My longstanding and close friendship with Joseph Moldovan began in 1983. At that time he was working for one of my chemical suppliers, and I was using a product with Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) to clean wheels. Chrome wheels were popular, and acid made them shine! I had no idea what HF was, or what its potential dangers were, until Joseph convinced me that I had an obligation to myself, my employees, and my customers to learn.

The more I read, the more I was shocked that our industry was allowing itself to expose people to such hazardous products, often in an environment where unskilled and sometimes untrained workers were handling chemicals without safety training or safety clothing. The ultimate kicker for me was when I read that the one way HF should never be used was to be atomized into the atmosphere, as it could attack and destroy lung tissue. I looked at my CTA, which was atomizing HF into the atmosphere, and drew the line.
Joseph and I decided that we would wash cars without HF, and would figure out how to do so with no loss in quality. Out of this commitment and many years of research and hard work, the quality of cleaning that we produce at Southland Auto Wash is second to none, and we have not used an HF (or ABF) product in the past 25 years, and will never, again . The line of chemicals that Joseph produces at Qual Chem safely and gently clean and shine cars better, and at a lower per car cost than virtually any other national brand.
But! Until now, we did not have an answer that was as effective as HF on wheels, and our whitewalls, black walls and white letter tires needed a little bit more whitening. Particularly now that we use automated methods to apply tire dressings, having the whitewalls and letters, the black walls and the wheels all impeccably clean before that application is what makes the tire dressing really stand tall.
It was in late 2007 when Qual Chem sent us a couple gallons of a test product called Q Wheel & Tire Cleaner. After just a few cars, it was obvious that this product was doing something 'different'. Tires 'browned up' shortly after having Q Wheel & Tire Cleaner applied. We also saw a real improvement in brake dust removal, and our whitewalls, and white letters were bright white! As we ran more test cars, the results from this product on wheels and tires continued to impress us.
About 4 months before running our first test of Q Wheel & Tire Cleaner, we had purchased a fifth car wash in Grand Rapids, MI - that had been using HF for many years, on the body as well as the wheels. This wash had a loyal customer base - and they had a very high expectation of wheels and tires. After we pulled out the old chemistry (HF based) there was a noticeable drop in quality on wheels as well as white letters and whitewalls, at least on the tough to clean ones. A few customers started complaining, asking 'what we had changed'.
As soon as we put Q Wheel & Tire Cleaner on line at this wash, the quality went right back up. It was obvious that we were cleaning wheels and tires as well as or better than the HF line-up, without using any HF! It was not only our opinion, but customer's started noticing as well. They were glad that we had 'gone back to what we used to have'! Little did they know that we were now using a product that was much safer for our people to handle, much friendlier to the environment, and much safer and gentler on their car’s finish!
The only reason HF has stuck around this long in the car wash industry is because it removes dirt and film. Use of HF has apparently saved money and provided cleaner cars for those who use it. But clearly, the implications of using HF, for carwash staff as well as the cars we wash, is not a good solution. A carwash owner that I know has used HF for over 20 years, and is now suffering from late stage lung cancer. There’s no proof of a connection, but certainly when you look for the medical implications of long term and unprotected exposure to HF, lung tissue damage is one of the results.

Q Wheel & Tire Cleaner is THE product that can finally stand toe to toe with any HF wheel cleaner. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this product is the best wheel and tire cleaner right now, in our industry. No longer can anyone make the argument that HF is the 'best cleaner', for any situation. HF is on its way out, and should have been gone years ago, which is great news for the carwash industry.

Q Wheel & Tire Cleaner is the product that makes the transition away from HF affordable, realistic, and smart.

Mark Ellis

Southland Auto Wash
Grand Rapids, Michigan