Doubting Eco Wheel Cleaner

[galaxy]

How are you guys using eco wheel cleaner and what results are you seeing?  What is it you’d say it actually does around here?  It does not have the iron removing capabilities so after a couple uses, im struggling to see the result/benefits/necessity. 

 

I cleaned a car car for a friend a while back that’s not very well taken care of. Typical half *** job on cleaning the wheels (barrels never get touched), a pound of brake dust, etc, etc.  I used eco on one wheel and nothing on another wheel.  If placed in a corner at gun point, I’d say the ewc wheel mmaaaaaaayyyyyybbbeeeee lifted some of the brake dust off. Either way, that wheel still required a mitt wash. Washing with the mitt with soap and water was no easier than the other wheel that didn’t get any ewc, and when finished they both looked the same.  I did not see where it aided my process in any manner. 

 

I used it on my garage queen coated wheels after a week of driving (coated wheels) and the results were the same; I saw zero benefits from using the product. 

[RayS]

2 hours ago, galaxy said:

How are you guys using eco wheel cleaner and what results are you seeing?  What is it you’d say it actually does around here?  It does not have the iron removing capabilities so after a couple uses, im struggling to see the result/benefits/necessity. 

 

I cleaned a car car for a friend a while back that’s not very well taken care of. Typical half *** job on cleaning the wheels (barrels never get touched), a pound of brake dust, etc, etc.  I used eco on one wheel and nothing on another wheel.  If placed in a corner at gun point, I’d say the ewc wheel mmaaaaaaayyyyyybbbeeeee lifted some of the brake dust off. Either way, that wheel still required a mitt wash. Washing with the mitt with soap and water was no easier than the other wheel that didn’t get any ewc, and when finished they both looked the same.  I did not see where it aided my process in any manner. 

 

I used it on my garage queen coated wheels after a week of driving (coated wheels) and the results were the same; I saw zero benefits from using the product. 

I use Eco for the wheels that are just dirty, are cleaned regularly and have something on them like Ceramic Boost.   For whiles like you are describing, I use Wheel Cleaner to get all the crud off and sometimes it takes two or three rounds.  I deal will some very nasty vehicle, including some that have never been washed - except when it rains - and those do take some work.  Once a vehicle is maintained the Eco works fine and is much nicer to deal with.

 

Even maintained vehicles that produce a lot of brake dust may need Wheel Cleaner if there is too much time between washings.  My recommendation is to keep both in your arsenal and use Eco as much as possible and WC when needed.  

[pirahnah3]

I use the Eco on my ceramic coated wheels, the rest I dont bother, I go straight for wheel cleaner. Only time that might be untrue is my jeep...but its a rock hound and well....I kinda dont care how clean they stay lol. 

[galaxy]

I think you guys aren’t getting my question. I know people use it; got that.  My question is what does it do exactly?  I’ve seen nothing. 

[BrianT]

If the rims and barrels are cleaned every wash and the vehicle is washed at least once a month, Eco is fine.  If the vehicle doesn't have the regiment, Eco isn't gone do much, you've got to break out the regular wheel cleaner.

[pirahnah3]

16 hours ago, galaxy said:

I think you guys aren’t getting my question. I know people use it; got that.  My question is what does it do exactly?  I’ve seen nothing. 

 

I think that the answers are there above, reading thru peoples coments on it. It works great for lighter cleaning applications but if you have a dirtier or heavily soiled wheel it wont handle it. The trade off is that it is a much more environmentaly friendly product that can be used more regularly and used on wheels that require a lighter touch or are treated so that you do not need to use a heavy chemical. 

[joelilton23]

I use it on delicate wheels that I don't want to use harsh chemicals on. They aren't ever very dirty and the Eco WC is great for removing and lubricating when running a wash mitt over them. I agree that it's not great on filthy wheels, but I don't think that's what it's designed for. 

