Has anyone used both of these and, if so, which do you prefer? I have used Four Star, which I think is great, except it won't get the infamous BMW dots off. I saw a customer review of Zymol where the customer noted that Zymol was the only product he's tried that gets his BMW wheels clean....

 

Both products are non-acidic which means that they are very safe on all types of wheels but also not as powerful as acidic wheel cleaners.

That said, I DO NOT recommend acidic wheel cleaners as a rule because of the risk of damaging your wheels (the acid can etch the wheels just as badly, if not worse, than your brake dust residue if you're not careful!).

The Zymol wheel cleaner contains some unique chemicals (spearmint extract and coconut oil) which makes it fun to try yet is not any more effective than other wheel cleaners because of these ingredients, IMO. Four Star wheel cleaner tends to be much more effective in most cases and is a favorite of mine for that reason.

Here's the bottom line though...
If you have stubborn spotting on your wheels, even the most powerful wheel cleaner may not fix the problem anyway. Although it's possible that a more powerful wheel cleaner will get rid of the spots, you will likely need to either clay or polish them. Even then, know that you may have some spots that are actually physical pits and cannot be removed, unfortunately. Pitting looks a lot like stubborn brake dust spots or tar or other surface elements. So, it's often difficult to tell which are brake dust spots, tar, etc and which are pits until you've tried all spotting removal techniques....

I would spend some quality time with your wheels by claying and/or polishing them- probably until your arm wants to fall off. For your polish, use Wheel Armour or Swirl. Remember, you can treat most wheels just like you would when fixing your paint... clay and polish can be very effective and are very safe for wheels.

Good luck!

-Heather

 

Thanks for the info. I think these spots propably are pitting since they remain constant, while all the other brake dust, etc. gets removed with each cleaning. I will try Swirl though.

BTW, Heahter, why has the Four Star wheel cleaner been missing from your site?

 

I can't tell you why because you spelled my name funny.

We hope to have select Four Star products, including the wheel cleaner, on the site again by the end of the year. Sorry for the inconvenience!

-Heather