You’ve scrubbed your car inside and out and gotten rid of those lingering crumbs and annoying smudges on the windshield — but how are your tires doing? There’s a good chance all that wear and tear on your tires has left them in need of some extra love! Luckily, cleaning your vehicle's tires is easy and can be done in four easy steps.
Your tires are the only part of your vehicle coming in contact with the road. That means they are usually the first thing to get dirty! And while a little dirt won't hurt, what could be hiding underneath the dirt and grime just might — think nails, cracks in the sidewall, and low or uneven treadwear. Follow these four easy steps to get your tires squeaky clean to help you determine if it's time for new tires from Firestone Complete Auto Care.
To start your tire-washing process, you'll need a bucket, microfiber towels, a hose and spray nozzle, and a soft-bristled brush. For a deeper clean, use a light-duty pressure washer, a waxing mitt, and a wheel brush.
Use non-abrasive cleaning agents like dish soap, warm water, and wheel wax. If you’re curious about how to clean car tires naturally, try using a 70/30 mix of white vinegar and baking soda.
After you’ve collected your tools and materials, rinse off all the loose dirt using your spray nozzle or the lowest setting pressure washer (if you have one). Try to work the water from multiple angles — above, below, and both sides — to knock out the most grime from the interior of the rim.
After you've rinsed the tire, scrub the surface thoroughly. Begin with the tires, and move on to the wheels to avoid having tire grime drip onto a clean wheel face. With your bristled brush, scrub the tire with warm water and dish soap (about a tablespoon of soap per gallon of water). For stuck-on grime, let the soap mixture sit on the tire for a few minutes to help soften things up.
Then, repeat scrubbing and rinsing as much as you need.
Once your tires are glistening, you can start washing the surface of the wheel. Wet the wheel face, and use your brush with warm, soapy water to scrub everything down. If you want to apply a natural cleaning solution on your chrome wheels, pour equal parts of white vinegar and water into a spray bottle and spritz onto the wheels to melt away stains.
Use a smaller brush to tackle tougher spots on the wheels, then fully dry both the tire and the wheel with a clean, microfiber towel.
While a wax application isn’t totally necessary, it’s the perfect final step to get your tires looking their best. For maximum results, apply a cream or paste wax with a waxing mitt, and make sure to follow the instructions provided on the container. After applying the wax, give it a final polish with a microfiber cloth, and marvel at that amazing shine!
Cleaning your tires is important if you want your car to look its best! Since tires are the only part of your vehicle that touches the road while you’re driving, they can require a bit more TLC than the rest of your ride when it comes to keeping them clean.:quality(80)/images.vogel.de/vogelonline/bdb/1404300/1404376/original.jpg)
Aside from dirty wheels not being aesthetically-pleasing, cleaning your tires is also a great way to limit corrosion or similar damage. Letting dirt and grime hang out too long can cause your wheel finishes to peel and can even make the rims more porous (which could create tire pressure leaks).
Cleaning your tires on a routine, bi-monthly basis can help remove the salt, dust, and oil buildup that are a natural part of driving and keep your vehicle in top shape for years to come.
Paying attention to your tires’ health is essential in helping extend their lifecycle and keeping things running smoothly out on the road.
If you’re cleaning your tires and notice that any one of your tires is balding, wearing unevenly, cracking on the sidewall, or has an obstruction, it's time to make an appointment at Firestone Complete Auto Care. We provide expert tire repair, alignment services and can even help you pick out a whole new set of tires for your vehicle! Whatever your vehicle needs may be, our team is here to get your car back on course.
You put your Mud Tires to the test and just conquered the muddiest terrain known to man (or at least you tell yourself that) after your celebratory beverage you glance over at "Old Betty" (or your trucks nickname) and realize the badge of mud can quickly result in combat wounds (paint chips). Yes, you have come to the conclusion it is time for a complete wash.
Note:
Mud Terrain Tires that clog with mud and debris resulting in less traction and overall grip. The results can leave you stuck in the mud, so to avoid this from ever happening we recommend cleaning out the lugs of your tires before conquering a tough ride.
Below are our recommendations of how to clean out your tires!
Ole Betty is ready for her rinse, and to do her justice; you will need to make sure you have the appropriate equipment. We recommend getting a pressurized soap dispenser along with a car-specific soap. It is important to have enough pressure to knock off the mud off your mud tires; we recommend the Torq Foam Blaster 6 Foam Wash Gun. Any good automotive-cleaning soap is made for automotive use, which means it will not strip the wax or greases that most vehicles are full of, but are good at breaking down organic matter like bugs and bird poop. Also, a good automotive soap can mix into extra-strength batches for pretreating an extra-filthy front end or lower panels that need some extra love or used straight for spot-treating dirt and stuck-on messes. We have seen positive results with the Mr. Pink Super Suds Shampoo & Superior Surface cleaning soap. Finally, you will need to obtain wash mitts and cleaning pads as seen here.
For more detailed cleaning you will need to get the Wash Brush, the wash brush can cut down tremendously on truck bed cleaning. Note: No Kitchen Soap. Ole Betty does not like Kitchen soap.
Cleaning Step Two - Application:
First, you will start out with a gentle wash down of your vehicle. Start with soaking the undercarriage and your mud tires to loosen the mud then move to the rest of the vehicle. Once you have lathered your vehicle with some good ole h30, it is time to apply the Torq Foam Blaster 6 Foam Wash Gun and Mr. Pink Super Suds Shampoo & Superior Surface cleaning soap. Make sure you have the desired pressure when using the Torq Foam Blaster to ensure you do not pull off any paint. When you apply the automotive soap, you will use a flicking motion, which will help distribute the product you are using and conserve cleaner. Remember while you are spraying to use one direction when cleaning your truck. Cleaning in a swirling motion can cause scratches from different directional shooting.
