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Do I really need "wheel/tire cleaner" or can I just use concentrate presoak?

IanBen

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New here - setting up our touchless automatic. It has an isolated chemical function to spray the wheels. Do I really need tire/wheel cleaner or can I just use either the low or high PH presoak we have on hand on the wheels? What would be the best bet? Low or high?
 

Greg Pack

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The simple answer is that the many products will work for both application. Most high ph presoaks and tire cleaners have the same active ingredients- a builder, a surfactant, and a solvent. The tire cleaner strength will likely be 2-4X the concentration of the presoak strength. It is nice to minimize the skus on site but there's no guarantee that using the same product will save you money, or work as well as dedicated products for each application.
 

washnshine

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A lot of chemicals, especially touch free chemicals, work differently in various geographic areas and climate conditions and with different types of soils. You are probably more likely to find a product that performs well in your environment if you use a dedicated tire/wheel cleaning product.
 

Cool Wash

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Wondering if anyone is using presoak as tire cleaner for Self Service wash. What is the experience?
 

tdlconceptsllc

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Be careful with this and the reason I say this is I see customers in the self serve older generation aka “want the green stuff” spray it all over the whole vehicle no matter what you tell and inform them. Your presoak could be a superior product but it’s a lot of customers want the “green stuff “ no matter what I would be careful. I used red tire cleaner one time and the customers were mad no matter how it cleaned they had to have the green stuff. Perception is alot in the self serve
 

Greg Pack

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Wondering if anyone is using presoak as tire cleaner for Self Service wash. What is the experience?

I do but I inject dye into it with a dual eductor. You can also possibly buy bulk dye and throw it into a five gallon container with it. However, many products designed for self serves are gentler than the more controlled environment of the IBA or tunnel, so be careful and/or talk to your rep..
 

Keno

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I do but I inject dye into it with a dual eductor. You can also possibly buy bulk dye and throw it into a five gallon container with it. However, many products designed for self serves are gentler than the more controlled environment of the IBA or tunnel, so be careful and/or talk to your rep..
I don't think we will ever do this, but what kind of dye are you using and from where? I have noticed that most customers expect the tire cleaner to be bright green as @tdlconceptsllc mentioned.
 
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