Tires turning Brown

jonw440

Member
I just cleaned my tires (less than 2000 miles) with Mothers tire cleaner. I had previously put Meguiars Endurance on them. Once they dried after cleaning, they are now brown. I know when I put the endurance back on the brown will disappear. But I am wondering why they turned brown in the first place. The tires are "Master Courser"
 
From what I understand, tires are not black naturally. Rather the black is some substance that is added to them to give them that color. The brown starts to come out when they get lots of exposure to the sun. I think it's the uv rays that react with the tire and cause them to start losing there color. The best way to keep them dark for a while is to use some 303, or another vynl/rubber protectant that has a high ammount of UV fighting ability.
 
how did you clean them, just spray on and wipe off? This is a bad thing.



What you must do to properly clean the tires is apply the tire cleaner, wait 5 to 10 seconds at most, and begin scrubbing the tires with a STIFF bristled brush. After scrubbing, immediately rinse the tires with a moderate pressure from the hose.



After this let your tires air dry, and they should now be a dull black, almost grey color. Then you can re-apply the tire dressing to give the tires the look you want.



Also I would recommend checking out Eagle One Tire Cleaner, or their new EO All Wheel and Tire Cleaner "A2Z" (I just tried the latter product yesterday with amazing results...)
 
Although 2000 miles is further away from "brand new", I recently had an experience with a brand new set of tires (less than 100 miles) that turned brown after the first or second cleaning. After that though, it hasn't reappeared since. :nixweiss



I would try scrubbing the tires a bit more thoroughly and try to get them squeaky clean next time. Hopefully it'll go away or correct itself.



FWIW, I would stick with the Mothers cleaner. I use this and actually prefer it to the EO tire cleaner. A2Z is incredibly strong though. :D
 
My situation is quite weird. I use EO tire cleaner and a brush, not a stiff one but anyways...after cleaning the tire and let it dry after washing my truck, I see shiny sidewall, and see waterspots on it. What do you guys think?
 
Sheesh .... it's true-confessions time. Ever since discovering Autopia, I've been meticulous about tire-cleaning. I used P21S for a while (til running out of it), then APC+ diluted according to label directions -- using a stiff brush -- and typically I'll clean, rinse, clean, rinse ... til I'm getting no dark-colored rinse-off residue. After cleaning, I've used Eagle One Satin on the Benz, Zaino Tire Treatment on the Jag. And in the last couple of weeks, I'm discovering that, after a wash but prior to dressing, the edges of the tires are really brown -- more brown than I ever noticed before I started these "good" cleaning/dressing procedures. So if anybody has info/insights, I'll be eager to hear them.
 
Me no like E1 A2Z. That stuff is so strong it scares me. I use that stuff on my old wheels (now my track wheels) but on my new wheels I'll be using nothing but soap and water. Of course I've got 14 coats of Klasse SG on them so far...



E1 A2Z will make tires brown if you don't rinse it VERY well. I usually rinse for at LEAST 60 seconds when I clean a wheel with A2Z, and I do the same for the tire, after scrubbing it with a stiff bristle brush...



In other words I agree that it's caused by not cleaning off the product well enough.
 
Dr. Jones said:
Check out this thread . I posted it a while back and got all sorts of fun tire tips. Its good enough to of made it to my bookmark list.

Dr. Jones, I agree there are a ton of great practical tips in that thread. But I'm doing the full regimen: washing the wheels with an alkaline product, then washing and washing and rewashing the tires with an appropriately-diluted APC+ with stiff nylon, followed by Zaino (on the Jag) or EO Satin (on the Benz), and now I'm noticing the "browning" effect more than ever. So .... back to jonw440's original question in this thread: is there a problem with these products? or are we making some problem in their application??
 
I'm not 100% sure but if the tire dressing you guys are using is oil-based then it may have a tendency to attract dirt, thus causing the browning of the tire. The oil-based dressing will also be harder to clean off the tire. I use 303 for dressing the tire and haven't had any browning when using it, but I used EF Black Sapphire (which is oil-based) once and sure enough I had noticeable browning. I use EFHI Cleaner and sometimes repeat the cleaning and my tires look black even without dressing.



You might try using a water-based dressing, like 303 or Lexol Vinylex, for a while and see if the browning decreases.



Good luck and let us know your solution when you find something that works.
 
No, I don't believe I'm using oil-based dressing. I think Z16 & EO Satin are "good" dressings. And I'm cleaning with P21S or Meguiar's APC+. I remain perplexed that using these good products can create more "browning." Or -- it could be -- maybe Autopia has just made me notice it more? :nixweiss
 
I quit using Meguiars Endurance a year or so ago. It seemed that what gave it the "Endurance" was a very sticky film that would coat the tire more than nurish the rubber. I found out the hard way that not cleaning the tires well and then reapplying the Meg Endurance would leave you with a nice sticky residue. Now I use Griot's rubber cleaner and rubber tire dressing. Don't have any complaints so far.
 
I know that Bleach White has a bad rep.

Having said that I still use the stuff when I want to get the tires really clean. I only use it at the power wash car wash and spray the tires very well. I apply either Zaino dressing or meguairs and have not experianced any browning. (Micheline tires)

Plus nothing gets the raised white letters on the Explorer whiter.

For what its worth....
 
I'm noticing that none of the Senior Autopians have weighed in since this thread got a little more indepth. Where are you guys????? We could use a little help/advice here.
 
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