A few tips for using Sonax wheel cleaner

I have been using Sonax for a few months now and I'm happy to say (as is most everyone who has used it) that it lived up to its hype. It really is an excellent wheel cleaner!

A few tips I thought I would share about the product:

1) Apply it to the wheel dry. This is how its supposed to be used and although it may seem counterproductive, so far it has worked out great for me and its a nice time saver. Just wait for the wheels to cool down full and just spray it on and let it sit. No need to pre-rinse!

(Applied dry to the wheel, agitated, rinsed off and then rinsed down the tires and wheel wells and began cleaning those areas after)



2) For those who spray on and just rinse off. Sonax is fine to use as a spray on a rinse of product if the wheels arent too dirty or too intricate in design. The one thing I have found however is that just a slight residue or film can be left behind on the wheel after rinsing off. No a problem just be sure to do a quick wipedown on them later... if your polishing or sealing than you will cover that step anyway.

3) Have a bucket with brushes filled with soap and water. Since your working this product without rinsing the wheel first I prefer to have my bucket of wheel brushes filled up with car soap and water, this keeps the brushes moving fluidly inside the barrels and just makes the cleaning process a bit easier to complete I find.

4) Blood red! I asked Jason at Sonax about the maximum time I should let the wheel gel sit and he said no more than 10-12 minutes. So far there has not been a wheel I have cleaned which needed more dwell time. Also let the gel turn dark red before you begin to agitate or rinse off... when its a deep dark red you know the gel has done all its cleaning!

5) Rotor rust. For some reason Sonax seems to leave a thicker coat of I guess what you would call rotor rust on the brakes after your done cleaning. Most every wheel cleaner does this to some degree. I always will move the car up and down my driveway several times to make sure all the brakes discs are stripped clean of that thin rust film... doing this AFTER you polish and seal a wheel is annoying because the second you go to move the car bits of that orange rust will run right down into the inner barrels, if it dries it can sometimes be a pain to get off. Just get it all off while the wheels are wet and you wont have a problem later on.

Just some thoughts I wanted to share, feel free to add your own tips or tricks if ya got any.

 

Nice post Dave. Never thought about moving the vehicle to rid the rotor dust. Smart move!!

 

great tips!!! i do the same thing i let it site for 10 to 15 min. then adgitate with my sw brush and boars hair brush . then rinse... works great..

 

Great post..Now if you could just do something about that smell!!! :yikes:

 

sweet. now i just need to jump on the sonax train. haven't used it yet.

how strong of a cleaner is it . . . . . . what would you compare it to strength wise?

 

Nice post, thank you!

 

IIRC they are supposed to be working on that.

 

Much stronger than P21s... its pretty intense yet extremely safe, what a fantastic combo!

 

Thanks for the pointers Dave.

 

if you wait 10 mins, do you apply to the next wheel while you wait that 10 min?

 

Thanks for the tips on Sonax.
Just thinking out loud here, but it sounds like Sonax is similar in its mechanism of cleaning to say Iron Cut, which can be used on painted surfaces. Would Sonax work on paint to remove iron/metal bits? Has anyone tried this?

 

This is what I usually do:

- spray down the first wheel I am going to clean
- whiles its sitting I fill up my bucket, add soap, put on gloves etc
- then spray down wheel #2 just as I begin cleaning wheel #1
- when wheel #1 is all cleaned, that is wheels, tires etc. than wheel #2 is all ready to go

Never want to just sit and wait for wheel cleaner to work, always have the next one ready to go

 

ive heard this can be done but i havent tried it YET. i dont see why it wouldnt be safe. most wheels are painted and cleared, so i dont see why it wouldnt be safe on paint.

 

Seems logical enough Billy but my concern would be causing chemical "runs" in the clear.

Ive had this happen to me a few times back when I started detailing and did not have a foam gun.

I was using APC diluted 5:1 for a pre-soak on a black car... if you let it sit just a few seconds to long the cleaners in the product can actually leave permanent streaks or runs in the clear coat... and if sun bakes in for any amount of time it becomes a real problem. Luckily this can be polished out but from then on I pretty much stopped doing APC type pre-soaks because of a few incidents where that occurred.

Now if you use APC 5:1 on wheels (anything but chrome or uncoated) it will never cause a problem... so sure Sonax is completely safe on wheels but I have a feeling it would do some damage to paint.

 

how did you keep your arm so clean? when I use the ez brush, my arm and face will get brake dust.
is this product more powerful than AutoGlym's CWC or Brown Royal?

 

that is my only concern as well dave, as ive had that problem a couple times myself back in my early days with APCs. the only reason i would even remotely suggest that something like this MIGHT be safe without having tried it myself is because i've heard from a few reputable guys that it works will no ill effects. i have a white audi im working on next weekend that has a trunklid and license plate recess riddled with rail dust, so im going to try the sonax there on an inconspicuous area. im thinking i might wet the area first though, just to be on the safe side. ill be sure to include the results in my write-up. i wish i had some iron cut though. got any you want to part with by chance?

 

Thanks for sharing Dave!

 

i wont buy it till the change the smell. which there working on from what ive heard. changing to a lemon sent !!!

 

Great tips Dave !!!

 

I have used both Sonax and Iron Cut several times. They work in a similar way, but their biggest difference is their consistency. Iron Cut is watery, which is works well to cover body panels. Sonax's thick consistency works wonders for rims.

BTW, don't bother using IC on rims. It's so watery that you'll end up using a lot of product just to get the same results that you would get from a single Sonax application.

I have tried Sonax on paint and do not recommend it. It left a slight haze similar to APC drying up on a panel. I did a test area on a vehicle that I polished anyways.