wheel cleaning made easy

I tried a product called Rejex after reading an article in Car & Driver. It is a aerospace polymer coating that is supposed to make wheel cleaning much easier once it has been applied. I tried it on my wife's car and it is fairly amazing -- 2 months of caked on brake dust comes off easily with soap and water. It is applied just like wax, but you need to let it cure for at least 12 hours after wiping off the residue before driving the car. The website is: http://www.corrosionx.com/rejex.html (I have no affiliation, just impressed with it).

 

Funny that you mention Liquitech because I had their Finish First product on wheels before Rejex and it really didn't do much to keep the dirt off. I really don't let my wheels get that dirty, but my wife's car was to the point where the wheels were black and the dirt came right off with soap and water. This stuff really does work.

 

I did use the cleaner first, I'm pretty sure it stuck and I think finish first is better than nothing, but the Rejex really repels better. Even with the Rejex it won't hose off, but the dirt comes off very easily. The difference might be that my wife car goes a lot longer between cleanings so that the wheel dust is pretty baked on. In this situation, the difference is a lot more apparent. If you wash it more often, there may be less of a difference. On my car, the wheels weren't that hard to clean before Rejex because I never let them get really dirty, but it is easier now with the Rejex. On the body, I use Finish First on my wife's car and I use PS21 wax better on mine - I prefer the look of the wax in general, but the polymers last longer.

 

My goal was to avoid the wheel cleaners because they are pretty harsh, though I've never seen any damage from using them. Previous to Rejex, I always needed wheel cleaning solution on my wife's car, now I just need soap and water. I did try a couple wheel cleaners that contain a repellent -- Prestone and Dupont (with Teflon). Both are supposed to make it easier clean the next time, but I didn't see any significant difference. With the Prestone cleaner, you spray it on and rinse as with any cleaner, then you spray it again and only lightly rinse with water to leave on a protective coating. Sounds promising, but it doesn't seem to do much. I also tried P21S wheel cleaner, which is highly regarded, but I didn't think too much of it (I think it's milder than other wheel cleaners, but it doesn't seem to clean as well -- I love the P21S wax, but not the wheel cleaner). Eagle seems to work best of the wheel cleaners I've tried. Anyway, I've been around the block with various solutions and this Rejex stuff is by far the best.

 

It's been a while since I read the directions, but I do recall it saying it can be used for the whole car. I haven't tried it outide the wheels, but it seemed to leave a shiny surface on the wheels, so it would probably look good on the car. The Reject goes on just like wax, but you need to wait 12 hours after wiping it off before letting the surface get warm in order for it to cure properly.