How often do you "clean" the tires

J

jnmttu

New member
I was just sitting at the computer wondering about this. I have always cleaned the tires with Eagle One once a week and scrubbed them to get them clean. I was just wondering if this seemed overboard to anyone and if I should just be scrubbing them with a tire brush weekly and using the tire cleaner less often. Keep in mind, that a week for me consists of roughly 400 miles worth of brake dust and Dallas/Ft. Worth interstate debris. By the way, I already tried to search for the answer and couldn't find anything definitive.
 
Sunday is my tire and wheels day when I am unemployed. During the construction season Sunday is stil the day but often times I am working so it does not get done as often.
 
i clean the tires thoroughly every week when i wash the car, to ensure that the tire dressing goes on a nice clean surface and bonds.
 
Once a week on my girlfriend's PF (big tires with white letters get dirty easily).



My car gets the treatment about once a month.
 
I scrub my tires every time I wash the car, but only with car soap and water. I only use APC/H20 on my tires about every month or so.
 
I use foam and a meg's tire brush to clean my tires every wash. I dress them every other wash. I have yet to use a true wheel/tire cleaner on them.
 
I just go ahead and clean the tires weekly when I'm cleaning the wheels, since the EO All Wheel is already on there.



I also like that the dressing gets to go on a clean surface every week...:D
 
skuz said:
Myself, I clean and dress them every week even if I do much less mileage than you.
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I think that's a bit "overkill". I clean them with car shampoo every wash (about every 2 weeks) and dress them every other time. I user cleaner on them whenever I can see they need it (less often).
 
I wash them with diluted wheel cleaner and a brush at every wash, but that's a pretty mild cleaning. I don't clean them thoroughly unless I'm gonna redress them and I don't do that unless they obviously need it. Which isn't all that often since I'm using Z-16 (and letting it soak/take a set before buffing it off).
 
jnmttu said:
I was just sitting at the computer wondering about this. I have always cleaned the tires with Eagle One once a week and scrubbed them to get them clean. I was just wondering if this seemed overboard to anyone and if I should just be scrubbing them with a tire brush weekly and using the tire cleaner less often. Keep in mind, that a week for me consists of roughly 400 miles worth of brake dust and Dallas/Ft. Worth interstate debris. By the way, I already tried to search for the answer and couldn't find anything definitive.
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My pickup ('94 Toyota 2wd) has the stock steel wheels, which don't have any cutouts, so brake dust stays on the hidden side of the wheel. So there isn't a lot of accumulation between washes. Normal weekly washing works fine, followed by a reapplication of whatever wheel dressing I'm using at the moment (I'm still searching for the perfect dressing).



My sedan, OTOH (2000 Chrysler 300M in sig) has the chromed silverstar wheels. These allow lots of breakdust to accumulate. Weekly washing includes spraying down with Orange Blast degreaser, and scrubbing with a Black and Decker "Scum Buster." The front wheels need it far more than the rear, though.



The same goes for the WWW tires on my motorcycle, although I'll NEVER put a tire dressing on those wheels. Just a little oozing onto the tread could be catastrophic.



So my experience is that you have to evaluate your own conditions for yourself, and adjust your cleaning regimen appropriately.



Hope this helps, and good luck!
 
I usually wash the tires at every wash. After I have hose down the entire car I start with washing the tires, wheels, and lower parts(under the doors and areas like that). I use Meguiars tirebrush, Megs wheelbrush and a small sponge for this. Usually the carwash is good enough, but when really dirty I use EO wheel and tire cleaner on the wheels and tires first. Hose these areas and continue on the upper parts. I dress the tires as needed.
 
I just go over them with my OXO brush and my car wash solution once a week, keeps them pretty pristine, and I don't have to go through getting out all of the cleaners and such. Just apply my dressing with a tire swipe and I'm done. But if I am changing dressing, or if it's on a car that hasn't had the wheels done, I'll break out the cleaners.
 
At this time of year I do them every wash as living down narrow lanes means I quite often have to pull in the verge/mud to let other cars pass, so at least two of my tyres are always brown with mud. In the summer I can normally go up to a month without the tyres needing any specific attention.



Ben
 
I wash my tyres every week just with water and rinse of with a hose. About once a month I use Turtle Wax Ultimate 2000 wheel and tyre cleaner only because I picked up a 1 litre spray bottle for $3 from the Reject Shop. That cleaner is on the shelf at SuperCheap Auto for $15.99 so it was a bargain.



Of course for those members who have been around the forum for a while may know, I paint my tyres with Selleys Tyre Black, which adds a shiny dry coat to the tyre surface and makes dirt just fall off.
 
I wash with just water and dress with Meg's Gold Glass trim detailer. If you are washing with detergent or wheel cleaner, then make sure you dress it with a proper protectant that stops the tire from turning brown and brittle.
 
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