The test procedure
CLARIFICATION
This test covers spray-on type wheel cleaners, not wheel waxes or polishes as they are different types of products.
THE CRITERIA
When it came to results, we looked at several areas other than just outright shine as we took into account other factors such as coverage and its action on the wheel’s surface, although it follows that if a product makes you feel sick when you take the top off the bottle then it is at a slight disadvantage when compared to one that smells like marshmallows or bubblegum!
CARE NEEDED
Some of these products seem pretty caustic and if you have sensitive skin in particular please wear gloves when using them. Even though the worst of the bad chemicals have been removed from wheel cleaners, care should be a prime consideration and they certainly need to be stored well away from children. It’s well worth using a pair of protective glasses or goggles, too.
You’ll need access to water and although the vast majority of wheel cleaners these days are bio-degradable they at least won’t cause a germ warfare alert if they go down the drain.
A decent set of wheel brushes are a great idea. Some wheels have very narrow spokes or gaps that require spindle type fingers to get into. A brush will allow you to get into every nook and cranny. Go careful, though, as brushes of metal construction can scratch your alloy if you are rushing – use plastic brushes.
WHEEL CLEANER or IRON FALLOUT REMOVER?
These are two closely related products although an iron fallout remover can usually also be used on a car’s paintwork to remove iron particles and general crud as part of a decontamination process. Indeed, some also double-up as wheel cleaners, so we’ve included a few here particularly those that are regularly used by enthusiasts for cleaning wheels.
CONTENDERS
Given the fact that there are something like 400 different car care brands active in the UK market in 2021 with many of them having more than one wheel cleaner in their ranges then we could easily have featured over 650 products, so we had to narrow it down.
We came up with a list of 18 different wheel cleaners and/or iron fallout removers – some household names, some relatively unknown ones and all points in-between. We’ve avoided (where known) to include re-labelled products concentrating on those brands that blend their own products.
COLOUR CHANGE ABILITY
This one is a variable. A decent ability to change colour (usually purple) indicates the product encapsulating iron particles and crud thus making it easier to rinse off.
PRICE PER 100ml
An obvious one this. The ultimate indicator of value for money, all the more important if the product is effective, too, of course.
COVERAGE
If you end up using half a bottle of product on one wheel that’s not going to score well but the reverse of that is applying enough product to do the job properly and giving excellent coverage over the whole wheel.
DWELL TIME
This one is important. If a wheel cleaner lasts a minute or two before drying on the wheel’s surface it affects the ability of the product, for the better. Likewise, some cleaners are designed to run off the surface lifting caked-on dirt as they go. The best ones are those that stay ‘active’ on the surface until you are ready to remove them. Our winner here lasted eight minutes with ease.
EASE OF USE
Most people will be really happy if a wheel cleaner does its work on the wheel and then when you hose it off you are left with a shiny wheel. We used medium dirty wheels on a Jaguar XJ Sovereign with some grimed-on soiling over a period of several weeks. We used the same location and the same water supply. The majority of the products tested required a brush and/or a mitt to get the wheels fully clean. However, the very best ones here took all the dirt off and left a shiny wheel, all on their own!
SCORES ON THE DOORS
We’ve awarded marks (out of ten) for various elements such as the product’s coverage on the wheel, its dwell time and of course, overall performance plus how much it changed colour on impact. We’ve also measured price per 100ml to give a value for money rating. A maximum of points were available with five categories scored out of ten points each.