Tire care: How clean is clean?

For some reason I have been really concerned with making sure my clients tires are as clean as possible, especially the ones that are caked with shiny dressing that slings all over the car.

Depending on the wheels, I tend to spray down the tires with diluted Megs Super Degreaser, let dwell for a little bit and then hit them with the pressure washer. Then I repeat that same process with the addition of a tire scrubbing brush before hitting the tires with the pressure washer.

My question/situation: I spray the tires with 303 or other tire dressing, let sit for a little bit and then spread with a dedicated MF applicator. The applicator tends to get pretty dirty and I'm afraid that this is affecting the results of the tire dressing. Usually I hit the applicator with Megs Super Degreaser, rinse and dry and hit the tires again to ensure the dressing is spread evenly.

Should I be cleaning the tires differently to avoid getting the applicator so dirty, or is that just the way it goes with tires?

Thanks for your help here.

-Kody-

 

if its silicone tire dressing then SD might not get rid of it. Richy recommended using Zep purple to remove silicone dressing. just used it on my moms civic and it does great job deluted. used megs SD and it works pretty much the same except it didnt do anything on tires with silicone dressing baked on

 

Tire and Wheel Products - Griot's Garage - - Griot's Garage Rubber Prep 8oz

Troy has mentioned this before and it has been shown to work quite well.

 

Has anyone tried the TUF SHINE Auto Detailing Kit | Tire Shine and Wheel Care Kit | TUF SHINE | Permanent Tire Shine Dressing For Autos, Trucks, Boats and RV's stuff on tires?

 

I always hit my tires with some APC and then scrub with a brush,

 

I use Zep Citrus at 4:1 on normal wheels and tires on really bad ones I use Mothers Wheel and Tire Cleaner to clean out tires and restore the original look.

 

Zep citrus 4:1 didn't really work that well for me on tires, I use it on lower panel and engine bay cleaning.
For tires, I use zep purple 4:1 or the autoglym CWC at 1:1.

 

I just use APC 1:1 or straight on tires. If you are using it at that strength on tires only, you aren't going to go through a lot of it and it'll get the job done with one hit usually.

 

ive been using Megs SD at roughly 4:1..works well. altho, a 2nd hit with AG CWC brings out the last lil bit of that brown gunk.

 

Thanks for the responses guys! Seems like everyone is on the same page. I just might need to make my dilutions a bit stronger.

 

Thanks Ken, looking forward to receiving your shipment!

-Kody-

 

I have been using tuf shine for almost three years.

The wheel cleaner will remove ANY tire dressings and do it quickly and safely. The tire dressing is really nice on tires you just don't want to have to maintain. I have it on my own tires and love it, in the winter and 4x4 it cleans up so nice.






Cheers,
GREG

 

kak, let me add to the response I made to this thread in TID, where I recommended two or three applications of degreaser/APC.

After one application, wipe the tires dry with a clean microfiber towel. Do the same thing after the second application. As the dressing gets stripped off and weakens from cleaning, the microfiber towel will really help remove the loosened/weakened tire dressing. This will also help you inspect the tire to see if the dressing is truly gone or not.

 

Good point, thank you! I got some great tips about this now, cleaning tires is going to be much easier.

-Kody-