# Meguiars Wheel Brightner



## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

I am needing a bulk Wheel cleaner work weekly cleaning on my sisters plastic wheel trims and occasional on my alloys when I give them the fully works.Would Megs WB be a good choice?I did have a liter of Bilberry and dont find it that effective.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

WB t'is quite aggressive for weekly used Ross- its acidic iirc. how about smart wheels or espuma revolution (trying this one next myself)?


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## Hair Bear (Nov 4, 2007)

RosswithaOCD said:


> I am needing a bulk Wheel cleaner work weekly cleaning on my sisters plastic wheel trims and occasional on my alloys when I give them the fully works.Would Megs WB be a good choice?I did have a liter of Bilberry and dont find it that effective.


Interesting post Ross! I've used all the non-acidic, bio-degradeable's etc. etc. They're all fine don't get me wrong.

But I dug out the old faithful WB last week and cut it 10:1....awesome! Wheels looked better than ever!

Better the devil n all that.....


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Bilberry dose work but I find it takes two hits and a fair amount of brushing.


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

ross do you find no matter what you use it takes alot of cleaning anyway? i only ever use snow foam then steam them off. and whats left wash off with brushes, and cloths as to get round the back you have to do it by hand, i use a 2ltr spray pump bottle with water and shampoo to keep the cloth or sponge or brush lubricated, got mine from b&q a couple of quid.


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## Mr Shoelaces (Dec 27, 2007)

the espuma revolution is the stuff for me, one hit at a dilution of 10:1 no agitation required, it s quick and easy to use. if you use it on regular basis then dilute it down further especailly if you was your wheels like I do.


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## rusey93 (Dec 24, 2008)

Autosmart do an acid based wheel cleaner, which you buy in 5ltrs i believe, worth a shot?


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## Guest (Sep 4, 2009)

Prolonged use of Megs WB will end up in trouble. If you don't like bilberry perhaps try autobrite very cherry, works out cheaper.

Espuma Revolution is also a very good product, the downside is it doesn't foam, but at 10:1 it is very good indeed.

Plastic wheel trims are iffy things at the best of times to get spotlessly clean.


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Another vote for Espuma Revolution here. 10:1 will deal with most wheels, and 8:1 makes sure (but 10:1 is the recommended dose)
It makes light work of most wheels in my experience. £17 odd for 5 litres ain't bad considering thats 50 litres working strength.


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

I will be using it at 10:1 as I ordered some from CYC.


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2009)

Everyone has reccomended against megs WB yet you have still gone and got some 

Prolonged use of it (especially if you clean these cars often) might result in corrosion in areas, I have asked the question in the past whether it is moderately safe and heard plenty of stories about it damaging wheels, don't say you haven't been warned!


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Well I have done a U turn and canceled the WB the thought of it causing Corrosion has put be off it big time.


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

autosmart smartwheels


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## gregor (Mar 1, 2009)

i'd go for smart wheels too. just picked some up today for £15 for a 5l. pretty good!


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

I've used Megs WB, watered down about 10:1 on my Audi S4 for the past 2 years, also on a VW Golf GTi and a BMW 135i without any corrosion problems at all. It does the job and is good value. I gave my Bilberry away to a friend, it works "ok" but not as good as WB IMO.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

Veedub18 said:


> I've used Megs WB, watered down about 10:1 on my Audi S4 for the past 2 years, also on a VW Golf GTi and a BMW 135i without any corrosion problems at all. It does the job and is good value. I *gave my Bilberry away to a friend, it works "ok[/B]" but not as good as WB IMO.*


*

depends how dirty the wheels are.. i would only use WB (even diluted) once in a blue moon on really dirty wheels if bilberry did'nt do the job*


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

fiestadetailer said:


> depends how dirty the wheels are.. i would only use WB (even diluted) once in a blue moon on really dirty wheels if bilberry did'nt do the job


What corrodes? I do this every week and yet to see any damage at all, the cars are regularly serviced and I take the wheels off to clean them every 2 months, and have not seen any damage to anything.


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## BMW318TI (Aug 4, 2009)

Same here I love WB very effective cleaning!
Wheels are still in good condition:car:


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

i did'nt say anything about corrosion...


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

fiestadetailer said:


> i did'nt say anything about corrosion...


Nope, you didn't, apologies if I got confused with Ross's post cancelling his WB.

I have used WB for some time now, even less diluted than 10:1 and have never seen it corrode anything at all.

G220, can I please ask what does it corrode, you have posted that "it might result in corrosion of areas"? What areas are those, as I haven't seen any damage to wheels, calipers, brakes, suspension on mine or friends cars who all use WB?


