subject: Cleaning Your Car Tires [print this page] You can clean your tires without removing them from your car or truck using a quick spin method. Use a shoebox size plastic container and stiff brush to clean those muddy tires.
Use a stiff bristle brush to loosen the mud stuck in the tire treads. When washing your tires don't leave them soaking in the water too long.
Doing so can cause your foam inserts to get too wet and start disintegrating and can loosen your glue job if your tires are glued. Water usually works fine but you can also use a little soap.
Something simple such as dish detergent or a mild all-purpose household cleanser works well. If you wash your tires as soon as you've gotten them muddy, you won't give mud a chance to dry; making it much harder to remove.
The main reasons to use an exterior rubber/vinyl protectant are to improve the appearance and protect the tire or trim against long term damage. Use a rubber or vinyl protectant on only unpainted rubber or vinyl.
Choose a product compatible with the top surface. The appearance provided by exterior rubber/vinyl protectants varies from matt to gloss, with lots of stops in between.
Some people like a matt or more natural appearance, while others, consider a high gloss shiny look attractive. The choice is according to your personal taste, so when we use terms like matt or gloss they are very subjective.
There are two main degrading agents that attack tires and rubber trim. They are UV light waves and ozone.
Both of these attack the long hydrocarbon chains of the rubber and, by breaking these bonds, shorten the molecules with resulting loss of elasticity and other problems. Tire manufacturers add two primary sacrificial protectants to the rubber.
To protect against ozone, tire manufacturers add a wax based, sacrificial protectant. The ozone attacks the wax and depletes it.
As the tire rolls, additional wax is forced to the surface of the tire. This is referred to as blooming.
This blooming refreshes the surface wax protectant. A tire that has not been flexed will have the wax depleted by the ozone and thus begin to degrade and suffer dry rot.
The raw silicone oil that is the main ingredient in most of the nationally advertised, auto parts store, high gloss products may actually dissolve the wax and be the cause of premature tire sidewall cracking/failure. The quality tire/rubber dressings should contain a strong UV protectant to bolster the efforts of the carbon black and not contain any raw silicone oil.
Many of the nationally advertised rubber and vinyl products also contain formaldehyde. If you plan on having a funeral for your vinyl/rubber, then you may wish to use one of these products.
Spray or pour a small amount onto a clean, soft, 100% cotton cloth. Wipe on a thin, even coating, allow it to penetrate for a 10-15 minutes and then buff off the excess with another clean, soft 100% cotton cloth.
Never spray directly onto the surface as the overspray will land on the paint or wheel or whatever. Applying with a cloth will help avoid uneven coats and splotches.
Rubber/vinyl protects will not usually damage the paint or wheel, but you have to spend a lot of time to remove the overspray. It is easier to avoid the problem by simply using a cloth.
Most rubber/vinyl protectants will gently clean the trim or tires as they protect. If you have dirt or grime that car wash or your favorite rubber/vinyl protectant will not remove, you may want to try a stronger cleaner.
Spray or pour a small amount of the cleaner on a clean, soft, 100% cotton terry cloth and gently rub the dirty areas with the saturated section of the cloth. It may take a couple of applications to remove the dirt and grime.
Once you have removed all traces of the dirt, wash the trim and surrounding areas thoroughly with car wash. Rinse the area completely with water to remove any traces of solvent and then dry. Finally, apply a protective coating of your favorite rubber protectant and you are done.
