Koch-Chemie Alkali Wheel Cleaner "Awh" Wheel Cleaner (alkaline) 5l

With the Awh you pull brake dust and tyre-rubber bloom off in one pass

The Koch-Chemie Alkali Wheel Cleaner "Awh" is a highly alkaline wheel cleaner (pH 14) for workshops, detailers and fleets. It cuts through brake dust, road film and tyre-rubber bloom in 1 to 3 minutes. Suited to steel wheels and alkali-resistant painted alloy wheels. Not for raw or polished aluminium, anodised trim, chrome or hot wheels straight off a drive.

Koch-Chemie Alkali Wheel Cleaner "Awh" is a highly alkaline wheel cleaner concentrate from Koch-Chemie in Unna, working at a pH of 14. Instead of chemically binding the iron particles the way a pH-neutral cleaner does, Awh goes after the greasy grime matrix that holds brake dust onto the wheel. This saponification turns fats, oils and rubber abrasion into water-soluble soaps — the brake dust then sits loose in the cleaner and rinses off with cold water. Quick-separating to ÖNORM 5106, it stays predictable for workshops running an oil separator.

• Saponification, not iron-binding. Awh doesn't dissolve the iron itself, it dissolves the fat and oil layer that binds brake dust to the wheel. For you that means one pass handles brake dust, tyre-rubber bloom and road film, instead of laying down three different products one after the other. Dwell time 1 to 3 minutes, then rinse off with a pressure washer.
• 1:5 sweet spot, 30 litres from 5 litres. Dilute 1:2 for extreme crusting, 1:10 for weekly upkeep, 1:5 as the solid all-round figure. At 1:5 the 5-litre canister makes a full 30 litres of working solution. At 200 ml per vehicle, one canister covers around 150 full cars — so the cost per wheel lands in pennies.
• Quick-separating to ÖNORM 5106. The cleaner releases oils and fats again quickly in the settling tank, the oil separator skims them off mechanically before the water hits the drain. For workshops and wash bays this is the basis for keeping your wastewater permit valid and dodging fines. Formulated low-foam and low-misting, so the spray mist doesn't drift into the air you breathe during application.

Day-to-day from Detailing1: Awh is a degreaser, not an iron indicator. On really neglected wheels you run both back to back. Awh 1:5 first onto the wet wheel, work it in briefly with a brush, rinse. That pulls off the grease layer and the tyre-rubber blooming.

Then the Magic Wheel Cleaner "Mwc" onto the clean wheel. That bleeds the now-exposed iron particles out purple. What we see day-to-day: detailers treat this 1-2 punch as standard for lease returns with baked-on wheels. Awh alone or Mwc alone won't strip the same wheel as thoroughly, because the two go after two different layers of grime.

Pre-wet, dilute 1:5, three minutes, rinse

The wheel has to be cold and fully wetted with water before the first spray. Hot brake discs radiate well past 200 °C — if the cleaner hits that heat, the water in the dilution flashes off in seconds and you're left with highly concentrated potassium hydroxide standing on the paint, eating into the clear coat. Wait at least 15 minutes after parking up and wet it down generously.

The dilution follows the level of dirt: 1:10 is enough for weekly upkeep, 1:5 is the all-round figure for normal brake dust after two to four weeks of driving, 1:2 stays reserved for the extreme crusts on workshop vehicles. A pump sprayer with a foam nozzle like the Koch-Chemie Foamer Bottle or an iK Foam sprayer lays the solution down as a sticky wet foam that clings to the barrel and doesn't run off. On rougher wheels you can go over it with a soft wheel brush after 30 seconds — spread it, don't scrub.

Dwell time 1 to 3 minutes, 5 minutes max at the weakest dilution. Longer does nothing: Awh isn't about reaction time, it's about chemistry. Leave it on too long and all you risk is drying-in, and dry edges on the clear coat are the result. If a spot isn't clean, top up the dose — don't let it dwell longer.

Finish with a strong pressure jet top to bottom. Rinse the barrel and the spoke edges in a controlled way until no foamy veil runs off any more. Cold rinse water is a must: warm water speeds up drying-in inside the barrel, and a leftover cleaner film later pulls into the clear coat as a run mark. On the tyre sidewalls you can put the Awh straight to use — it lifts the brown antioxidant bloom (tyre-rubber blooming) at the same time and saves you the separate tyre cleaner.

Steel and painted aluminium yes, polished wheels no

Awh is cleared for standard steel wheels and alkali-resistant painted or powder-coated OEM aluminium wheels. As long as an intact clear coat protects the aluminium, the wheel behaves like perfectly normal paint and takes the cleaner with no trouble. That covers the vast bulk of the cars that sit on the lift at workshops and detailers every day — from lease returns to company cars.

