Bilberry alloy cleaner left centre caps milky

[EK993]

Just spend literally the whole day cleaning the car - wash, clay, sealant. My first ever time, slways taken my cars to hand car washes before... takes bloody ages, and am completely knackered!

Anyway, I used Bilberry alloy wheel cleaner diluted 4/1. Sprayed on, gave a good going over with a wheel brush, then rinsed off really well. The black plastic Lotus centre caps have now gone a nice white milky colour!! Did I do something wrong?? Have to order a new set of 4 from Lotus now.

[paintman]

Look up the product & check the MSDS sheets
http://www.valetpro.co.uk/Information/MSDS+Data+Sh...

List of chemicals that it contains incl caustic soda & several others that the chemists might be able to tell you about as I certainly can't but it does appear to contain something that your wheels didn't like.

Note that many wheel cleaners contain acid - I had the MSDS sheets for a VERY popular one which I downloaded a couple of years ago & the last time I looked they seem to have disappeared from the net - and if you read the owners handbook of many cars the care instructions specifically tell you not to use acid based cleaners.

I also had a customer take his Golf to one of the many handwash places that are springing up & what ever they used on the wheels caused the plastic nut covers to go a lovely spotty pink. Fortunately they are only pence each to buy, but he did have to buy a complete car set.

Edited by paintman on Monday 22 June 22:44

[Auto finesse]

Bilbery is a very cuastic based wheel cleaner, this is what has caused the problem.

Are the center caps painted (ie same colour as the wheel) or bare plastic? if they are painted you could try hand polishing them, this MAY (dont hold me to it) help rectify the problem.

[red_slr]

Not that this helps now but I use it with 10 parts water 1 part bilberry.

[EK993]

Thanks for the replies - its a Lotus so cheap plastic! Identical to these... the black plastic is the bit that has gone milky.

Would have thought they would have had complaints about this happening before? Product is called "safe" wheel cleaner!

[Defcon5]

Was just about to order some of this, is there anything else I should consider?

My wheels are powder coated white, if that makes a difference

[PJ S]

You'll be fine with it at no more than 10% strength - using at double that as per the OP, is asking for trouble.
If you're still unsure, then whilst not a dedicated wheel cleaner, Bilt Hamber Surfex HD at 5% should be good enough to see the job done, and won't cause the same issue as above if left on longer than necessary. Needs just a thorough rinse in that case.