# Surfex HD as wheel cleaner



## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Hi. Has anyone tried Bilt Hamber Surfex HD as a wheel cleaner? I'm thinking of getting some of this instead of a dedicated wheel cleaner, as it's water based and should be safe.
I'm just wondering if it's got enough ooomph to remove the muck that gets on wheels.

Will probably use it on the wheels before I use Bilt Hamber Auto Foam on the rest of the car.

If you have tried it on wheels, what are your thoughts?


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

It's an effective general cleaner and should work equally well on wheels.


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## RobF50 (Aug 12, 2008)

It's fantastic on my cruddy wheels, better than the evil acid stuff I was using in the past !


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Have used it on alloys to good effect, as a business though it doesn't really work out cost effective.
Not teaching you to suck eggs, but make sure you get the dilution rates right though as not a lot of product is needed and apply to cooled alloys.:thumb:


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2009)

The main problem I would probably have using it is it not foaming up much at all, I like good amounts of foam, makes cleaning my wheels much more fun and less choresome.


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Gleammachine said:


> Have used it on alloys to good effect, as a business though it doesn't really work out cost effective.
> Not teaching you to suck eggs, but make sure you get the dilution rates right though as not a lot of product is needed and apply to cooled alloys.:thumb:


Nice to see a Pro taking time out to advise an amateur. I can get 5L of Surfex for £13.99 and the same supplying is selling 5L of Billberry Wheel Cleaner for £23.99

Plus the Surfex can be used elsewhere. I'll get some Surfex with my next order.

Thanks for all the replies.


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## Reaperman (Nov 5, 2007)

rmorgan84 said:


> It's an effective general cleaner and should work equally well on wheels.


Does it remove wheel wax/sealant...?


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

GSVHammer said:


> Nice to see a Pro taking time out to advise an amateur. I can get 5L of Surfex for £13.99 and the same supplying is selling 5L of Billberry Wheel Cleaner for £23.99
> 
> Plus the Surfex can be used elsewhere. I'll get some Surfex with my next order.
> 
> Thanks for all the replies.


No problem, tbh didn't realise it was as cheap as that, with it's good dilution rate well worth it then and as you mentioned can be used for other applications also.


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## rubbishboy (May 6, 2006)

I find it really good as a wheel cleaner.



G220 said:


> The main problem I would probably have using it is it not foaming up much at all, I like good amounts of foam, makes cleaning my wheels much more fun and less choresome.


You could always add a dash of shampoo to the mix, I quite often do that when using surfex as a pre-wash but whether it actually does anything other than the look better is hard to say. 



Reaperman said:


> Does it remove wheel wax/sealant...?


It would depend on how strong you mixed it up. At around 3 to 4% it doesn't seem to.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2009)

rubbishboy said:


> You could always add a dash of shampoo to the mix, I quite often do that when using surfex as a pre-wash but whether it actually does anything other than the look better is hard to say.


I wouldn't be suprised if the foam factor didn't actually do much in terms of cleaning, I have noticed it does create less "drag" on the wheel brush when its nice and foamy so it does feel less tiresome.

Great tip though, I will add a little bit of snow foam to the mix!

I just like bubbles :lol:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

used it many times at 3-4% dilution on wheels, as its totally wax safe at that strength, and it adds a good nit of extra cleaning power if you need it. Works great a s a pre-treatment that you leave on a few mins before shampoo'ing off. You dont want it to dry on the wheels or paint though...


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2009)

Pete once mentioned it is fine on paintwork even neat, its always good for the reassurance, as I do have my doubts about other products at times (I wonder how horrified people would be on here if they saw the overspray around arches and onto plastics when they apply wheel cleaner through an atomiser or foam trigger).

(btw, steam cleaner supposedly arriving on wednesday )


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

^^ nice one :thumb:

Surfex stops being wax friendly at about 10-12% concentrations as far as I can tell from my testing. Not all waxes are quite that resilient though....


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Some great info in the replies, thanks everyone.


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

I recently posted the same question didn't get as many replies but you still didn't get the reply I was asking for. Has anyone compared it to a dedicated wheel cleaner like bilberry does it do as well?


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

its not going to shift tough brake muck as well as a decent cleaner like Bilberry, but will deal easily enough with grime on a protected wheel...BUT we are talking about MUCH lower concentrations needed, so the product is MUCH more cost effective.

If you need a dedicated wheel cleaner for tough jobs, then Surfex probably isnt it, but for regular cleaning it does pretty well.


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

I've found SHD does very well at shifting heavy grime on unprotected alloys, at 10% strength.
Tried Bilberry once, and whilst it foams up and all, it was no better with the Metal Free tickle stick than SHD.
I'd put the two on parity with each other, but obviously SHD's advantage is that it has other uses, unlike Bilberry's single usage.

Maybe GSV and gt5500 would be wise to get a sample size of Bilberry and SHD, and compare the two of them for themselves.


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

As I removed my wheels and gave them a really good clean last month I'm going to go with the Surfex. If I ever leave them to get as pitted again I'll have my forum membership withdrawn


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

Bigpikle said:


> its not going to shift tough brake muck as well as a decent cleaner like Bilberry, but will deal easily enough with grime on a protected wheel...BUT we are talking about MUCH lower concentrations needed, so the product is MUCH more cost effective.
> 
> If you need a dedicated wheel cleaner for tough jobs, then Surfex probably isnt it, but for regular cleaning it does pretty well.


Thanks that was what I needed to hear, my wheels are in need of a deep clean before protecting so I will probably get a small bottle of bilberry and a large bottle of surfex.


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## RobF50 (Aug 12, 2008)

Anyone complaining about it not foaming...er you aren't working it hard enough !
It foams A LOT !


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

GSVHammer said:


> Hi. Has anyone tried Bilt Hamber Surfex HD as a wheel cleaner? I'm thinking of getting some of this instead of a dedicated wheel cleaner, as it's water based and should be safe.
> I'm just wondering if it's got enough ooomph to remove the muck that gets on wheels.
> 
> Will probably use it on the wheels before I use Bilt Hamber Auto Foam on the rest of the car.
> ...


My thoughts would be, if you already have the BH autofoam, that should be all you need, a regular wash regime should eliminate the need for a dedicated wheel cleaner, also you could try the BH AF at a 10% mix in a spray bottle for the wheels :thumb:


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Avanti said:


> My thoughts would be, if you already have the BH autofoam, that should be all you need, a regular wash regime should eliminate the need for a dedicated wheel cleaner, also you could try the BH AF at a 10% mix in a spray bottle for the wheels :thumb:


I bought some Surfex, but haven't tried it yet. I'm trying to keep on top of the car but it's hard work been black. It's showing a lot of water marks with the rain. Wheels aren't too bad at the moment but you know how quickly they get dirty. Got myself an EZ brush as this helps to reach the back of the wheels.

I may remove the wheels next week and dress the wheel arches, so I'll give the wheels a quick going over while they are off the car.


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

SHD is okay at cleaning wheels, but I find it dries very quickly when in contact with brake dust, so is not workable for as long as something like Bilberry.

Bilberry I find is better overall, but I'd only recommend it on moderate/heavily soiled wheels. SHD is fine otherwise.


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