# Wheel cleaner vs Fallout remover



## RoyW80 (Jan 20, 2013)

Is there still the need for a wheel cleaner in a detailers arsenal with the widespread availability of fallout remover. 

Most fallout removers nowadays also contain degreasers and some can even be diluted for regular use. 

What is everyone’s thoughts 

R


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

It depends what works, iron out is a unique process. I use AS Red7 or AS Smartwheels, this was on 20+ year old rims that had never been cleaned. Now powder coated they only need a weekly shampoo to keep clean. 
The theory is the least impacted products that will get the job done.

John Tht.


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## Yellow Dave (Apr 5, 2011)

It really depends on the wheel and condition. 

Likewise a typically wheel cleaner can be diluted and significantly cheaper to use than a fallout remover. 

For regularly washed protected wheels a fallout remover is simply not required. A strong normal wash with shampoo. Or even a heavily diluted wheel cleaner will suffice with maybe periodic use of a fallout remover to deep clean and decon. 

For general wheels yes the fallout remover has its place

But for neglected uncared unmaintained wheels you can’t touch them with a fallout remover and need a proper acidic or caustic cleaner like wonder wheels.


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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

Boils down to cost. An effective fallout remover is a lot more expensive than an effective, dilutable wheel cleaner. How much fallout remover would you use every wash? Cost? If you were to use a dedicated wheel cleaner first, then use fallout remover, how much reaction would you see then?

My coated wheels don't even need a wheel cleaner much of the time, just a decon wash every few months as Briannumbers has recently demonstrated in a write up I've seen.

I also don't want my fallout remover to have degreasers in so I don't buy those ones.


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## paulb1976 (Nov 2, 2012)

I tend to use BH autowheel as the middle ground on this one. It's a fair price, kind of best of both worlds product for me and as said above if the rims are generally not caked on it works for me. I dilute 1:1, yeh its less clingy but still works a treat :thumb:


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## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

Too many variables, for some yes and some no.

I have not had a dedicated wheel cleaner for nearly 2 years as my wheels are ceramic coated.

I use a fall out remover every 3 months and weekly wash with normal car shampoo.


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Will always be a need for alkaline based wheel cleaners. Using fallout remover on every wash is just overkill & a waste of money. Also depends on condition of the alloys you are working on. For my own car with ceramic coated wheels I clean them with a wheel shampoo & every 6 months deep clean with Surfex HD + fallout remover to remove any contamination embedded in the coating.

For family cars I used a diluted wheel cleaner with the odd hit of fallout remover. If they are a particularly bad set of alloys then I will tackle them with acid. Every product has a place dependent on the situation is the short story.

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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

I use autowheel every wash (which is every 2-4 weeks in general)...and I've kept doing this because it always finds plenty of fallout to react with. They aren't protected at all in this scenario btw.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

Imo they are two different products - wheel cleaner first and then fallout remover afterwards for the stubborn bits, well thats how ive always seen it but people love getting social media likes for an amazing reaction pic after spraying fallout remover onto a bone dry wheel..


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

The idea of fallout remover is to remove iron particles which have embedded themselves in the paint.

There is little point in using the chemical properties of fallout remover to react with those iron particles which can easily be removed with a cheaper mild wheel cleaner or pressure washer.


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## Sean66 (Apr 5, 2019)

fatdazza said:


> The idea of fallout remover is to remove iron particles which have embedded themselves in the paint.
> 
> There is little point in using the chemical properties of fallout remover to react with those iron particles which can easily be removed with a cheaper mild wheel cleaner or pressure washer.


Agree ! I just use BH auto foam then auto wash with a wheel woolie which leaves nothing for Auto wheels or Korrosol to do on well maintained wheels . 
However when I cleaned the wife's neglected wheels after the usual auto foam and auto wash I did need BH auto wheels to remove months of ingrained brake dust.


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

Same old chestnut, keep the cars cleaned and avoid the need to be using hard chemicals.
It's so much more enjoyable having a clean car most of the time.:thumb:


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## Dangerousmouse (Apr 21, 2008)

Tried out auto wheel yesterday. Did a bang up job. Very easy to use, only a little agitation required.

Reaction time was approx 5 minutes, rinsed, let dry. Same process again as the wheels haven't been off the car for a couple of years. Needed to use tar & glue remover on the foam backing from where old wheel weights had been and there's still a couple of spots that need a bit more attention and I'll get these sorted over the summer months.

Coat of Poorboys World wheel sealant and back on the car.



http://imgur.com/eVnnc73


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