SONAX Wheel Cleaner Full Effect (230200) | Non-Acid Rim Cleaner | Color Changing Wheel Cleaner | Brake Dust Cleaner | Non-Acid Iron Remover | (500 ml or 16.9 fl. oz.)

I bought this on a whim. Admittedly I was quite skeptical and did not take before pictures to compare. I wished I had because the differences were quite drastic. I just expected this to be a cleaner spray like what you’d use to clean the dining table. Instead it really is a no-scrub cleaning solution. The key is to follow the directions. The directions says you should apply to dry wheels, not wet ones. I think a lot of people who complain about its effectiveness didn’t read or follow the directions.I was expecting to spray and then scrub with a brush but after spraying and waiting 5 min, I literally just rinsed it with a hose and most of the debris came off. It’s NOT just a spray cleaner. It has some sort of chemical reaction that dissolves iron and other dirt. The instructions says it turns purple when it comes in contact with iron and it really does. On the brake rotors and pad where there are lots of iron filings, it turned purple immediately. On the aluminum alloy rims, it only turned purple on dirt stains I had a few obvious stain splotches on my wheels and after spraying them, they turned a deep purple. After 5 min I rinsed it away and they were gone without any scrubbing!The only small issue I see with this is that the bottle is quite small. It is much smaller than your normal spray cleaners. I used this on both my cars and it’s was 2/3 done. I probably have a total of 3-4 car applications in total. For about $16 it’s a bit pricey, but at least it works. Better being pricey and working, than being pricey and does nothing!

Works great

Worked pretty well to remove brake dust and built up grime on my girlfriend's alloy, clear-coated wheels on her 2012 Fusion. These had been pretty well neglected by the two of us for about 60,000 miles. Aside from regular car washes, they hadn't had any special attention for cleaning or waxing/sealing, so they had some minor pitting going on in the corners where the build-up was the worst. It didn't completely take care of everything, but I think the wheels were past the "just clean 'em up" phase and need some sanding, etc. It got rid of the majority of the brake dust and yellow/brown haze on the wheels, leaving behind some of that in the pits in the corners of the spokes, which almost just highlights those trouble areas. The clear coat is scratched and looks like it's coming up on a few spots, so I'll end up having to have those repaired to get them back to normal.My painted, machined face, clear-coated wheels, though, with about 20,000 miles on them, regular washes, never waxed/sealed to my knowledge, came out pretty nice. Had a slight build-up on them in the corners, but as advertised, that stuff goes from neon yellow to red/dark brown as it works, and you can just rinse it off. I opted for a soft-bristled wheel brush to agitate it a bit more, and I felt like I had to use a lot of product to keep all of the wheels wet while I worked on them.Unfortunately I had to take care of them at a local car wash with a $3.50 minimum to activate the hose, so I tried to tackle all 4 wheels at once, which wasn't easy. It takes some time for this Full Effect to start working and if it's breezy out, it can dry up sort of fast. Still, it did a pretty good job. I also bought some Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus, which worked much faster, and seemed to work a lot better, on my mom's Mazda 6 wheels. She was amazed with the results, and so was I. I'll need to find a small wheel woolie or something to use to attack the corners of the spokes a little better on all of them next time, but other than that, I definitely recommend this. The Sonax WC Plus is probably my go-to for the future, but this also works pretty well.

you don’t even really have to scrub but this is 8 months of dust caked on. it took me about 5 minutes to get it this clean because i had to scrub a little bit :)) only downside is the bottle gets used very quickly

This is by far the best wheel cleaner I've ever used. I've used both Meguiar's, Mother's and Chemical Guys. They all worked decently, I tend to prefer the Meguiar's Hot Rims over the rest; however it doesn't come close to how well this works. With 4 piston brembo calipers and hawk hps pads, my Evo's brakes spew out a TON of dust onto my wheels. It's a constant battle to keep them somewhat clean. If I let it sit on there too long and gather more road gunk, it was impossible to get off with Meguiar's (or anything else) alone, and would require scrubbing (sometimes with a harsh/dangerously hard bristled) brush. Not anymore! This cuts through caked on rims even after a couple months of horrible neglect.You might need to use two passes with it, depending how hard caked the gunk is. My advise is:-First spray the wheels with my meguiars soap and pressure wash them to get off as much as possible before applying this.-If you have a light cleaning (usually less then a couple weeks for my car), then you can get by with spraying two rims at a time. If you're going to have to scrub some of the gunked on mess it's probably best to do one rim at a time. Spray your rim(s) generously getting in your inner rim if possible, your lug nuts, etc.-The liquid will come out kind of greenish and then turn an orangish/redish as it breaks down brake dust. It has a very strong (like cat urine) odor that you just have to get used to.-Let it sit on there for a couple of minutes (usually don't want more then 5). You don't want it to dry on the rim, although having accidentally done this - it washed off no problem.-If it's a light cleaning you can probably get by with just pressure washing it clean at this point, although to make sure you get all parts of the rims I usually go over it with Griot's Garage 15704 Micro Fiber Wheel Wand, (Pack of 2). If the caked on mess requires harder scrubbing I'd recommend something like autogeek's "speed master wheel brush".This bottle usually last about 16 individual wheel cleanings. It makes it the most expensive option out there, but by far the best and safest! It is acid free and ph balanced, and is specifically designed to be safe on all rims. I use this on BBS, Enkei, and WedsSports rims that cost over 1000-1500/per, all the time. I have no worry that this can in any way danger them. A lot of other products out there can be a hit or miss, and especially if you have refinished rims it can be very risky. My BBS are refinished and so far this has not worn it off or damaged them whatsoever. If you're looking for a bit cheaper solution, there's Sonax 230500 Yellow Wheel Cleaner to use as a refill. You can also checkout autogeek, depending on their sales, coupon codes, and shipping situation - you can usually find a better deal there.