Carpro IronX vs Wolfs

A while ago I promised a writeup comparing these two products to see which one, if either, was better than the other. Recently I had the perfect test vehicle in. A white Dodge pick up with 60k miles on it that had never been detailed. Dramatic music please....

The competitors.

Carpro IronX
16oz 19.99
32oz 32.99
128oz ( gallon ) 124.99
pricing from Autogeek

Smell - well, its just nasty. There is no other way to describe it. We can put men on the moon and and a probe on Mars. There must be a way to make this smell better.
Viscosity - liquid is clear and quite thick. Although this allows it to cling very well to vertical surfaces, i can't help but think that its thickness means it doesn't disperse well out of the trigger meaning you are using too much product to cover the vehicle. Any way we could thin it out a bit so it covers more evenly but retains it's strength?
Working time - Up to 3 minutes. Seems to be quite strong as it started turning the contaminants red almost immediately.

Wolfs Wheel Cleaner
16oz - 12.99
32oz - 19.95
pricing from Auto Obsessed

Smell - Minty. Not Scope minty fresh but very nice. There is a slight underlying scent like the IronX smell, but it's nowhere near as strong.
Viscosity - Although it is thick enough to cling to vertical surfaces well, it is a bit runnier than IronX which allows a better spray pattern and consequently better coverage.
Working time - Wolfs says up to 10 minutes and it is safe to let dry on paint. I tried this theory by allowing it to sit on a panel for just over an hour. It washed away with no problems. It did take a few minutes to start turning red though whereas the IronX reacted immediately.

Now on to the pics.

I decided to use what is normally the worst part of the vehicle. the tailgate. I taped it down the centre with IronX on the left and Wolfs on the right.




10:56 IronX is up first. The left side of the tailgate is sprayed with IronX and left to dwell for the suggested maximum of 3 minutes.


10:59 IronX has been on for three minutes


The result. The panel was then washed down with a Megs MF mitt and Dawn wash.


Next up is the Wolfs. 11:01 and the right side of the panel is coated and left to dwell.


11:11 Its been sitting on the panel for the recommended maximum of 10 minutes.


The result. This panel was washed down in the same fashion. Megs MF mitt and Dawn wash.


Now this is where the fun begins. In order to answer the inevitable question "which is stronger?" I applied Wolfs over the side previously treated with IronX and vice versa.

11:15 and both sides were coated simultaneously.


11:19 My bad, I let the IronX sit for an extra minute by mistake.


This shows how much more contamination the IronX removed from the panel previously treated with Wolfs.


11:25


After 10 minutes, this is how much more contamination the Wolfs pulled out of the side previously treated with IronX.


As you can see, neither product was capable of removing ALL of the contamination from the surface in just one go. Although the second try on both sides removed substantially less, its obvious there was still something there.

As a bonus, here is a pic of Carpro TRIX working. Seemed to work as well as the other two in contamination removal, but two chunks of road tar were unaffected by it.


12:34. I had sprayed a couple panels with Wolfs at 11:35 and unexpectedly had a client show up to purchase a few items and I totally forgot about the Wolfs soaking. OOPS. I am happy to report that even after an hour, the dried on Wolfs came off without issue. As the panel looked the same as the panel that had sat for 10 minutes, it doesn't appear the extra soaking time had any affect on the ability to remove contaminants.


The Wolfs after an hour.



In conclusion I would like to point out a few facts.

- the vehicle was given a Dawn wash to prep the car for this test.
- Both products were applied exactly according to the directions printed on the bottles. If either manufacturer has any issue with how the test was conducted, change the instructions on your labels as this is how the end user will be applying the product as well.
- It was not my intention to label one of these products a clear winner. I decided to let the results speak for themselves and allow you draw your own conclusion.

Thanks for reading.

 

Good test Ken.

 

good test,thanks

 

Do a portion with claying before hand so people can actually see complete removal instead of simply following vendor "well he did it so.."

 

Excellent review Ken and Thanks! Am I surprised by the results? No.

 

i know it wasnt the goal of the review, but which did u prefer? is it okay to use either regularrly with car washes?

 

Great idea Mike! I'll do that.

 

I wouldn't use either regularly. There just isn't any point. Twice yearly should be fine, or if you have a white car, maybe quarterly depending on how fast the contaminants show up on your paint.

 

Nice test Ken and thanks for the writeup. I am going to give the Wolfs a go.

 

Thanks for the write up. I have not had much luck with IronX so maybe I will try Wolfs.

 

Thanks for the review

 

So have you guys been using multiple applications of either of these products, until the bleeding stops, or just once and calling it good?

 

Great review Ken! I've been very happy with IronX so far and had thought about trying the Wolfs, but I think your review just made up my mind for me. It's cheaper for me to just continue using IronX anyway.

 

I would think that for most vehicles that are washed regularly, once over with either of these products will be enough to get the job done.

 

Nice test Ken!

 

thanks for taking the time to do this comparison Ken!

I think I'm leaning towards Wolf's. I like the longer dwell time, plus the 5L package is roughly 1.3gal and runs about $90 from Phil. Although IronX seems a bit more potent, if I do need to reapply on a battered car, it would only be occasionally, so the cost savings should hold up over time.

 

This is what I would like to know as well

I've used both products before and inspected the surface really close up front on a white car

Like the example Ken provided, he went Over the treated area with another round of cleaner and it pulled off more contaminants

I've had to do multiple applications of iron contamiinant remover before since the first round don't get everything removed. But I know people in my area are not doing a very thorough job

So my question is how far do you take the detailing?

How clean do you make the surface, and not just Paint, but wheels, interior surfaces as well

I've done a vehicle recently that was so called "detailed" by a detailer serving the GTA.

Let's just say that I took lots of pics to document the poor work found

 

In all honesty, I prefer to clay first to remove the bulk of the contaminants and use either liquid as a secondary measure. I have more than a few incidences where the liquid alone was not enough to clean the surface to a respectable level. As far as where do you stop, I am in the process of redoing my pricing system as the tough economy has forced a lot of people to cut their detailing "allowance" so I am having to come up with packages that will allow me to do a job that suits their budget as well as their needs. In a perfect world, people would allow us to make their cars perfect but that just isn't the way it is.

 

I follow this for most cars. Clay then iron x for the spots clay doesn't hit.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Awesome test Ken. Much thanks! I was always wondering about the two.