm after an opinion on if I just keep applying Korrosol indefinitely will it eventually break down to just the clear-coat, or if I want the final remnants to be removed will something mechanical need to be done?

(All of the above is in the context of a decent alloy refurb costing me say £80 a wheel, when the "new" wheels off of eBay cost me £120 for four)

(Edit: And I've a bottle of Gtechnic C5 ready to go that I've had for a few months)


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## S3 Chris (Jun 14, 2017)

Have a look for some Iron X paste https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/car-pro-iron-x-paste it has a longer dwell time and is stronger. I have used it before for the problem you described and it worked well.


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## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

Ooh, I didn't know about that, so another CarPro product to add to my collection :thumb:

A quick gander shows TAC Systems do a fallout remover paste as well, decisions decisions 

Edit: Hard to say no at only £10.80 for 500ml !... https://www.slimsdetailing.co.uk/carpro-iron-x-decontamination-paste-500g.html


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## JU5T1N (Dec 7, 2019)

Try an alkaline wheel cleaner, I recon that would shift it.


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## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

JU5T1N said:


> Try an alkaline wheel cleaner, I recon that would shift it.












Edit: For some reason the image above doesn't always want to appear? Anyhow, a strong alkaline cleaner did nothing, but the Iron X Paste arrives today so lets see what happens (also AutoSmart Tardis had no effect, and I'm trying to think of the most acidic product I have).


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

Fallout remover will only remove iron based contamination. While this is what a lot of the dust you get it, there are lots of other nasty things in brake pads which aren't iron based.

If the fallout removed is still reacting then it's probably still doing something, but it's a fairly mild process, it doesn't really 'dissolve' fallout, more eat away at the surface to break its bond from the surface so it can be washed off. It could take literally years to try and dissolve out a large buildup in a recess.

If it's that bad you'll probably need a stronger acid based cleaner.


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Harry_p said:


> Fallout remover will only remove iron based contamination. While this is what a lot of the dust you get it, there are lots of other nasty things in brake pads which aren't iron based.
> 
> If the fallout removed is still reacting then it's probably still doing something, but it's a fairly mild process, it doesn't really 'dissolve' fallout, more eat away at the surface to break its bond from the surface so it can be washed off. It could take literally years to try and dissolve out a large buildup in a recess.
> 
> If it's that bad you'll probably need a stronger acid based cleaner.


^ Absolutely what this man said. :thumb: - especially about the way fallout removers work. The original acid wonder wheels is great for this.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/wheel-tyre-cleaning/wonder-wheels-500ml


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Totally agree with the guys above. When cleaning heavily contaminated wheels, you'll usually need three products: an alloy wheel cleaner for the brake dust, fallout remover, and tar remover. 

Cooks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## JimLethbridge (Feb 5, 2019)

JU5T1N said:


> Try an alkaline wheel cleaner, I recon that would shift it.


Alkaline will definitely remove whatever the fallout remover left behind. just make sure it's absolutely 100% washed off afterwards otherwise you'll be in a world of S**T


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## Yellow Dave (Apr 5, 2011)

For a one off use on bad crusty wheels, I’d often look to use a harsh acidic wheel cleaner like the original carplan wonder wheels in the silver bottle.


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

..... and not one suggestion of Koch Chemie Rrr :doublesho


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

JU5T1N said:


> Try an alkaline wheel cleaner, I recon that would shift it.





JimLethbridge said:


> Alkaline will definitely remove whatever the fallout remover left behind. just make sure it's absolutely 100% washed off afterwards otherwise you'll be in a world of S**T


No it won't


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## Rakti (Nov 11, 2019)

Only based on what I've read on here, I'm surprised no-one's mentioned

https://www.slimsdetailing.co.uk/cleaning/wheels-tyres/malco-brake-off-non-acid-wheel-cleaner.html

Would like to try some myself, as I have a similar problem on my 2004 Clio wheels, but what am I going to do with a US gallon of the stuff!


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Rakti said:


> Only based on what I've read on here, I'm surprised no-one's mentioned
> 
> https://www.slimsdetailing.co.uk/cleaning/wheels-tyres/malco-brake-off-non-acid-wheel-cleaner.html
> 
> Would like to try some myself, as I have a similar problem on my 2004 Clio wheels, but what am I going to do with a US gallon of the stuff!


An alkaline cleaner. See earlier posts


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## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

I thought I'd post an update, this isn't the most exciting of topics, but some may be interested.

So far I've tried the following...


Sodium Mercaptoacetate, which is the active ingredient in Bilt Hamber Korrosol and CarChem Iron Detox, both of which have a viscosity of pretty much water. These are removing the very baked on brake dust, but it's painful slow.
Ammonium Mercaptoacetate, which is the active ingredient in CarPro Iron X and Koch Chemie RRR, which performs exactly the same function as above, however it is a more toxic chemical. I bought some CarPro Iron X Paste, which is very viscous, I'd say thicker than "hair gel" so that it stays in place rather than running off. This performs no better than the above products, but of course is a big benefit if applying to a sloped or vertical face if the wheel cannot be placed in a manner so the contaminated surface is level.
Alkaline Wheel Cleaner: This did nothing, I didn't think it would, as removing the iron oxide is based upon a chemical reaction and not the PH of the chemical itself.
I've no acidic / low PH wheel cleaner left, so I'll be buying some good old Wonder Wheels at the weekend to see how this effects the iron oxide.

