# Wheel Cleaner through a foam gun?



## Frog (Jun 28, 2013)

as the title really, has anyone tried a specific wheel cleaner through a foam gun, if so was it sucessful ?


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## stonejedi (Feb 2, 2008)

Yeah a pump foam sprayer with P&S Brakebuster,works very well.SJ.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Frog said:


> as the title really, has anyone tried a specific wheel cleaner through a foam gun, if so was it successful ?


Not a foam cannon. It would be too diluted.


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## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

Yes!!

I use chemical guys diablo wheel gel in a dedicated foam lance for pre washing my wheels.

Always followed by a bucket wash, my wheels are C5 coated also so it helps, in winter I add some Greenstar to the bottle


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Rian said:


> I use chemical guys diablo wheel gel in a dedicated foam lance for pre washing my wheels.


Diablo is recommended to be diluted to 3:1. You will be nearer to 12:1 out of a foam cannon and that's assuming you put it in neat. It might work okay for you but you won't be using it at the recommended ratio.
If you can find a wheel cleaner that can be diluted circa 10:1 you won't be far off in a foam cannon.


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## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Diablo is recommended to be diluted to 3:1. You will be nearer to 12:1 out of a foam cannon and that's assuming you put it in neat. It might work okay for you but you won't be using it at the recommended ratio.
> If you can find a wheel cleaner that can be diluted circa 10:1 you won't be far off in a foam cannon.


Im aware of the ratio however used around 100ml in 1l and it gives better foam than BH auto foam I can assure you of that, and the fact its being used via a foam lance would take the dilution down more than that as the solution in the bottle is also mixed with water as it's picked up by the PW so you cant base the dilution hitting the wheel based from the dilution in the lance, if you found a wheel cleaner that needed to be diluted 1:10 you couldn't simply put a 1:10 solution in your bottle, you need to work out the flow rate of your PW

Diablo isnt an effective wheel cleaner at 1:3 its simply being use as lubricant to wash the worst of the wheels a pre-wash as mentioned before a bucket wash, the preasure of the power washer does most of the work Diablo is just for lubrication I've also used normal snow foam on wheels as mine are C5 coated no harsh cleaners needed.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Thats why I said "_*You will be nearer to 12:1 out of a foam cannon and that's assuming you put it in neat*_".
If you put 1 litre in a foam cannon and then fire the foam cannon into a bucket until it empties, you will have somewhere around 10-13 litres of 'mixed' product in that bucket (dependant on washer and cannon type). So as I said, if you found a wheel cleaner that could be diluted 10:1, putting it *neat* in the cannon bottle (i.e. no water with it) should give you somewhere approaching a 10:1 mixed product by the time it exits the cannon nozzle.
I'm not saying your results are wrong, far from it; I've not used the stuff. I was just pointing out that using wheel cleaner from a foam cannon will result in too diluted a product.
Diablo is recommended to be used at 3:1. If you say you are using 100ml of Diablo and topping up to 1 litre with water in a foam cannon, it'll end up circa 120:1. Again, I'm not saying you're wrong, but if you're using a product about 40x more diluted than the manufacturer recommends and you still say it works fine has me scratching my head somewhat. :thumb:


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## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Thats why I said "_*You will be nearer to 12:1 out of a foam cannon and that's assuming you put it in neat*_".
> If you put 1 litre in a foam cannon and then fire the foam cannon into a bucket until it empties, you will have somewhere around 10-13 litres of 'mixed' product in that bucket (dependant on washer and cannon type). So as I said, if you found a wheel cleaner that could be diluted 10:1, putting it *neat* in the cannon bottle (i.e. no water with it) should give you somewhere approaching a 10:1 mixed product by the time it exits the cannon nozzle.
> I'm not saying your results are wrong, far from it; I've not used the stuff. I was just pointing out that using wheel cleaner from a foam cannon will result in too diluted a product.
> Diablo is recommended to be used at 3:1. If you say you are using 100ml of Diablo and topping up to 1 litre with water in a foam cannon, it'll end up circa 120:1. Again, I'm not saying you're wrong, but if you're using a product about 40x more diluted than the manufacturer recommends and you still say it works fine has me scratching my head somewhat. :thumb:


Its simply being used as a pre wash, it has little cleaning power at full dilution, its effective becasue my wheels are coated in C5 so cleaning doesnt require much effort, C5 is a ceramic coating, it works fine as a pre wash, it wouldnever get your wheels clean on uncoated wheels as it just doesnt have the 'bite'

Diablo can also be used as wheel soap and ive seen chemical guys squeze a few OZ in a wheel bucket to wash wheels with so on that bases the manufacturer is also recommending it can be used at lower dilutions, I know it doesn't say that on the bottle but you can jsut go on what it says in the bottle all the time.

So from your comments your looking to just use a wheel cleaner via foam lance and not do a bucket wash if that in the case then Diablo wont be for you if I was in your position I would be using snow foam and mixing it with something like Valet pro billbery

Foaming my wheels is only a small part of my wheel cleaning routine so aslong as I can get foam on their to aid in lubricating when rinsing of the worst of it I dont care much about its cleaning abilities

Take a look hear even clean and shiny state it can be used in a bucket and that would possibly be a dilution on 1:100 or something around that region

https://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/products/chemical-guys-diablo-gel-wheel-and-rim-cleaner


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

I hear you can also use it as a mouthwash at 50:1


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## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

GeeWhizRS said:


> I hear you can also use it as a mouthwash at 50:1


You can indeed an I would imagine using it at 50:1 and it would be better than using non atall, as mentioned its only the first step in a multi-step routine and for me its just a foaming pre-wash to add some more lubrication when power washing of the bulk of the dirt and works extremely well in that respect.

your question was "has anyone tried a specific wheel cleaner through a foam gun, if so was it sucessful ?"

and for me, it was successful in providing added lubrication and helping to remove some of the bulk before a bucket wash, it would not be successful in providing a deep clean or removing embedded brake dust so it really depends on what you're looking for and what your definition of successful is as im simply providing my findings in answer to your question, as we are going to have different opionons on what successful actually is


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Wasn't my question Ryan. I was the one saying it would be too diluted. :thumb:


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## JimLethbridge (Feb 5, 2019)

has anyone tried using a mix of a iron reactor and wheel cleaner in a foam lance?

I've got a bottle of bilt Hamber and some sams detailing iron reactor that i've been considering mixing for this purpose, but concerned about diluting it far too weak to be affective.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)




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## Johnyb (Feb 5, 2018)

Frog said:


> as the title really, has anyone tried a specific wheel cleaner through a foam gun, if so was it sucessful ?


I like watching Matt from obsessed garage and he does this!

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=obsessed+garage+wheel+cleaning+


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## JimLethbridge (Feb 5, 2019)

so a resounding nope then to that question haha


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

Been introducing the use of a foam gun much more of late.
With the right APC (Gs for just one and not the only one), that has good dilution capabilities it is perfect for decon.
Do a quick calculation on PIR and off you go. 
If the APC is not one of the stronger more foaming type, add some foam.
Do the whole car, wheels arches too as a prewash decon routine. It's simple, quicker to apply and wash off with PW. Less product is consumed also.
More effective, preventing build up and ensuing drastic harder corrosive means. 
As always, prevention is always better than cure:thumb:


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