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

rather than corrosion, iirc it can dull the finish on painted alloys if used too often - i.e weekly and at too stronger mix


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

Veedub18 said:


> G220, can I please ask what does it corrode, you have posted that "it might result in corrosion of areas"? What areas are those, as I haven't seen any damage to wheels, calipers, brakes, suspension on mine or friends cars who all use WB?


It can strip the shine off lug nuts, it can damage the plastic wheel caps, prolonged use of it may cause bubbling lacquer if it manages to get into a chipped area of the wheel.

Wonderwheels ruined the shine on some of my wheel nuts.

There is a thread a few months back on here, the explination was that it contains hydroflouric acid unlike a lot of other acid-based wheel cleaners and that is a very powerful acid.

It can cause that milky look on calipers if it gets on them.

Also depends on the wheel at the end of the day, if it is a good quality OEM wheel, chances are it will withstand almost everything you can throw at it.

That aside it is very strong stuff and you don't really want to be breathing it in and getting it on your hands on a regular basis either.


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

+1 here for Auto Smart - Smart Wheels too.

Safer than an acid-based number, but can be used in a stronger than the recommended ratio for tough cleaning power. Only had two wheels that it couldn't clean - and that was a Jag that had it's electric handbrake badly adjusted and rubbing for a year. On top of that, the car was never once cleaned in that time!


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

fiestadetailer said:


> rather than corrosion, iirc it can dull the finish on painted alloys if used too often - i.e weekly and at too stronger mix


i thought i'd get you upto 1000
<---


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

thought Smart Wheels was acid based?


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

matt1263 said:


> thought Smart Wheels was acid based?


yep so did I


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

and if your going to dilute WB, why not buy 5L of wonder wheels and dilute that?

sure have read someone do a PH test on WB and WW and WW was safer, will try to find it and link it.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

G220 said:


> i thought i'd get you upto 1000
> <---


thanks very much  :thumb:


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Not acid based

http://www.smartvaleting.co.uk/index.php?cmd=cat&catid=28


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

strange, since it contains acid in the ingrediants


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

OH.

That is odd!

And corrosive then....

edit - Autosmart's site says it's acid-free too.

http://www.autosmart.co.uk/Exterior%20Cleaners.html


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

its lots of big words that I am sure a chemist understands, but does contain acid in the words :lol:

does say on the safety sheet that its corrosive?


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## Omnic (May 13, 2009)

Been using Bilberry 2 months now and all I can say is that smells great and combined with Daytona wheelbrush
+ 10 litre water bucket mixed with 3 pumps of Dodo Juice Supernatural = Very Clean Wheels :thumb:


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

You are indeed correct mr mini, it is alkali (check pH value).


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Purple Haze value - what's that? :tumbleweed:

Just got thinking there (dangerous I know) but if a wheel cleaner, is say ph3 which is quite acidic so considered by some 'unsafe' - is an alkali cleaner of similar alkali ph strength (ph11) just as bad?

Might be talking total p!sh. Maybe there's no such thing as an alkali cleaner?

sorry if I got my p h's the wrong way round. Chemistry in school was a long time ago...


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2009)

smart wheels is ph14 according to data sheet.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2009)

wee_green_mini said:


> Purple Haze value - what's that? :tumbleweed:
> 
> Just got thinking there (dangerous I know) but if a wheel cleaner, is say ph3 which is quite acidic so considered by some 'unsafe' - is an alkali cleaner of similar alkali ph strength (ph11) just as bad?
> 
> ...


You are correct, for example AG acid-free wheel cleaner just means it is an alkali wheel cleaner (pH14)

The pH value cannot be used alone to determine whether the wheel cleaner will be dangerous to the wheel though it can give a good indication. Most acid-free wheel cleaners are just very strong alkali (pH14), whereas acid wheel cleaners are often pH1 or less. Acid is actually less corrosive to aluminum (alloy) wheels than alkali is, however, it is generally the coating that you need to be concerned about, alkali wheel cleaners are generally safer.

There is also the marketing jargon element to it, if a chemical is strong average joe will say "this must be a strong acid", thus when they see "acid-free", they think all is OK.


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## tuggers (Mar 18, 2009)

i have been using WB on many cars repeatedly over roughly 2 years, i have never seen any damage caused by the product. I gave meguairs a call regarding this and they confirmed that it is safe and any damage caused would be almost instant not over a prolonged use. 
If it was to strip lacquer or corrode E.T.C then it would do it on the first use, once you have used it on a wheel and then wash it off all of the product should be removed, if someone is getting damaged wheels through prolonged use then they are not removing the product properly after each use.
Also if you have a chipped damaged wheel then any product could make it worse, especially if it gets underneath the lacquer.
I will keep using WB and if there is any problems caused by it i would be straight on the phone to megs, and straight on the net to write a post to you guys!!


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