Cost: £12 approx
Date of Review: 9 July 2017
The Sales Pitch from Meguiar’s:
With Meguiar’s Hot Rims All Wheel & Tyre Cleaner, you’ll actually see the grime lift off your wheels and tyres! Our Xtreme Cling™ foam is designed to cling vigorously to vertical surfaces and dissolves all contaminants from your wheels leaving a brilliant shine! Safe for all clear-coated wheels.
Source: http://www.meguiars.co.uk/shop/hot-rims-wheel-tyre-cleaner
What You Get:
710ml Spray bottle
Product Description:
Alloy wheel cleaner which is safe even on clear coated wheels.
Instructions:
First of all you need to rinse the wheel all over. From a distance of 6 – 8″ away spray the entire wheel and wait 15 seconds before rinsing again. The instructions do say to agitate with a brush for heavy dirt build up. Then dry the wheel.
Application:
The wheels were quite dirty with a build up in the corner of the spokes of brake dust. Let’s start with the bottle which is the usual ergonomic style from Megs. The trigger is quality with no leaks down the hand after a squirt or two. The nozzle is child proof almost adult proof, but once you get the hang of it quite ingenious. Rinse the wheel first, but I used a jet wash. The spray pattern is a good spread without the need to hold at silly angles to get it into all the tight places.
As soon as this sprays on it gets to work. After a few seconds the liquid runs down the tyres in a dirty waterfall. The smell is not bad, but you can tell there are chemicals at work here.
Removing:
Dead simple with a sponge, hose pipe or jet wash as I was using. After rinsing thoroughly dry wheel.
Results:
The first attempt on its own removed most of the brake dust and all the grime on the wheel. But, the heavy build up would need a different approach. By the time I got to the last wheel I had it sorted. The technique is to apply remove, rinse and repeat. The second application I used a wheel clean brush by Autoglym which has stiff nylon bristles and works brilliantly.
The second spray for heavy build up I sprayed counted to fifteen again, then worked the product into the corners where the heavy build up was. The second attempt now had removed the heavy brake dust no problems at all.
Rating: 8 out 10
I was trying to work out if this was a nine or a ten. The reason I settled on eight was the fact it needed two applications to become spotless from a heavy build up. Yes the product clings like it says and the dirt runs off almost straight away, (quite impressive to see). For a normal soiled wheel I suspect this could get the full marks. But, the agitation and the second application cost a point each on my tests.
Conclusion:
This is by far the best alloy wheel cleaner I have used to date. Yes I have been very harsh with the “8” score I admit. Like I said on not to heavy pitted wheels it could get the full “10”.
The brush is highly recommended to get into the hard to reach heavily built up areas. It saves using rags or your fingers to do it. I don’t recommend the fingers if I have a cut, trust me!
I will not use this on the chrome wheels. It’s the wrong product and would damage the finish as this is a strong active agent product. This works on my sprayed and clear coated wheels perfectly.
I found after the brake dust has been cleaned a little spray on the tyre and wipe round will remove the dirty run marks on the tyres. Then rinse again before the actual drying step.
Would I recommend it? Yes. But get the brush.
Would I buy it again? Yes. Definitely.