Here at Treadwright we recommend going from front to back of the truck.
Now that you have your vehicle all lathered up with cleanser and water it is time to start knocking that mud off the undercarriage. The easiest way to do this is to get down on the ground and spray and scrub the undercarriage with the Torq Foam Blaster and Wash Brush. Once the mud is off, and the cleanser has been applied it is time to wash your vehicle down one more time with just water! Oh and don't forget to open the doors and spray the mud that gets in the door and the rocker panel.
Cleaning Step Three - Drying Off:Now let's not be ole billy bob drying our vehicle off with paper towels, old t-shirt, or bathroom towel to clean your truck. Use the wash mitts and cleaning pads featured earlier. Try not to drop your wash mitts or cleaning pad on the ground be sure to double check it before using it again. Sometimes they can pick up debris such as rocks and gravel. As for your mud tires, you can let these babes sun bath to dry off.
Do we really need to wax? If so, then venture here for a waxing tutorial!
Extra Tips
Spend the $1 or whatever it costs to get the machine going rinse the vehicle as much as possible then put some water in your 5-gallon bucket and fill it with foam.Co-Author - Tony Floyd
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Updated:
27/07/2020
)
Contents of article
The right technology and the right detergents will help get rid of brake dust and gravel stuck in the tread, improving the safety of the car, driver and passengers.
How to wash tires we will tell in this article.
To clean the wheels from dirt, dust and oil residues, you will have to act according to the following plan:
The wheel should not be treated with the same napkin as the car body. Traces of solvent or oil will stain the cleaned rubber. In the final, the wheel is applied with a protector that protects the tires from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.
To clean dried-on dirt from rims and wheels, you will need a machine that generates high-pressure water. Such installations are produced by American and European companies, so they are quite expensive, but they can be replaced with an ordinary hose and a special nozzle that accelerates the water jet to a pressure sufficient to clean the car.
To remove residual dirt, you will need a medium-hard bristle brush and a cleaning solution that is used to treat wheels and rims. This solution can be prepared from household chemicals found in the kitchen or bathroom, or bought at an automotive store. Moreover, store products are divided into universal foam cleaners and solutions based on weak acids, which can only process car rims.
By the way, if you don’t know how to wipe rubber off a car, try this solution.
To wash the wheels of cleaning products, you need the same high-pressure apparatus or a hose with a nozzle. But as a napkin that will wipe off the remaining water, you need to use only clean microfiber from the package.
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To prepare a solution that can clean dirt from tires, dilute in a small amount of water to half a standard bottle of dishwashing detergent.
Pour the resulting concentrate into a container into which it is convenient to dip a car brush. Thanks to the abundance of surfactants found in dish detergent, a homemade solution will clean tires as well as a factory cleaner.
Rules for the use of home remedies that can clean wheels are similar to the recommendations of manufacturers of commercial drugs. Before treating tires and rims with home remedies, make sure you wash the tires. Otherwise, brake dust and gravel residues will turn into abrasive particles that can scratch the tread when you scrub it off dirt with a brush or sponge. Do not try to clean the wheel with an old cloth that has been used to clean the engine compartment or bodywork - it will stain the wheel with oil or gasoline.
Find Goodyear tires for your car
In addition to washing, it is worth treating car tires with protective agents. The process is also called "tire blackening". Protective agents protect car tires from cracking, dirt sticking, give a black tint.
Let's figure out how to wash and blacken rims and tires, taking the "guinea pig" model Toyota Prius Since 2012.
Step 1. Wash the wheels separately from the body and interior. At the same time, use a separate bucket of soapy water so as not to transfer grease and dirt from the wheels to the rest of the body surface.
Such shampoos contain substances that prevent the sticking of dirt, tar, oil products. Apply detergent following the instructions on the package. Wheel cleaners may have a creamy consistency that must be applied with a soft cloth or sold as an aerosol to be sprayed over the entire area of the wheel rim. Separate "rubber blackeners" are sold for tires.
They come in the form of aerosols, which do not need to be washed off after application, they themselves drain along with the dirt. There are liquid ones that need to be washed off after application. There are combined detergents for tires and wheels, their action is ineffective.
Step 3. Moisten the wheels and scrub thoroughly with a stiff (not iron) bristle brush. Make sure you flush the area where the brakes are located, if you have access to them. Along with road dust, brake pad dust accumulates in the gaps of the rim, so this place is most sensitive to corrosion from accumulated dirt. How to properly protect your car from corrosion, read here.
Step 4. Wax or car tire blackening agent applied to a wet surface will not do any good, so wipe the wheels with a terry cloth, preferably microfiber.
Step 5. After washing, apply wheel wax to the dry surface. Wax will give the wheels a shine, protect against road dust, dirt, engine oil, tar, and reduce exposure to ultraviolet rays.
Step 6. If you haven’t stocked up on rubber ink, you can give them colors with folk remedies. Shoe polish, shoe polish will not work, they will be washed away by the first rain. Buy regular glycerin at a pharmacy, mix 100 grams of glycerin with 100 grams of water, then apply with a sponge to the rubber. Do not spare water, otherwise dust will stick to the tires.
Tires are also blackened with silicone oil, which will save tires in cold weather, protect against cracks and sunlight that age rubber.
Laundry soap - the third way to blacken car tires. It can be crumbled into water, mixed, applied to the surface of the rubber and allowed to dry, after which the rubber will blacken thickly. The disadvantages of this method are that laundry soap dries the rubber, causing it to crack.
Tires can be washed with household chemicals - dishwashing detergent or glass cleaner. Tires will turn black, but the effect will not be long, but safe.
