Hi Curtis,
Let me start by saying I am obsessed with cleaning wheels. It has become a hobby within a hobby for me. Most of it has been focused on finding a cleaning fluid (or method) that actually works. As you saw in the picture of my comparison, some much hyped cleaners really aren’t all they are cranked up to be. I have tried just about every solvent mentioned and many more that are not and unfortunately, the results were always the same – they really don’t work on the black gunk, though some are better than others. Acetone is better than 91% IPA, at this point, I would rate it close to Easy-Off, but it also softens the plastic wheels. I’m not sure how much the black on the Q-tip is actually the plastic wheel. I did look up the Brakleen, the website stated it is not safe for plastic. I hope Dave will weigh in on his experience with it. I still might give it a try.
You are correct about the film left by some of the cleaning methods. It is my understanding the film is desirable because it helps minimize the arcing which is the cause of the black gunk. I also agree about petroleum products and rubber traction tires. -- I just replaced a set that Goo-Gone had taken. -- Such it the life of a wheel cleaner… what I’m learning from this discussion (there are currently three threads running on OGF) is a lot of the methods we believe to be working are actually exacerbating the problem. Goo-gone is that for me. For years I’ve been using it and for years I’ve been cleaning wheels thinking I was doing a good job, And I was doing a good job… at creating wheels that needed to be cleaned. I am still searching for a method that works.
I’m afraid my fate is similar to Diogenes’s.
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
