Review: Griots Heavy Duty wheel cleaner
 

So after using sonax I found griots HD wheel cleaner.

As sonax is always sold out of the 5 litre bottle in Canada, I went down to Tacoma to pick up Griots HD wheel cleaner.

It has the same iron lifting effect as Sonax.

It is also cheaper. $50 usd for 1 gallon 3.78 litre. $14/ litre + driving. Gas about $40 and 5 hours round trip. I brought back 3 gallons and accessories so not just a trip for wheel cleaner and I also went shopping around Seattle.

last time I bought sonax it was $91cad for 5 litre $18/ litre + shipping

For they way I wash my wheels I find that Griots works just as well.
I never rely on the wheel cleaner to take off all the brake dust, so I always scrub.

Observations.
Sonax does have better cling and dwell time.
Sonax smells acidic and lemony (newer formula)

Griots doesnt have that much dwell time. not as viscous as sonax.
Smells kinda like red licorice candy initially then kinda smells like new plastic smell.

Before
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d...4/DSC_9820.JPG

Inital application
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...4/DSC_9822.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N...4/DSC_9827.JPG

Light scrubbing
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...4/DSC_9839.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M...4/DSC_9844.JPG

Let it dwell after scrubbing
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...4/DSC_9846.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...4/DSC_9848.JPG

Rinsed
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o...4/DSC_9849.JPG
]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...4/DSC_9850.JPG

Link to album also cleaned x5 rims.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1117367...eat=directlink

Oh other things to Note.
The Griots sprayers are cheap and they work well
The foamer is useful for APC's and car soaps for spot cleaning.
The regular sprayer can even mist the p21s gel wheel cleaner.
empty 35oz bottles are $2

Thanks for the review, I've been wanting to try a wheel cleaner that turns purple haha. Wheels turned out pretty glossy on the X5 too, great stuff!

I still have like 3L of the AG to go through still, but so tempted to buy a product like Sonus.

try it on a white car to see if it does the same as IronX.

Tacoma is a little far, they have a retail store there?

I have Iron x soap gel for my paint.

I would not try a wheel cleaning on my paint.

also not going to spending more money on ironx spray for my wheels when i can get a compareable product in bulk and cheaper.

Griots main store in in tacoma.

Check out their CAD online vendor they have 1 gallon in stock now and free ship for 150$ orders

As far as pricing goes, the most cost effective way to do your wheels is use a cleaner like AG CWC and then if any stubborn spots remain, get them with IRONX. AG CWC is $50 for 5L and you can dilute it 1:1 with water if you wash you car regularly. Thats 10L for $50. Iron X is $17 for 16oz and will last a long time if you are only using it to touch up stubborn areas. The Griots and Sonax cleaners aren't even't close when it comes to price per use.

I saw how cheap AG is now.
I've used their wheel cleaner in the past, the product was to runny for my liking and didn't dwell on the vertical surfaces as long as i would have liked.

that's why i went to p21s gel. But sonax and Griots tho less viscous still has a nice dwell time.

Also to spend the time using 2 products, when i don't feel like spending the time to wash wheels would put me off cleaning the car.

Ive just decided to stick with a wheel cleaner that has an iron lifting agent in it.

my first test was with p21s gel, then cleaned it with Sonax.
that showed me how much iron deposits where not touched by a regular wheel cleaner.

so i might as well get it all done in one shot every time.

im not to picky about cost, but it was nice that the griots cleaner did come in at a lower price point.

ill save my ironx soap gel for my pre clay cleanings.

I just used some Griots on a car here and it did work well although the wheels weren't that bad. Need to try it on some dirty wheels.