I found a substitute for P21S Wheel Cleaner...and it only costs $4.
02-13-2003, 11:01 PM
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I found a substitute for P21S Wheel Cleaner...and it only costs $4.
In my quest to trim my detail spending (see my <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/detail/msgs/13369.phtml">$1099.56 post</a>), I'm trying to find substitutes for some of the pricer detailing products I buy. One thing that I seem to use a lot of is wheel cleaner (thanks Audi) and at around $14 a bottle for P21S, it was getting expensive. I wanted to find something that worked as well or almost as well but wasn't an acid based cleaner. The ONLY non-acid based cleaner I could find was Turtle Wax 2001 Foaming Wheel Cleaner (AutoZone, around $3-$4).
Being a bit skeptical, I tried it on my girlfriend's Integra first; it's the standard test bed for detailing products. It's not a spray on/rinse off cleaner, but P21S was never that either. I've always had to use a brush, so this wasn't much different. I sprayed it on, waited a few minutes, gave it a light scrubbing with an <a href="http://store.yahoo.com/classic-motoring/erwheelbrus.html">OXO Good Grips<sup>TM</sup> wheel brush</a> and rinsed the wheels clean. It worked well so I then tried it on my S4. It cut through the thick Audi brake dust and cleaned my Avus wheels just as well as the P21S did.
I'm very satisfied with the TW 2001. It did not do any damage or leave any stains or dull finish on the wheels. P21S is certainly not $10 better. I'm fairly discriminating with the detail products I use and I'm loathe to use mass market products, but I have no reservations using this on my car and I highly recommend it. It's also nice because it always seemed that wheel cleaner was one of those things that I realized I was out of the night before I was going to do a big detail job. Now I can just run to AutoZone and pick some of this up.
<b>I didn't have my watch handy, so I used my keychain for scale:</b>
<img src="http://2k2s4.portfolioland.com/audiworld/detail/tw_wheel_cleaner.jpg">
Being a bit skeptical, I tried it on my girlfriend's Integra first; it's the standard test bed for detailing products. It's not a spray on/rinse off cleaner, but P21S was never that either. I've always had to use a brush, so this wasn't much different. I sprayed it on, waited a few minutes, gave it a light scrubbing with an <a href="http://store.yahoo.com/classic-motoring/erwheelbrus.html">OXO Good Grips<sup>TM</sup> wheel brush</a> and rinsed the wheels clean. It worked well so I then tried it on my S4. It cut through the thick Audi brake dust and cleaned my Avus wheels just as well as the P21S did.
I'm very satisfied with the TW 2001. It did not do any damage or leave any stains or dull finish on the wheels. P21S is certainly not $10 better. I'm fairly discriminating with the detail products I use and I'm loathe to use mass market products, but I have no reservations using this on my car and I highly recommend it. It's also nice because it always seemed that wheel cleaner was one of those things that I realized I was out of the night before I was going to do a big detail job. Now I can just run to AutoZone and pick some of this up.
<b>I didn't have my watch handy, so I used my keychain for scale:</b>
<img src="http://2k2s4.portfolioland.com/audiworld/detail/tw_wheel_cleaner.jpg">
02-14-2003, 08:16 AM
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Or, if your wheels are waxed, you don't need wheel cleaner at all. I clean mine
with an old wash mitt (retired from paint use due to condition) and water. I don't even need to use soap. And I've got stock pads, so you know they're dusty.
02-14-2003, 11:12 AM
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OIC. I guess I'm not the hard-core detailer I thought I was since I've never
cared about the appearance of the inside of the wheels. I wash them off when I rotate the tires, but that's about it.
02-14-2003, 11:29 AM
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Haha, when I swapped my winter wheels, I put my stock Avus in the bath tub and scrubbed them down.
My gf wasn't too happy about that little incident, but since she came home when I was on the last wheel, I guess there wasn't much she could do. =) The had to be clean though because they are stacked in the bedroom during the winter months.
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02-14-2003, 03:02 PM
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I've never been in a situation where I really needed a cleaner, even w/o wax'ed wheels
Painted wheels with the clear coat seems to be good enough. Using a cleaner helps if I spray it on then hose it off to get off a few initial layers, but scrubbing is always necessary. But water and a cotton towel always took off everything.
Anything that was stubborn would require something more than a wheel cleaner, like Total Auto Wash, Simple Green, or my finger nail.
Anything that was stubborn would require something more than a wheel cleaner, like Total Auto Wash, Simple Green, or my finger nail.