What Awh won't tolerate: raw aluminium, high-gloss polished aluminium, anodised wheels, magnesium wheels, uncoated forged wheels and chrome. On these surfaces the potassium hydroxide reacts with the metal in seconds. It oxidises the surface and leaves a milky, deeply etched patch — what's known as alkali burn.

This damage can't be washed off. The wheel is only saveable with hours of machine polishing at a specialist shop, and that runs into several hundred euros fast. In plain terms: on expensive multi-piece BBS RS wheels, on Porsche Fuchs wheels, on uncoated OZ forged wheels and on chrome lips, the sprayer stays in your hand. If you're not sure whether the wheel is anodised or painted, ask the manufacturer or test on an inconspicuous spot.

For exactly these sensitive wheel types, the pH-neutral Magic Wheel Cleaner "Mwc" or the reactive Reactive Wheel Cleaner is the right call. They bind the iron particles chemically and don't attack the aluminium.

Rule of thumb for switching between wheel types: Awh for steel and painted OEM alloy. Mwc or Reactive Wheel Cleaner for polished, anodised or chrome. If you need maximum bite on very robust steel wheels, reach for the acidic Triple Acid Star "Ta". That's a different category with its own risks, but the right answer for neglected winter wheels with no aluminium in the mix.

One more mix-up we'll clear up right here: at Koch-Chemie the abbreviation "Awc" doesn't stand for an acidic wheel cleaner, it stands for the Allround Window Cleaner — a glass cleaner, in other words. So if you're after an "acid wheel" product, you land on the Triple Acid Star "Ta" or the Felgenreiniger extrem "Fe", not the Awc.

Workshop, detailer, fleet. That's what the 5 and 20 litres are built for.

Awh ships in 5-litre and 20-litre containers. That makes it clear who the product is for: anyone washing several cars a day or a whole fleet.

Those are workshops, professional detailers, fleets and wash bays with an oil separator. A 1-litre spray bottle for the home garage is something Koch-Chemie deliberately doesn't carry under this code. The cleaner is built for continuous use and dilution logic, not for the weekend detailer with one car in the underground car park.

On consumption the dilution in a foam sprayer pays for itself directly. At the standard 1:5 dilution, the 5-litre canister yields 30 litres of working solution. At around 200 ml of ready-to-use mix per vehicle, one 5-litre canister covers about 150 full cars.

The 20-litre canister only pays off with heavy day-in-day-out work. Detailers with high daily throughput, rental-car fleet cleaning, hauliers running their own fleet care. For the keen hobby detailer, Awh is usually overkill. Here pH-neutral wheel cleaners like Mwc, Reactive Wheel Cleaner or Sonax FelgenBeast are the more honest choice.

The one trick the manufacturer doesn't push hard: Awh doubles as a first-rate tyre cleaner. Modern rubber compounds bloom antioxidants and go brownish over time, plus old tyre-dressing residue sticks in the pores.

pH-neutral wheel cleaners can't shift that grease-and-rubber-heavy layer. Awh 1:5 lifts both in seconds. You clean wheel and tyre sidewall in the same spray pass and save yourself a separate tire cleaner. Seal the tyre afterwards with a deep-black dressing like Gummifix "Guf" and you've got the wheel workflow done in two steps and under ten minutes a car.

Application of Koch-Chemie Alkali Wheel Cleaner "Awh"

Step-by-step to a clean rim well

The rim must be cool. Wait at least 15 minutes after stopping; ideally, work in the shade. If Awh comes into contact with hot brake discs, the water content in the dilution will evaporate in seconds, and the concentrated potassium hydroxide will eat into the clear coat. Before the first spray, wet the entire rim completely with cold water.

The dilution ratio depends on the degree of soiling. 1:10 is sufficient for weekly maintenance, 1:5 is the all-around setting for normal brake dust after two to four weeks of driving, and 1:2 remains reserved for extreme crusts on workshop vehicles. Pump sprayers with a foam nozzle, such as the Koch-Chemie Foamer Bottle or an iK Foam sprayer, apply the solution as a sticky wet foam that adheres vertically to the rim well.

Dwell time: 1 to 3 minutes. On rougher rims, distribute briefly with a soft wheel brush, do not scrub. For tougher spots, perform a second short pass instead of extending the dwell time. Awh relies on chemistry rather than reaction time. Avoid letting it dry.

Rinse with a powerful cold high-pressure jet from top to bottom until the foamy veil has completely run off. Awh can be used directly on the tire sidewalls as well, removing brown antioxidant blooming in the process.

Notes: Not suitable for raw, high-gloss polished or anodized aluminum, magnesium, uncoated forged wheels, and chrome. If unsure about the rim surface, test on an inconspicuous area or switch to the pH-neutral Magic Wheel Cleaner "Mwc". Personal protective equipment is mandatory for professional use: nitrile gloves and safety goggles. In case of skin contact, rinse off thoroughly with plenty of water. Store frost-free between 5 and 30 degrees; use within 24 months after opening.