AARGH!!! I can't get my tires clean!!!

Laurel

Yes, I drive a wagon
It's ridiculous. I'm going nuts with this. I had the meguairs purple gel tire shine on my tires for a few months, and now my tires are brown. I've tried so hard to get them clean, it's nuts. I've used dish soap, I've used simple green, I've used tons of wheel cleaners, bug and sap cleaner, de-solv-it, everything short of oven cleaner. I've scrubbed the bejesus out of them. I've been able to mildly reduce the brown-ness of one of them with 45 minutes of hard scrubbing.

What do I need to do?
 
I hear your trouble. I used that gel and though it was awesome, however I applied it too thick! Ever since then my tires are in bad condition. I've tried alot of things and researched quite alot. The browning you don't want to completely remove because they are chemicals (antiozonants) built to protect the tire. However a strong soap and brush scrub should enable you put some protection on there. I want to try Michelin's 3 step system and see if it will help my non durable dressin issue / browning.
 
I'll give the Bleche White a shot, a coworker suggested using coke, but I'm a bit wary. My stock wheels(the ones these tires are on) are thoroughly trashed. The guy I bought the car from liked to park against curbs, and the rim of every wheel is nothing but curbs. None of the wheel cleaning regimine would help me at all, considering the paint is flaking off in a big way, but perhaps his information will help me with my tires. :)

thanks guys
 
Careful with that Bleach-White :eek: not only for the rubber but the wheels as well. You might need a gel type cleaner (4 Star, Diamond Citri-Jell, etc.) so it can dwell on the tires and safely lift the grime and left over Megs tire gel. Agitate with a good tire brush and repaeat the process if necessary. It might not be a 1,2,3,you're done clean up.
 
I'm having the same problem with a new set of tires. I tried everything to get the "brown" off. I then had the whole car detailed and whatever they put on the tires really worked. But now it's 4 weeks later and they are brown again!
 
4 weeks is a high average to long period of time for a dressing to last. The brown is actually not uncommon and probably is the result of the tire "blooming". The waxes in the rubber ( supposed to be there) come to the surface from driving and the environment and contribute to the dressing wearing away.

I would scrub them thoroughly with a dedicated tire cleaner and tire brush, allow them to dry and re dress.
 
Clearkote vanilla moose followed with Autoglym bodyshop 07B plastic & rubber cleaner - protectant will totally restore them to black before you put on the dressing
Please don't use that meguiars gel, if you use too much it builds up and may dry the rubber out.

detailers pride and wolfgang tire gels I highly recommend
even after a high pressure blasting, the tires return to black due to having three layers of gel on them.
 
theres a very simple and cheap solution to this prob. get a can of ajax or comet for a buck at the dollar store and a brush, dip the brush in your soapy water, give it a good dose of ajax or comet and scrub em down. believe it or not its gonna strip down all that gel crap and old tire glaze and make it look like a brand new tire. this is an old school trick alot of people have never heard about. it works WONDERS on white walls and white letter tires. trust me this works.
 
Why not prevent the problem in the first place and ditch the crap tire dressings. I hate Megs Endurance it's total garbage. Turns the tires brown and is a dirt and dust magnet. Only water based PDMS dressings for me. Clean up is a joke. Any dirt or dust that does accumulate (and it isn't much) washes right off with car wash soap and a brush. No browning of my tires either.
 
I use Poorboys APC (I forget what dilution I use it was so long ago I mixed up the bottle)

I wet my tires down, Spray both tires on one side allow them to sit for a min or 2 and then use a brush to scrub! I often do this twice on each tire!

I then dry the tire & wheel (usually I will clean the wheels durring this whole process) Even after I dry the wheels & tires w/ a towel I allow them to air dry some more! Apply some PB's Bold & Brite and im good to go!
 
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