Is my wheel cleaner safer because it says “non-acid”?
It is always a good idea to read the SDS of any product you choose to use as a wheel cleaner.
There is a myth in the automotive community that if a wheel cleaner is labeled “non-acid,” it is automatically safer for your wheels. To better understand this, let’s look at the pH scale.
When a product is pH neutral, it has a pH of 7, meaning it is neither acidic nor alkaline. When the pH is below 7, it is acidic; when it is above 7, it is alkaline. The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning each whole number change represents a tenfold difference. For example, a pH of 8 is 10 times more alkaline than 7, a pH of 9 is 100 times more alkaline, and a pH of 10 is 1,000 times more alkaline. The same principle applies on the acidic side of the scale.
Many wheel cleaners have a pH of 12–14, which means they are highly alkaline. These products can still be labeled as non-acid, but that does not mean they are safer for your wheels. There are several factors involved in what chemicals create alkalinity on the pH scale, but that will be covered in an entry later on.
Another myth in the car care industry is that diluting a degreaser with a pH of 14 makes it significantly less alkaline. While dilution does reduce alkalinity slightly, the change is minimal. Even when diluted, a product can still be millions of times more alkaline than a pH-neutral solution. Dilution alone has very little effect on making a highly alkaline product truly safe.
A wheel can be damaged just as easily by a highly alkaline cleaner as it can by an acidic one. Variables such as the wheel’s material and how long the product sits on the surface play a major role. In a later article, we will cover common chemicals used in wheel cleaners that can damage wheels in under a minute or slowly break down the surface over time.
Magnum is a non-acid wheel cleaner, but we have carefully selected alternative materials to achieve the necessary alkalinity to clean dirty wheels without using common ingredients known to damage wheels and tires over time.