Cleaned wheels/wheel wells; how much APC should I be using?

[mattpiper]

Just got finished with my first Adam's-style wheel and wheel well cleaning.

 

One wheel at a time, I...

1. Blasted off the dirt with high pressure water

2. Sprayed the wheel and caliper down with GWC

3. Sprayed the wheel well and tire down with APC

4. Wetted my fender brush and scrubbed wheel wells and tires

5. Wetted my wheel brush and gently cleaned the wheels

6. Used the power stick on the barrels

7. Used the lug brush on the lugs, caliper, and valve stem

8. Rinsed wheel/tire/wheel well thoroughly

9. Dried with leaf blower

 

After all this, I dressed the tires with SVRT and used the Undercarriage Spray in the wheel wells. The wheels and wheel wells have never looked better, but...

 

After cleaning all four wheels/wheel wells on my Challenger, I had used nearly 1/3 of my 36oz APC. Does that seem excessive? It has the foaming spray head, which worked (created foam), but seemed to go through an inordinate amount of product. I did not feel I went crazy with the APC, it just took a lot of product to get on all the surfaces...

 

Would I be better off with a non-foaming spray head? Should I dilute it? 10-12oz of cleaner per wheel cleaning seems excessive.

[ArmyAcadia09]

i use lots regardless...lol. I like the foaming sprayers, so much so one used half a bottle of 16 oz by itself just sitting in my garage LOL

[Wilfong9]

I've seen some household product spray nozzles that are selectable to both foam or direct jet. Just high jack one of those from the wife (assuming the thread pattern is the same or pour the APC in that bottle) and solve both problems with one. I know my girlfriend would never know what happened!!! She probable wouldn't even catch that she is using wheel cleaner to get the stains out of the clothes! Or Undercarriage Cleaner for the dishes!!

[MichiganSRT8]

foaming head works great for me, more product use is what ive noticed obviously. that or im just pulling the trigger more, either way diluted is the way i get it done, and the fender brush ftw!

[mc2hill]

I would like to try both to see what works better. How much is the foaming head?

 

You can order an 36 oz. empty bottle with one - Adam's Polishes - Adam's Empty 36 oz. Bottle with Sprayer or a 3 pack of them - Adam's Polishes - Adam's Foaming Sprayer 3 Pack.

[Mels SS]

I would like to try both to see what works better. How much is the foaming head?

[mattpiper]

I had them ship me out two regular spray heads for the 36oz bottles with my last order. I still see the product working just fine without the foam. And I'm using well less than half of what I did with the foaming head.

 

To each their own. Regular sprayers for me, please.

[Redbeard]

Thanks guys. I guess I never thought much about it since I tend to use a brush.

[THE Mook]

If you shoot side by side the APC or GWC with a normal sprayer and a foaming sprayer, onto the same wheel/tire, you will see the product actually "working" the dirt and run downward. Like Dave mentioned, the product sticks better this way, thus making cleaning easier and more effective!

[DaveVY]

My perspective is that the foam provides more 'cling', it won't run down the tire like a liquid will. Hence the cleaner will have more time directly on the dirt that you are trying to loosen and remove.

 

[Redbeard]

What's the advantage (or preferred application) of a foaming sprayer? Regardless of the amount of product used per pull, why would you want the foam rather than regular spray?

[chrys7]

Ditto I put the regular sprayers on my 36oz Bottles.

[DaveVY]

I agree about the foaming sprayer having too small of a pattern and as a result it uses more product because it requires more squeezes to cover the tire or wheel well.

 

When the foaming sprayers came out I ordered a three pack. Used the foaming sprayer a couple times then went back to the normal sprayer due to how much product I ended up using. I found the foaming sprayer to be definitely cool, but I ended up using more than twice the amount of product for the same result.

 

[Chobbs]

I have to agree with the folks that say the foaming sprayer uses a lot more product. I got the foaming sprayer on the GWC jumbo bottle. I've done my wheels twice and the bottle is empty. I for one, prefer the sprayer over the foaming nozzle.

 

 

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[mattpiper]

Well, it foams. I think, to do it again, I'd request regular spray heads...

[MichiganSRT8]

i rocked through a foaming sprayer too, but i dont care, lots of gallon refills left. If it works like i want it to then i dont care, foaming sprayers work great for me.

[1FAST SS]

How do you guys like the foaming sprayer?

[mattpiper]

I think, like Anthony said, it's the spread of the product. The regular spray covers a much wider area than the foam, so you have to use more product to cover the same area.

[Team Adam's]

I haven't done any comparisons, but in theory... per pull a foaming sprayer is putting product AND air into play where as a standard sprayer is just product. I also only use the foamer on my 36oz and standard on my 16oz so its hard to do a direct comparison until I go to the same sized bottles.

[Reichler]

The volume per pull is about the same foaming vs. non foaming, in anything the foaming uses less as its pulling some air versus just product.

 

i'd say I can burn roughly 1/4 of a bottle if I'm dealing with some pretty heavy grime.

 

You sure about that Dylan? I worked on my father's 04 GTO last weekend and was beyond shocked when I was almost out of a full 16oz bottle of APC by the time I hit his 3rd wheel. My jaw dropped when I saw how much product I was using per pull. Using a regular sprayer, I would only use roughly 1/4 a bottle on all 4 wheels.

 

Zero complaints here but my experience is that you use much more product per pull utilizing a foaming sprayer.

[mattpiper]

The foaming sprayer spread is quite small. I do think the regular spray head covers a larger area.

 

I think Anthony may have solved it here...

[Anthony Onorato]

Funny that u mentioned that, bc I was thinking the same thing when I detailed my car last weekend. It was my frist time using the foam sprayer and I went thru 1/3 of the bottle as well.

 

Is it possible that maybe the Foam Sprayers have a smaller "spread" of spray? Maybe you need more sprays to cover the same amount of area?

 

I'm just throwing ideas out there to maybe make some sense of it. I haven't tried the foaming sprayers yet so I can't really help.

[BlueGenCoupe]

After cleaning all four wheels/wheel wells on my Challenger, I had used nearly 1/3 of my 36oz APC. Does that seem excessive? It has the foaming spray head, which worked (created foam), but seemed to go through an inordinate amount of product. I did not feel I went crazy with the APC, it just took a lot of product to get on all the surfaces....

 

Funny that u mentioned that, bc I was thinking the same thing when I detailed my car last weekend. It was my frist time using the foam sprayer and I went thru 1/3 of the bottle as well.

[camaro2ssblack]

Yes definitely dilute APC at least 2:1 unless you never wash your car and need full strength.

[Team Adam's]

The volume per pull is about the same foaming vs. non foaming, in anything the foaming uses less as its pulling some air versus just product.

 

You can do what Darryl suggests and use it diluted for lighter cleaning. I keep 2 bottles ready at all times 50/50 and full strength. I use the 50% mix most of the time unless the rubber of fenders get really nasty and need more 'punch' from the cleaner.

 

1/3rd of a bottle in one job... that might a tad on the high side, but not a ton... i'd say I can burn roughly 1/4 of a bottle if I'm dealing with some pretty heavy grime.

[Odds and Ends]

I use a diluted solution of APC for tires and wheel wells....as much as 4:1 or 5:1 and you're still fine. Full strength is good for really greasy stuff.

 

Put a foaming sprayer on the Green Wheel Cleaner too!

 

- Darryl