[imatt27]

I use eco wheel on my ceramic coated wheels. And wheel cleaner for my daily. I don’t want to use a stronger formula on my nice wheels because I don’t want to chance ruining the finish. And it barley gets driven. I’m willing to use soap and water if needed to clean them. 

[red94chev]

On 10/6/2018 at 7:41 PM, galaxy said:

I think you guys aren’t getting my question. I know people use it; got that.  My question is what does it do exactly?  I’ve seen nothing. 

If your wheels are maintained regularly and you don't have some kind of crazy dusty pads, the Eco wheel cleaner is basically just a lubricant for your brushes or whatever you use, it's not designed to be touchless.  If you put shampoo in your wheel bucket, you get nearly the same results.

 

In the situation you had with your friends car, it just wasn't the right product.  It's one of those things that's more of a luxury item.

[CoonHound693]

I think the eco wheel cleaner is great.   Spray on and very little agitation and spray off.  I bought a gallon after using it one time.   I would never expect any spray on wheel cleaner to do all of the work without a little agitation.  

[@Dmax_HD]

It’s a great alternative and a must for different types of wheel surfaces/coatings. 

[galaxy]

On 10/8/2018 at 7:10 AM, red94chev said:

If your wheels are maintained regularly and you don't have some kind of crazy dusty pads, the Eco wheel cleaner is basically just a lubricant for your brushes or whatever you use, it's not designed to be touchless.  If you put shampoo in your wheel bucket, you get nearly the same results.

 

In the situation you had with your friends car, it just wasn't the right product.  It's one of those things that's more of a luxury item.

Thanks Jake! 

 

Guess I’m 0-2 on this product though. Ran a second test yesterday. This time on my truck with coated wheels that had been Boosted not too long ago. Truck had been DD’d for a week with no touch up jobs and driven in the rain several times.  Did one side of the truck with the eco wheel cleaner and nothing on the other.  Again, I saw nothing the wheel cleaner accomplished.  Oh well. 

[tmccoy2236]

For me personally, I'm not a fan of the Eco Wheel Cleaner.  I'm all for being as Eco friendly as I can with the products I use, but in the end I just like the results of the original that much better.  (just for perspective, my daily driver wheels are not coated nor maintained very often between washes which average between 10-14 days)

[TheWolf]

13 hours ago, galaxy said:

Thanks Jake! 

 

Guess I’m 0-2 on this product though. Ran a second test yesterday. This time on my truck with coated wheels that had been Boosted not too long ago. Truck had been DD’d for a week with no touch up jobs and driven in the rain several times.  Did one side of the truck with the eco wheel cleaner and nothing on the other.  Again, I saw nothing the wheel cleaner accomplished.  Oh well. 

 

Like others stated above, the Eco Wheel Cleaner is for light cleaning, and is not a "spray-and-rinse" product.

 

I am not following what you are saying about seeing "nothing the wheel cleaner accomplished".  If both your test wheels ended up clean, what difference were you expecting to see?

 

Think of it this way: most of the products are intended to make cleaning safer, not necessarily faster.  Making cleaning faster, like a "no-touch" wheel cleaner, means using harsh chemicals, and those harsh chemicals are not good for the finishes on your car or wheels, not good for the environment, and not good for your health.

 

As an analogy, consider a test for Car Wash Shampoo in which you used the sudsy shampoo mixture to wash half your car with a mitt, then just used the mitt with plain water on the other half of the car.  Odds are both sides would be clean, but that does not mean the Car Wash Shampoo did nothing.  It added lubrication to make the wash safer, and we all know that using a mitt with just plain water to wash would cause damage to the paint.

 

In comparing washing one wheel with Eco Wheel Cleaner, and the other with just Car Wash Shampoo, I would not expect any difference.  Its just two different ways to add some lubrication while washing.  For the first method you are spraying the product on the wheel, and in the second method you are adding the product from your sudsy bucket onto the wheel.  Some people prefer the spraying of the product and others prefer using a wash bucket and mitt.

 

[@Dmax_HD]

@TheWolf Great write up on EWC, thanks for sharing!