Review: Meg's Wheel Brightner (Pics)

H

Hines

New member
well today it was nice enough outside to try out some Meg's wheel brightner thats been sitting on my shelf for over a month unopened.



Getting down an dirty:

My rims were not clean at all!! they are my stock STi rims that have been demoted to winter work since getting some nice 18s on. Rims were put on in November and only cleaned with a foam gun an water all winter, as the first few pics show they are very dirty with much break dust and who knows what else built up on them.

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Time to start working:

I continued to mix the Wheel Brightner at a 4:1 water/cleaner ratio. Rinsed off the rims then generously covered them with the WB and let it sit for 45-60 second, Then rinsed off. Here were the results (i was very pleased :) )

apc2pic1.JPG




The Final:

I repeated the above step since there were still some areas with a bit of caked on break dust. Heres the afters

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apc3pic2.JPG


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Closing Comments:

All 4 wheels/rims had this process done with the rears being the least dirty and only needing the first step of cleaning. Total time took about 5-6 min w/taking pics. For only spraying on the solution and hoseing it off i was very impressed with the cleaning ability of Meg's WB. With some light aggitation of a brush or MF towel i believe i could have cleaned them perfectly as there are a few spots with specs of break dust left but for this test i wanted to see how well it would do by just spraying it on an hosing it off........needless to say i am very happy with the Meg's WB and also like the fact that my gallon will last me quite a while.............another great product from Meguiars, cant wait to get out my APC and give it a try as well :)



questions welcomed
 
Wheel brightener is a great product. I love to use it on REAL dirty wheels. Be careful if it's windy though. Trust me, you don't want to inhale any of this stuff or get it in your eyes.
 
I've heard this product isnt safe to use on polished aluminum wheels...is this true? or if I dilute it something like 5-1 will it be safe for most wheels? - looks like a great product!! Thanks for the pictures!
 
truzoom said:
Thanks for the results.. and wow to have BBS wheels as winter wheels! I'm jealous! :)
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Dont get me wrong i love the stock BBS wheels but dont care much for the color, its too close to the color of the car and my personal taste says the wheels should stand out a bit more. So i opted for some nice bronze work wheels :). There is a posibility though that i might get some cheapies for winter and use the BBS for autocross though ;).



Mikeyc said:
Wheel brightener is a great product. I love to use it on REAL dirty wheels. Be careful if it's windy though. Trust me, you don't want to inhale any of this stuff or get it in your eyes.
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now you tell me......lol, yeah i inhaled a bit of it and needless to say its not very tasty.



Joshua312 said:
I've heard this product isnt safe to use on polished aluminum wheels...is this true? or if I dilute it something like 5-1 will it be safe for most wheels? - looks like a great product!! Thanks for the pictures!
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yeah ive heard the same as well. Meguiars says its safe for all wheels but i dont think id trust it on a polished or aluminum wheel. With seeing the cleaning ability id say its pretty strong. It will never see my chrome rims on my truck!!!!



hadboosttroy said:
there is no way i would want to use that on a regular basis!
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Agreed. I can see using it once every 3 or so months on the same wheels. Personally i seal and wax my summer wheels so most likely this will never see them except on the initial cleaning every spring.



again, although Meguiars touts this as a safe for all wheels type of product it seems to have very strong cleaning abiliies i will not use this product on a regular basis. Still a great product though :)
 
Ehh, chrome wheels is where it REALLY excels! You're not going to hurt the plating as your strongest cleaners are usually meant for chrome.
 
SpoiledMan said:
Ehh, chrome wheels is where it REALLY excels! You're not going to hurt the plating as your strongest cleaners are usually meant for chrome.
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did not know that, thanks for the info :)
 
Look good. Always good to see a fellow CGM STi. :)



I as well have used Wheel Brightener on my STi wheels. I cleans them quite well but by no means that it does not need some light scraping and agitation. Hell with the STi brake pads the wheels become like poop every week. I would like to take them off and clean the inside and behind the spokes. I am planning to accumulate a few coats of AIO(3) and SG(3) especially on the inside. Last week I did my wife's Pilot and this week brake dust and dirt pretty much fell off with water and wipping the wheels with my wash mitt.



On the other hand I agree the color is not what I would expect with a steel gray car. My plan is to powdercoat them something darker than the car. (I am leaning towards the anthracite grey OZ Prodrives P1's )



Cheers



Nick
 
Joshua312 said:
I've heard this product isnt safe to use on polished aluminum wheels...is this true? or if I dilute it something like 5-1 will it be safe for most wheels? - looks like a great product!! Thanks for the pictures!
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you are correct...Megs Wheel brightener is a no no for polish aluminum...it will stain or tarnish the look.....but nevertheless Wheel brigthener is the BOMB!!!!!
 
I have to agree, wheel brightner is some great stuff always a good idea to keep some on hand. On those weekends when I'm really bored and decide to clean the inside/backside of my rims I spray on some WB, scrub a little and hose it off.......it eats away break dust.
 
Been using this product for over a year on all types of wheels and never a problem on any type of wheel, may be neccessary to wet them lightly first. Most of the time it isn't even needed to scrub depending on dirt and inner wheel. Great product.
 
I've been using this product weekly for about 6 - 8 weeks. While it is a tremendous value and has extreme cleaning power, it seems to be giving my wheels (2 different cars) a "bleached" or dulled appearance. i don't know how else to describe it, but the appearance of the wheels is changing. I'm not overly-upset as they are the winter wheels in both cases.



I guess I'm gonna have to order a gallon of Griot's to serve weekly duty.



Don't get me wrong, the Meg's is an amazing cleaner for dirty wheels.
 
tom p. said:
I've been using this product weekly for about 6 - 8 weeks. While it is a tremendous value and has extreme cleaning power, it seems to be giving my wheels (2 different cars) a "bleached" or dulled appearance. i don't know how else to describe it, but the appearance of the wheels is changing. I'm not overly-upset as they are the winter wheels in both cases.



I guess I'm gonna have to order a gallon of Griot's to serve weekly duty.



Don't get me wrong, the Meg's is an amazing cleaner for dirty wheels.
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Yeah I think going to Griots is a good idea...WB is usually used for professional detailers or people who have really dirty/baked on crud on their wheels...Usually used once or twice a year...If you seal your wheels after giving them a thorough cleaning or just wash them weekly you shouldn't have to use more than soap and water. However with my Polished Aluminum, soap and water does nothing so I need to get some DP Gel Wheel Cleaner..Don't know if you'll be able to recover the look of your wheels.
 
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