Review: Autoglym Acid-Free Wheel Cleaner

tom p.

tom p.

Active member
Review: Autoglym Acid-Free Wheel Cleaner



(I believe this is the commercial version of Autoglym’s Custom Wheel Cleaner which is marketed in 500mL bottles)



I bought this 5L (~ 1 1/3 gallons) container of wheel cleaner a couple of months ago, retail price is $60. I purchased it directly from the USA AG distributor and he shipped it to me very quickly. My two benchmark wheel cleaners are Griot’s and regular P21S. While I understand these wheel cleaners may not provide adequate cleaning power for a production environment (wheels that haven’t been cleaned for a year, for example), these products are essentially perfect for me. Our cars are tended to every week, year round. So, I’ve put off this review ‘til I could turn up some truly dirty wheels. We’ve had this ’08 Volvo loaner car for about 10 days and the car was gross when they turned it over to us. I spotted the filth on these front wheels and figured this might be my opportunity to give the AG wheel cleaner a bit of workout. Needless to say, the AG product handled this brake dust without breaking a sweat.



I need to mention that I’ve diluted the product by about 50% based upon my needs and its ability to effortlessly clean my vehicles. I have found at this dilution the product tends to settle and re-deposit the crud back on the wheels forcing a second cleaning no matter how quickly you work. These pictures were taken early in the morning before the car had been driven - - wheels were cold. In the future I’ll likely return to using the product at 100% strength since I don’t feel like cleaning the wheels a 2nd time.



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Application with sprayer:



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Tire scrubbed with soft brush (this stuff is excellent on rubber, somewhat more effective than P21S or Griot’s.):





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Rinses very easily:

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Re-application:

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2nd rinse:

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I would have spent a bit more time on this if it had been my car. I don’t have the correct brush to get in between those narrow spokes. Some minor pitting is obvious and there are some stains that could probably be removed with a very light polish. All in all, this wheel cleaner has done an excellent job considering the time invested to take these photos. I like the bright finish it leaves.



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Dry:

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Thanks to Jason at Deep Gloss Auto Salon in Detroit for bringing this product to my attention via one of his write-ups! I am 110% pleased with this product and it's a keeper. :xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs
 
Very cool... Glad to see it worked for you as well as it has for me!



For customer cars with regular braking systems (non Carbon / Ceramics) this is my go to cleaner....



PS: Thanks for the nod
 
D&D Auto Detail said:
Why not use soap and water if you clean your cars once a week?
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[Note that a sorta-strong shampoo mix is how Accumulator usually cleans most of his wheels....]



Tom has posted before about how Wheel Cleaners work better for him, even when he's LSPed his wheels. Yeah...[all the obvious issues with doing it that way]..but that's how it goes for him.



Tom P.- Thanks for the review, this gonna be your go-to Wheel Cleaner now?
 
D&D Auto Detail said:
Why not use soap and water if you clean your cars once a week?
Click to expand...



Yeah, a lot of people mention this. I can get away with a soap solution on one of the cars, the other car (wife's Audi) simply needs something with some cleaning power at the end of the week. I find that using a strong soap-based solution tends to smear the brake dust around without really suspending it. For me, the soap solutions I've tried were not leading to the level of cleanliness I expect, so I stick with the dedicated wheel cleaners since they provide me with the result I want.



I'm very fussy about the wheels, and the brake dust mess makes me a little crazy, I guess :)
 
Accumulator said:
Tom P.- Thanks for the review, this gonna be your go-to Wheel Cleaner now?
Click to expand...





I think I'll keep both - - Griot's and the AG product. The AG is still 2X the price of the Griot's even though it offers significantly better cleaning power. I'll reserve the AG for dirtier wheels. If I could succesfully dilute the AG, I'd use that one exclusively. It's a real pleasure to work with.
 
thanks to tom i now have this wheel cleaner, used about 10 liters so far. it is my favorite diluted 1:1 for regular maintenance on wheels. i use it weekly on my dd which sees just shy of 500 miles a week.
 
Yeah, thanks for bumping this, maybe I'll keep it in mind when I restock on Wheel Cleaner. I'd normally just get Griot's, but...well....
 
My pleasure, Mr Rabbit.



Yeah, I really like this stuff, too. I "think" it's the best rubber cleaner I've ever used. It seems to do just about the right amount of cleaning meaning not too much, not too little. It's excellent on wheels, too, obviously.



Fate would have it that we've ended up with low-dusting pads in all our cars. I could just about get away with washing with my basic soap solution, but the premium wheel cleaners leave that extra-bright finish that I don't get with a shampoo. I'll never give that up. I can't justify buying the Autoglym for my light-duty needs. (I've gone thru about 1/2 of the 5L container purchased last year.) The majority of the time I'm using the Griot's product which I can get delivered to my door step for $30/gallon. While I'd luv to make this Autoglym product my go-to product, I've decided I'm unwilling to spend nearly 2X the price on the Autoglym.



Jason, do you know what the retail price is nowadays on this stuff? I assume it's gone up over the past 12 months.
 
Looks like a great product. I have tried almost all wheels cleaners and after using Brown Royal i just can not see any reason to use anything else. Cleans extremely well is safe for all finishes and the lowest cost cleaner i have ever used. I really am surprised its not talked about more on here.
 
I've seen it mentioned a few times, but I could not describe it as 'widely available', iluvspl.



Where do you buy it?



Thanks.
 
tom,

are you using the griots diluted or straight? if not i think the ag works out to be the better deal if diluted 1:1 vs griots at full strength. for not having an optical enhancers it sure leaves a nice shine. i find the shine and look to be much better than apc or soap and water. haven't tested it against the griots side by side but think the ag would look better. used griots in the past and found it to be a good maintenance cleaner.
 
I was diluting the Griot's for a while, but it seemed like it would dry on the wheel way too fast and I'd have to go over it a 2nd time completely defeating the purpose. It seems like Griot's isn't quite a strong as it used to be.



I've tried cutting the Autoglym, but found it didn't clean the rubber quite as well as I'd expect. I luv the product at 100%.



I think the finish left by the AG product is "brighter", I'll agree with that, but I'm not 100% certain I prefer it over the Griot's in terms of a finished appearance.



I "think" dirtier wheels stay cleaner a bit longer with the AG stuff, but that could be my imagination, too.



I'm using so little wheel cleaner nowadays, and I've found some super-fine sprayers - - it's not a big deal to use the stuff at 100% strength in my situation.
 
tom p. said:
Jason, do you know what the retail price is nowadays on this stuff? I assume it's gone up over the past 12 months.
Click to expand...



Just because I try to avoid redundant shipping charges, once I knew this was going to be a staple in my suplies, I ordered 5 - 5 liter jugs. I am on my last 5l jug now and I am not looking forward to seeing what the new price may be.......
 
Deep Gloss Auto Salon said:
Just because I try to avoid redundant shipping charges, once I knew this was going to be a staple in my suplies, I ordered 5 - 5 liter jugs. I am on my last 5l jug now and I am not looking forward to seeing what the new price may be.......
Click to expand...



last time i check it was about $50 per 5 liter jug. if your getting 5 5l why not just get the 25l jug instead. should be about $200 or so the shipping.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
last time i check it was about $50 per 5 liter jug. if your getting 5 5l why not just get the 25l jug instead. should be about $200 or so the shipping.
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This was maybe 1.5 - 2 yrs ago or so. I think prices have gone up since then. Additionally, I wasn't aware of a 25l size available at the time and I also wasn't paying retail.



This time around that is probably the route I will go, either that or weight out the benefit of switching to OPC neat.
 
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