BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Service Tire Truck Centers (STTC) Owner Walt Dealtry has established a separate business in Bethlehem to promote a process for cleaning aluminum wheels that is said to be both environmentally friendly and price competitive.
According to STTC, the AluminShine process is eight times faster than other aluminum wheel-polishing methods, uses 62-percent less energy, requires 90-percent less service and repairs, and reduces labor by 80 percent while providing operators with safer working conditions.
The AluminShine process can clean 19.5-, 22.5- and 24.5-inch wheels in about six to 10 minutes per wheel with no toxic materials and no aluminum degradation, the new company, AluminShine Inc., said. The recommended cost to the customer is around $35 per wheel.
The process and cleaning fluids were by Jack and Rick Hoffman, Harrisburg, Pa.-based inventors. Their company, Hoffman & Hoffman Research & Development, has licensed the North American rights to their process to Mr. Dealtry, who in turn established AluminShine Inc to handle the business.
The patent-pending AluminShine Aluminum Wheel Cleaning service is a three-step process.
The first step combines heat, a food-grade biodegradable material and electrolysis in tank No. 1. This causes the pores of the aluminum wheel surface to open and chemically breaks the bond formed during aluminum oxidation, the company said.
The second step combines ultrasonic sound waves and a natural citrus bath to rinse the aluminum oxide and contaminants away from the wheel surface.
