Product Review: P&S Brake Buster Non Acid Wheel Cleaner
by Coleton GuerinP&S has created a product line of low cost, highly effective, and easy to use chemicals for both professional detailers and DIY detailers alike. P&S chemicals have quickly become one of my go-to brands at Clear Detailing. Alongside the other high-quality chemicals they’ve created, P&S Brake Buster Non-Acid Wheel Cleaner has become my favorite wheel cleaner I’ve ever tested. This product is not only extremely effective and safe but is also very low cost when paired with the IK Foam 1.5 Sprayer. During testing I tried multiple dilution ratios but found using Brake Buster at a 1:5 dilution ratio provides the best results for my application. Brake Buster is safe on all wheel surfaces, which is absolutely critical when working on all different types of vehicles. It safely removes not only brake dust, but also oil, dirt, grime, and light corrosion from both wheels and tires. The process of using this cleaner is very easy yet very effective.
This 2013 Mini JCW GP is my personal weekend driver and creates more brake dust than almost any other car I’ve ever seen. The GPs are fitted with 6-Piston Brembos from the factory and after just 100 miles of lightly spirited driving, these wheels are absolutely covered in brake dust. I figured these wheels would put up a good fight against Brake Buster.
I tested Brake Buster on a cool dry wheel using the IK Foam 1.5 Sprayer with 35 total ounces of liquid at a 1:5 dilution of Brake Buster to water. The IK Sprayer created a thick white foam that clings to every nook and cranny on the wheel, calipers, hubs, and tires.
I left the cleaner to dwell for 1 minute. It immediately began to go to work and dissolve the caked-on brake dust, and road grime I had picked up over the last 100 miles. Brake Buster does not have a foul smell like other Iron dissolving wheel cleaners.
A minute later I began to scrub the tires with a stiff bristle brush. Brake Buster is a powerful tire cleaner that leaves the tires clean to the touch while looking supple and matte once dry. I then used my favorite wheel brushes to agitate the cleaner inside and out. I spent at most a minute to a minute and a half with various size brushes on the wheel.
Once agitated, I used a pressure washer or a strong blast of water to remove the solution. The wheels look absolutely flawless, with zero traces of brake dust. These wheels are ceramic coated, so cleaning is substantially easier. That being said, I’ve been using this cleaner on non-coated wheels with perfect results just like this.
Brake Buster is hands down my favorite wheel cleaner I’ve ever used as a professional detailer. With safe and effective cleaning power like it has, it’s hard to beat. I look forward to testing more P&S products in the future, as I have yet to be disappointed.
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I have used the Brake Buster and I wasn’t really happy with the results at all. I guess it works for some but for me my go to has always been meguiar’s wheel brightener diluted 1:5 and it works awesome without having to hardly agitate at all. Wheel Brightener is an easy choice for cost-conscious detailers and DIYs.
I love to use megs ultimate all wheel cleaner, I never let my wheels get too out of whack, the rotten egg aroma is very minimum, but the cleaning power is perfect for all of my automobiles
I think this is the worst product I have ever purchased for wheel cleaning. I bought a spray bottle full and a gallon refill based on some online comments and I was thoroughly disappointed. It didn’t dissolved the brake dust and had zero cleaning ability. My suggestion is to buy anything else, anything.
What dilution did you use? How long was the dwell time? What kind of agitation did you use?
No dilution. Sprayed on rims and let sit 5-6 minutes and then agitated with brush. I’ve been doing this for awhile and have used many products to clean wheels and this is the worst product I have tried. I normally use Sonax Wheel Cleaner or lately Britemax Degreaser for my coated wheels and my results were fine. My wheels are coated with CarPro DLux so normally soap and water gets them clean but I get tons of contamination (brake dust) on my BMW M3 and I had hoped Brake Buster would help remove the dust and grime, nope. It is cheap for a reason and I found out why.
Gotcha. Well sounds like you found something that works so that’s all that matters. This stuff works amazing for my business even on extremely dirty wheels!
Great. I had really high hopes that this would work. The price is right, but I should have known better after buying auto detailing stuff for over 10 years, you get what you pay for. Another good wheel cleaner that I use that costs a bit less is Poorboys Wheel Cleaner. It’s not great on brake dust, but it gets pretty much everything else. For heavy brake dust IronX works and for baked on brake dust IronX paste is the best.
If the wheels are ceramic coated why would you even need to use this product?
You wouldn’t. But some people are too lazy or don’t have the skill to use ceramics on their wheels.
Ceramic coated wheels still need to be cleaned with a wheel cleaner and usually agitated with brushes. Coated wheels still get dirty, and still need to be properly cleaned. Coating simply make them easier to clean, and help them stay cleaner longer.
So this will not weaken or remove a ceramic coating?
P&S BrakeBuster mixed with a little of their Iron Buster is my go-to for wheel cleaning.
At first I was not impressed as I use it for my X5M. But after finding the right ratio it grew on me. It seems the more you use it the better it works for maintenance. Also a two in one as it cleans the tires as well.