Review: Autoglym Acid-Free Wheel Cleaner

**tom p.** · 07-01-2010, 01:33 AM

Review: Autoglym Acid-Free Wheel Cleaner

(I believe this is the commercial version of Autoglymâ€™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 Griotâ€™s and regular P21S. While I understand these wheel cleaners may not provide adequate cleaning power for a production environment (wheels that havenâ€™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, Iâ€™ve put off this review â€˜til I could turn up some truly dirty wheels. Weâ€™ve had this â€™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 Iâ€™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 Iâ€™ll likely return to using the product at 100% strength since I donâ€™t feel like cleaning the wheels a 2nd time.

Application with sprayer:

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

Rinses very easily:

Re-application:

2nd rinse:

I would have spent a bit more time on this if it had been my car. I donâ€™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.

Dry:

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

**Deep Gloss Auto Salon** · 07-01-2010, 01:39 AM

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

**imported_DetailDan** · 07-01-2010, 01:42 AM

Why not use soap and water if you clean your cars once a week?

**Accumulator** · 07-01-2010, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by D&D Auto Detail

Why not use soap and water if you clean your cars once a week?

[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?

**tom p.** · 07-01-2010, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by D&D Auto Detail

Why not use soap and water if you clean your cars once a week?

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

**tom p.** · 07-01-2010, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Tom P.- Thanks for the review, this gonna be your go-to Wheel Cleaner now?

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.

**DM101** · 07-01-2010, 10:53 AM

Thanks Tom !!!!!!!

**tom p.** · 09-23-2011, 09:22 AM

Since wheel cleaners seem to be a hot discussion this week, I thought I`d bump this...

**Deep Gloss Auto Salon** · 09-23-2011, 10:56 AM

Still my favorite wheel cleaner! I love this stuff

**wascallyrabbit** · 09-23-2011, 12:18 PM

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.

**Accumulator** · 09-23-2011, 12:26 PM

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....

**tom p.** · 09-23-2011, 12:28 PM

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.

**iluvspl** · 09-23-2011, 12:50 PM

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.

**tom p.** · 09-23-2011, 12:52 PM

I`ve seen it mentioned a few times, but I could not describe it as `widely available`, iluvspl.

Where do you buy it?

Thanks.

**wascallyrabbit** · 09-23-2011, 01:08 PM

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.