Need help selecting products for cleaning and dressing tires

[mckeand13]

I’m looking for help with two things.

- Removing some stubborn tire bloom.
- Finding a tire dressing that I like.

1) I’ve got some stock Toyo A20 tires on my Highlander. Every time I wash it, I can’t seem to get the brown off the sidewalls. I am using APC+ and a number of different brushes, all fairly stiff. Any other tire I’ve used APC+ on before seems to just melt the brown right off. It usually gets really nasty looking as I’m scrubbing because it’s all coming off. With these Toyo tires, they stay fairly clean as I’m scrubbing them, and they are still brown after rinsing. If I rub one spot really hard for a while, it will come off. It’s not reasonable to do that to all tires though.

Do I need to move to Super D-Greaser or some other cleaner?

2) I can’t seem to find a tire dressing I’m happy with. I’ve tried:
a. Hyper Dressing – I wanted this to work because it smells so good! It has zero longevity since it’s water based, and seems to collect a lot of dust.
b. All Season Dressing – I like the longevity, but I can’t seem to eliminate sling no matter how careful I am.
c. Hot Shine gel – Great longevity but very annoying to apply consistently and evenly since it’s a gel. My Toyo’s have tiny ribs rather than a smooth face which adds to the problems.

I would prefer something I can spray since it’s much easier to apply evenly. I tend to prefer low gloss/matte if available. It would be nice if there were something in the Detailer line so it would be cost effective as well. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[proudgeek]

I recommend you try the new hot rims all wheel and tire cleaner that comes in the magenta bottle. It is working great for me and advance auto parts has it on sale for $5 until the end of the month.

For tire shine, i use the gold class endurance tire gel. I spread it evenly with a foam applicator and is not 'insanely' shiny.

Hope this helps

[Detailing by M]

Body solvent for cleanning
And I yse Hyper mixed 2 parts water to 1 part mix

[jarred767]

Re: Need help selecting products for cleaning and dressing tires

I used to use APC+ for many of the tires that I clean as well, and it usually works well but sometimes the tires are stubborn. I have since moved on to using Liquid Comet for pretty much all tires that I clean unless they are quite clean to start with. The liquid comet is pretty much pure bleach and really gets the tires clean, but just make sure you rinse it off right after scrubbing (especially if doing the cleaning in the sun).

As for the dressing, I am a huge fan of the All-Season Dressing myself and don't seem to experience much sling with it, so I'm not sure if I could help you with that part; maybe use less product or try drying and excess off after applying?? Another one to try that I like on tires a lot, and for old neglected tires I will usually put a coat on before using ASD is M40. Really brings the black back to the tire before using a dressing. You can also simply use it if you want a little less shine and more of a pure "black" look. You can buy it in a gallon size too and while it is a little more expensive than ASD, for a gallon through ADS its only $7 more, so not too much of a price increase.

[imz4n]

Re: Need help selecting products for cleaning and dressing tires

I like my tires matte. I use D163 ( tire and trim ), less is more here. Apply small amount and the rub to get all raised profiles. Wipe 10 min later and you are done. Lasts a long time and never have the brown return. Apc gets the brown most of the time, I have used a degreaser for additional help ( dish soap ).