Review: Britemax Iron Max vs. Sonax Full Effect on Opti-Coated wheels

Hi,

After spending much of the summer away, it was time to get my hands dirty again.

The Audi A3 Sportback had not been touched for 2 months and the silver wheels were beginning to look rather dirty with a lot of caked-on brake dust and grime.

So, what to do? I recently ordered a few bits to try and Britemax' Iron Max was among them. I'm a frequent user of iron dissolving products and please note that this is not a review on how effective the Iron Max is in general - this is focused on how it is as a wheel cleaner.
It should also be noted that the wheels received a layer of Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 back in spring, before they were mounted on the car.

Being able to know if something is doing a good or a bad job involves knowing what is good and bad. To give this review some sense would therefore mean to compare it to a good product, which is widely recognized as being just so. So I bought a bottle of the much beloved Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner, which also has iron dissolving properties.

The Sonax FE is pretty much the same as in the US, Europeans just don't need flashy colors

I therefore sprayed the left side of the wheel with Sonax Full Effect and the right side with Britemax Iron Max. There may have been a bit of overlapping, but this is not a lab-test, it's a real-world review.

I did the rear wheels with Sonax on the right side of the car and Britemax on the left side. My findings were the same as my conclusion on how the products did on the photographed wheel.

Procedure on the front wheel:

- Spray products on dry wheel, letting them dwell for around 5 minutes
- Rinse wheel to inspect
- Reapply, let dwell and agitate with brushes
- Rinse and inspect


To be honest, and as the photos in all honesty will show, it was hard to tell the results apart. Which also meant that the Britemax product was doing a good and effective job. The Britemax product was slower at turning purple, but did a good no-touch job anyway.

It did cling well to the wheel, not as well as the Sonax though. Iron Max also foamed up easily from just spraying it on, which could also affect this. I applied around the same amount of the two products, and after the 5 minutes it was clear that the Iron Max was runnier.

The smell is more pleasant than most iron dissolving products I've tried over the years, and also more inviting than the smell of Sonax FE. Although I think that people get too carried away with how the products are presented, I guess it is an important part. It's rare to see a thread on e.g. Iron X without someone stating the obvious.

They didn't remove everything, so reapplication and some agitation was required.

After applying the products again and agitating them - this time on a wet wheel - they again produced equal results and only the tar spots were left behind.

The rear wheels were rinsed off with a PW first to remove as much as possible and therefore use less product. Again, equal results. Some tend to state that they find e.g. Sonax FE to be more effective sprayed directly onto dry wheels, which is probably correct. But when using a PW on a sealed wheel a lot of it will be able to be rinsed off and if I can use less product that's how I like to do it.



Opti-Coat as a wheel protection product?

What I probably miss the most is the slickness and beading produced by polymer and wax based products like Swissvax Autobahn.
Many of the available coatings tend to "lack" slickness which is common in both wax and polymer sealant products, it is as if the dirt builds up quicker and will need more hands-on time to get properly cleaned.

One thing is certain though - the surface repels dirt really well, and even though it needs some agitation to get just right it is nowhere near as time consuming as it is cleaning an unprotected wheel. And it will stay exactly that way for a really long time. Which is exactly why this product is so interesting.

I would not have the time to reapply a conventional wheel wax/sealant on a regular basis, so for me, Opti-Coat is just the right thing.

I think the pictures speak for themselves, and if not, you're welcome to ask or comment.


Kind regards,

Ebbe

 

I always enjoy the product comparisons, thanks!

 

Great review!

 

Thanks for the review. I was suprised when I found out that britemax is a US company (at least they make the products here), but only 1 or 2 places carrying it in the US. Hear a lot about it in DetailingWorld.