... so at the moment it looks like this will be a long drawn out process with a "Mercaptoacetate" based product (I'll do all I can on Saturday, then when the weather gets bad on Sunday coat the wheels inside.


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

BH Korrosol and Auto Wheel cleaner are the same ingredients, AW is just higher viscosity to assist the process staying in place. Korrosol is adequate to tackle general fallout, brake dust etc. for the enthusiastic detail minded person. Generally most wont allow them to get that bad.
Maybe what you are seeing is not ferrous? Based on what you have written it appears a possibility it is not. KC Rrr would get it if it was. There are others in KC range but wouldn't go harder than Rrr.... or equivalent.
I'd suggest taking a very, very close look at what you are trying to remove. If it is ferrous, has it been sealed over in the past?
A bit of micro surgery would be on my list, by hook or crook it would be removed.It will take what it takes with only one winner :thumb:


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## JimLethbridge (Feb 5, 2019)

fatdazza said:


> No it won't


I've always had pretty decent results with alkaline on alloys...


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## Rakti (Nov 11, 2019)

I've been working on three of mine today and just can't get 15 years of ingrained brake dust and tar off;




























I feel like I'm 90% there but that last 10% is difficult.

I think the next thing I need to do is find my Autosmart rep and get 5L of Tardis, as there are still plenty of hardened lumps of tar and I don't have much of the Autoglym stuff left.

Can anyone identify what the non-tar bits look like? You can see an awful lot more detail on the original size photos. These have been re-sized to message board format.


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

What cleaners have you used ? Have you tried an acid?


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## Rakti (Nov 11, 2019)

fatdazza said:


> What cleaners have you used ? Have you tried an acid?


1. Triple QX wheel cleaner (it was free).

2. BH Korrosol

3. AG Intensive Tar Remover (Also used some of partners AF product on one wheel).

Think I used some BH Surfex when I first had them off the car a few months ago.

I tried some 20 year old Wonder Wheels on a small section yesterday. Instructions say leave 5-30 mins. I only left 5mins and it seemed to shift about the same small amount as 1 above. Wish I'd tried it again for longer today but ran out of time.

Actually wish now that I'd bought the Malco stuff the amount of time I've spent on them; probably about 3 days over the past few months.


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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

Korrosol is a great fallout remover but it isn't great at removing things other than fallout as it is designed just to do that and not much else. Bilt Hamber do Autowheel for use as a fallout remover and degreaser/cleaner. It would be more effective on the initial hit.

In this instance I'd do a general wheel clean with a typical non fallout wheel cleaner to see what you have. Then hit it with a good tar remover to get those spots and wheel weight marks off. then hit it with acid to blitz it. At the end of it, hit it with a good fallout remover. I doubt there would be much left, but at least you'll know.


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## Rakti (Nov 11, 2019)

roscopervis said:


> Korrosol is a great fallout remover but it isn't great at removing things other than fallout as it is designed just to do that and not much else. Bilt Hamber do Autowheel for use as a fallout remover and degreaser/cleaner. It would be more effective on the initial hit.
> 
> In this instance I'd do a general wheel clean with a typical non fallout wheel cleaner to see what you have. Then hit it with a good tar remover to get those spots and wheel weight marks off. then hit it with acid to blitz it. At the end of it, hit it with a good fallout remover. I doubt there would be much left, but at least you'll know.


Hi Rosco,

Is your reply for me or the original OP (sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread Fatboy)?


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## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

Rakti,

The products that worked the best for me were a "Mercaptoacetate", so a standard fallout remover, and very strong hydrochloric acid (also the barrels of my used wheels were very much like yours).

CarPro Iron X Paste was quite helpful when used in a certain way. I placed the wheel face down on a bucket, so the badly soiled barrel was upwards, and applied it to only where the very heavy soiling was. A typical watery product would just run off and be useless, but the paste could be left on like this in very small sections for ages when not in direct sunlight (e.g. I left it for 15 minutes, agitated it, then 15 minutes later agitated it again and rinsed it off (and I did this more than once)).

The next thing that helped was what would be considered an acidic wheel cleaner, however I came it from a different angle. Good old formula Wonder Wheels is hydrochloric acid, which can be nasty but there is stronger, so I bought one of these on the way home last night...

https://www.toolstation.com/bostik-concentrated-mortar-brick-cleaner/p98902

... which is only £5 and has around double the hydrochloric acid of Wonder Wheels. I decanted a little into a jar and brushed it only where needed, with gloves on as this is VERY nasty stuff, and it helped shift the really stubourn stuff, but it really is the "nuclear option" and I was prepared to take the risk.

Now onto coating them tomorrow nice and warm inside the conservatory whilst the storm rages outside.


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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

Rakti said:


> Hi Rosco,
> 
> Is your reply for me or the original OP (sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread Fatboy)?


It's for anyone with dirty wheels that need a good clean. Everyone is scared of acid, but sometimes, you have to break out the big guns. as long as you're careful and rinse well you should be ok.


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