Thanks for the answer. So at least for me it sounds like WS will allow me to skip using my usual wheel cleaner maybe every other time I wash my car. Or maybe it will increase the chances of dust washing right off....which right now never happens with any product I use, and washing down my X-lites takes as much time as it does for me to do the entire rest of the car! So I may consider trying it if and when I make a DP order.

 

I honestly do think it would be worth a try because I think at the least, like you said, it will assist you in your regular routine and possibly allow you to just hose it off. Remember too that if it doesn't work as well as you'd hoped, you can just give me a call (or email or PM) and I'll refund your money for it.

-Heather

 

You'll remember I hate returning things.. and I'm quite proud of my extensive line of car care products, many with the same use as I usually find something better before I finish a bottle! I bought some new shelves at ikea to store it all neatly in my basement....feels more like a Car Care Gallery to me :D Yeah, we're all a little nuts.

 

I know, I know... I do too! (that is, hate returning things AND have a large collection of barely used products)

-Heather

 

I got my roach juice today. i took a sniff and it smells like Wenol...
is this safe on clearcoat right?

I haven't done a taste sample yet, but i think i might pass on this one. lol

 

What's Wenol?
Have you heard from your boss here in Denver? I'll bet he won't beable to get on a flight out until Friday or Saturday at the earliest.

 

wenol is a metal polish for cooking utensiles. i use it for exhaust tips,
etc.

my boss is stuck at the hotel.... i think the hotel's going to run out of
food due to that 150mile radius road shutdown. lol

 

yep, safe on clearcoat! (per Heather)

 

After a long time on the shelf waiting for summer, I finally had the opportunity to test Wheel Shield. You can view the results here.

My reaction is mixed. It IS the first product I've seen that actually repels some dust and dirt. But I still have to wash the wheels normally, so it won't save me any effort, and is still more effort to use than a spray-on rim cleaner + brush. I also took the opportunity to prove zaino on the rims doesn't help either.

 

As always, nice review, Josh.

For me, the value of WheelShield has been that it keeps my wheels "slippery" enough to allow very easy and quick wipe-downs of the visible areas with Slick and a microfiber cloth. I do this once or twice a week between washings (sometimes in dry weather I'll go 3-4 weeks between washes). When used this way, the WheelShield seems to last fine between my 5K mile rotations, when I do a full wheel polish, detail and re-wax (I never use any kind of wheel cleaner for washing - only carwash soap solution and brushes).

I use cheapo bulk packaged microfibers from BJ's Club for this - and they wash up fine, almost all of the black washes out in the wash. They're not nearly as soft as my good DP microfibers - but they're plenty good for wheels IMHO.

It's also worthwhile to note that I have silver 5-spoke bullets (probably the easiest to clean) and I run Hawk Ceramic pads (which produce a very light colored dust that doesn't seem to bake on the wheels like the stock pad dust).

 

Nice write-up Josh (as usual). I'm with you on the Z-16, though the Wizard Black Renew is next in-line. I'm actually currently trying out OG's Black Wow on the tires as a little test.
I also agree that nothing currently available eliminates the need to physically touch the wheels. No hosing off of the break dust . But at least with the Wheel Shield I can use a microfiber and a little QD to wipe the dust right off with no residual . Were you concerned at all about the wheel cleaner removing the applied waxes?
Again nice job - you are still the king of testers!

 

Blimey--if I had those wheels I probably wouldn't be bothering with all this, as cleaning would be so quick and easy... I too replaced my stock pads with others strictly for the dust issues (they would have been completely black in the same amount of time) but until someone makes pads with dust that doesn't stick, they still need to be cleaned. I still think I would stain MFs if I used them on dirty wheels, but maybe a paper towel to just dispose of after. But at that point you are still touching every surface of the rim. Hey..why doesn't someone come up with a Rim Wipes products with disposable pre-treated wipes like we have for glass, interior, kitchen, etc etc...

Maybee-I rinsed first in case the wheel cleaner removed things. But it didn't, as you could see the zaino on the face still beaded. If anything the extreme heat from braking and strong spray from driving in water are much more likely to remove a product.

 

WheelShield + Slick has been a very nice solution for me.

im at a point i might have to get a gallon of that too. lol
slick is so dang slippery.

 

Yeah I'm almost out of my gallon of Slick. It gets used up fast in nice weather!

 

Slick on the wheels is a really nice thing - I think the Slick on top of the WheelShield enhances WheelShield's dust "repelling" effect - cause I can go a whole week in many cases (and LOTSO miles) and I'm just starting to show some dust on the sides of the "spokes"...

 

Paul's a cheater!

 

slick and ws is a very nice combo imho. far better than anything
ive tried so far. (even better than just Hydro).

 

Quiet Chuck - don't tell anybody...

 

So now your suggested wheel cleaning process is to:

1. Wash the wheel completely
2. Rub every inch with wheelshield
3. Rub every inch with slick

...which is now 3x the effort!
Sure it might be less dirty or slightly easier to wash next time.. but unless you get it to the point that any dirt and dust can be removed with simply spraying cleaner and water, you still must wash everything and you are not saving any effort.

I am in no way blasting these products by the way, I'm just trying to look at things from a practical point of view.

 

You certainly would not use Wheel Shield each time you clean your wheels, and Slick would be just for intra-wash cleaning. Where are you getting 3 times the effort?

 

Once every 5K miles - when I have the wheels off to rotate them anyway - I scrub them really well inside and out. If there are any stains, tar, specks, etc. that won't come off otherwise, I rub them down the Scratch-X which does the trick (I could clay them, but I don't...). If there's any curb rash I repair that. Then I use WheelShield. Unless I have to wait for touchup paint to dry, the whole process including the rotation takes well under an hour. So this happens about once every 3-4 months.

Once or twice a week, I QD the easily visible face of the wheel with slick and a microfiber - takes literally 60 seconds per wheel and they look perfect.

Then, when I wash (which might be once every 3-4 weeks in this weather) I spend literally 90 seconds on each wheel with a mitt on the face and a wheel brush through the spokes to get the back, to get the accumulated stuff off the inner/back surfaces of the wheel that I don't QD - only because I need the brush to reach back there - it takes no effort to remove, washes right off with car soap.

To me... this seems pretty darn easy and pretty darn quick... I don't think I'm spending a lot of "extra" time doing any of it...

 

jwardell, practical and OCD don't mix. You got to find your own level of comfort in caring for your car. I, personally, spend as little time and frequency as possible, but still believe in using good products.

 

Classic!

Though I try to live blissfully in the middle... I DO use QD, I DO own a Porter Cable polisher and collection of polishes. But I do NOT QD after and/or before every drive, I do NOT wash weekly unless it needs it, I do NOT do a "full detail" more than a couple of times a year, I use Hydro to stretch out the time between waxings. The wheel regimen just makes sense to me - waxed wheels are easier to clean in my limited experience (at least my specific wheels are). I'm always looking for the quickest, easiest way to keep my car looking better than 97% of the rest of the cars in the lot. But I'm not even CLOSE to trying to be #1... and I don't feel inferior when I see a car that's cleaner than mine - cause I suspect that person spends INSANELY more time on it than I do (like ken... ).

 

Of course, Blimey. Anyone who's car is clearner than mine obviously spends too much time on it! LOL.

 

oh?


yah, on a daily driver i dont usually spend any time on it, just 30min
tops every weekend to wash and hydro, but on my hobby cars i do
spend quite a bit of time and effort.

oh look, a package from DP!