Cost: £15 – £20 per pot.
Date of Review: 3rd April 2017 (sunny warm day).
Background:
I have been looking for something to protect my chrome wheels for a long time now. I don’t want to use any abbrasives on them, i just want to protect and make them shine. I wont use acidic wheel cleaners on the chrome for fear of damaging them. But with the wax coating i may be able to apply a manual clean if I had too. This stuff was on an offer at a car show and I thought I would give it a go. But, is it any good?
The Sales Pitch From Auto Finesse:
The Auto Finesse Mint Rims wheel wax protects your wheels with durable synthetic waxes, keeping them in mint condition.
Mint Rims is created from a blend of high temperature synthetic waxes, and fast flashing solvent carriers. This blend of ingredients helps to seal your wheels from hot, corrosive brake dust and oxidation, while holding up against the rigors of the road. The durability on average is 2-3 months between applications, even on performance vehicles subject to frequent high-speed braking. Mint Rims wheel wax can be used on any wheel finish, including painted, powder-coated, clear coated, anodised, chromed, and bare polished alloys.
Application:
We advise applying Mint Rims before a change in weather. This should be before both summer and winter weather changes. Applying Mint Rims wheel wax before these weather changes will make sure that heavy contaminates such as road salt, brake dust and road grime will not adhere to your freshly cleaned wheels.
Freshly refurbished wheels should not be over looked, either. When your wheels come back from paint, powder coating or polishing is the perfect time to lay down a layer of Mint Rims wheel sealant. A top tip is; whilst the wheels are off the car make sure to wax tighter areas such as behind spokes. This will help preserve your wheels and make sure you they always look factory fresh.
Once applied, the need for dedicated wheel cleaners is greatly reduced, and a pH neutral car shampoo is all that is required to bring back a sparkling fresh finish.
Source: http://shop.autofinesse.co.uk
What You Get:
100ml of wax in a tin pot, that’s it.
Product Description:
A dedicated synthetic wax or your wheels, that smells of mint ice cream.
Instructions:
Application:
The wheel before we started was in great shape even before I got started and I was happy with the shine.
I bucked the idea of a foam applicator as the instructions says to use. Instead I had some foam paint brushes left over from when I used POR15 on my floor pans. These brushes have a flat point and will get into all sorts of small places that the foam pad cant. The applicator of this brush is still foam, but a more direct version for those tight places like the joins of the rims.
I was going to wax the wheels as they were already clean in the bright sunshine, just because it was a nice day.
Use sparingly is the answer; I lightly dragged the tip of the foam brush onto the wax surface and the gorgeous sweet smell of mint ice cream hits you. The wax attached to the foam brush in a very smooth way, no clumps or drags on the wax. The wax has the consistency of room temperature butter to use. I was able to press the tip of the brush into the tight joins where the water can sit and start the pitting process.
The wax was a real pleasure to apply and I was able to apply it very evenly. I allowed the wax to dry a little in the sun and soon hazed over. The thin application of wax can be seen on the rims.
Removing:
Take the microfiber cloth and gently buff it away. I found that if you try to rub the wax into the metal then it becomes clogged into the towel fibres, causing yourself a lot of hard work for nothing. Turn the cloth frequently to buff to a superb shine properly. Below you can see the inner edge where I removed the wax to show the difference.
Results:
Stunning. The shine has been the best I have seen on the wheels to date. The depth of shine was literally like a mirror on the chrome. There was no streaks or powder residue to clear up after either.
The pic above shows the depth of reflection in the chrome. The following couple of pics shows the contrast of the wheels from a distance.
The instructions on the pot say to allow at least 3 hours to cure before layering. If this is the result after the first application then I am excited to see the next layer’s results.
Rating: 10 out 10
Very rarely do I use a product that lives up to all the hype, this product has no hype around it and as I got it at a bargain price at a motor show I wasn’t expecting much at all. But after the first application I was left with the Wow factor.
Ease of use –
This was so easy to apply I thought that I was actually doing it wrong. So simple to use.
Finish –
The finish is pretty amazing and I honestly wasn’t expecting to see what I did with the final shine.
Conclusion:
I love this stuff, i will make this a permanent addition to my detailing bag. There is only one downside that I could see, or should I say smell? oK, it’s not a down side at all, it smells so good I wanted to eat it.