what the frick i caved and ordered p21s cause my gift certificate from Christmas . oh well just another reason to order something from phil.
The Sonax boxes are weird...they have SONAX written on them hundreds of times over, it's like an optical illusion.
so its about same price as p21s wheel gel. somebody needs to do test with several different cleaners, problem is to find as many identical wheels with same damage
The other thing is Sonax while it is fun to watch it work, really is not made for anything that really needs help. Its a fine maintenance cleaner but it really doesn't do a great job on anything that really needs help. And its not dilutable which since it doesn't foam and carry like other cleaners unfortunately its not cost effective to use every or for every day details..
Im confused by your post. you say that it isnt made for anything that really needs it? sonax in my experience has lifted grime and brake dust off of wheels where other ph safe wheel cleaners have failed. Remember it is a non acidic cleaner and for being one it does a hell of a job. I dont suggest using this as a maintenance cleaner unless you dont mind buying a lot of it. If your tight on money I'd say save it for the wheels that are in rough shape and use whatever cheap wheel cleaner you can dilute to clean your wheels during regular maintenance washes. when you say it is not made for anything that really needs help it makes me question if you have tried it yourself. here are some pictures of my wheels after changing the brake pads and not cleaning them for over 2 weeks. Sonax was sprayed on liberally, allowed to sit for a few minutes and then rinsed off with the hose, (no power washer and no agitation) Before Sonax in action After Of course the wheels were not 100% clean because without any agitation there is bound to be some spots uncleaned, but nothing a old microfiber towel can get off later on when drying the wheels.
I have used it, way before the hype when it was "reintroduced" to the detailing population. I suppose another way to put it is this wheel cleaner does a fine job, as good as any other cleaner on dust that has been sitting and not had a chance to react the way the organometallic compounds that have been allowed to sit do. This product while absolutely cool to look at isn't really cost effective compared to even something like car shampoo despite how "reactive" it looks going from green to red. Let's face it, 2 weeks is not a long time with brake dust, and I drive a notoriously "dusty" Brembo'd car, my wheels are not sealed any longer and I literally need nothing more than car shampoo to clean them still after not washing them on a daily spiritly driven car for a minumum 10+ weeks at a time(terrible I know). Point is, many people recommend this wheel cleaner over cost effective cleaners when the situation begs for a cost effective cleaner. In the other really "needy" cases this cleaner is laughed at and people spend 20 bucks and end up needing something more powerful anyway. EDIT: http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum...712-wheel-brightener-results-3.htm#post228873 this begins to touch on the chemical can of worms explaining why something like sonax is situationally appropriate but not a blanket solution
Sonax Wheel Cleaner in 5 Liter is just about here. ETA of June 16, 2010. We will be doing a pre-sale of this item. Once the item is in stock the price will go back up. List: $99.95 Sale Price: $89.95 Save big! Pick this up in refills and bring your cost down. Save even more by using your forum discount code. Now to make this pre-sale even better, order now and we will give you a choice of: 4 Uber "BLACK" Microfiber Towels a value of $13.45! or 1 Sonax Dashboard Cleaner a value of $14.95! NOTE: While supplies last. Once one is out of stock we will ship the other. Click here to take up on the pre-sale of Sonax Wheel Cleaner 5 Liter Refill Pre-Sale will end on June 16, 2010.
I had some astounding results with it. While I think it smells like...well... bad...I am glad I got it. I had wheels which hadn't been cleaned for 3+ months (feb-aprilish). They were awful. Audis are notorious for break dust. Add some salt, tar, mud, pollen, everything else that makes wheels dirty and it was on my wheels. I agitated, as I figured I might as well and I was blown away. My wheels looked like new after using the stuff. My hubs were silver and I didn't even know they were silver. It's impressive.
Getcha, I have to agree with you the Sonax wheel cleaner is not all the hype everyone is making it out to be. I used it last weekend and was rather disappointed in it's performance. My TBSS is notoriously dusty, within two weeks the front wheels are dark grey. Normally I just wash them in original reciepe ONR and they come out spotless. When I used the Sonax I followed the directions to the T including agitation. I had to dry my wheels to put another coat of PB's wheel seal on and when I dried them I noticed there was still a lot of brake dust left on them that was removed by the towel I was drying with. Obviously I was rather disappointed with the Sonax wheel cleaner considering the price and the hype. I was hoping that this product would be my go to product on really bad wheels but I am going to stick to PB's spray and rinse even though it is a acid based cleaner and ONR for just maintance wheel washes.
hmmm did you use a pressure washer as well? if you are cleaning them with ONR are they even that bad?
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner on a 2009 911 CS About 1 week of brake dust, no brushing at all. Before Sonax in action After Video <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/764t1FEBxlY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/764t1FEBxlY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Quick Video
I was surprised to see an email regarding this delivery. I knew you mentioned June 14th somewhere ... thanks for making this happen!!!