Tire cleaning is an important part of cleaning your car. While cleaning your car, you can give special attention to the tires for cleaning. By cleaning the tires accurately, you can enhance the overall look of your car. Also, it can increase the life of the tires. Therefore, you should give some time to your car tires and use the right cleaning products to clean the tires effectively.
Cleaning car tires is not an easy task for everyone. If you don’t have any idea on how to clean your car tires, here are some dos and don’ts that you can follow while cleaning your car tires.
DOs for car tire cleaning
- Use specially designed cleaner for tires
You might be thinking you can clean your car tires using the same soap or detergent you use for cleaning your car. But that is not the right way to clean your tire. The car washing soap or detergent is not ideal for tires, and that may damage your car tires and decrease their lifespan.
Therefore, you should look for cleaners that are specially designed for cleaning the car tires. You can apply the car tire cleaner on your car tires by following the user instructions provided by the manufacturer. Before applying the cleaner, you should check whether that cleaner is ideal for both tire and wheel or not. If the cleaner you have bought is not ideal for wheels, then you should avoid applying that cleaner to the wheels. Also, you should ensure not to apply this cleaner to the car paint as it may damage that.
- Scrub using a hard brush
You can use a hard brush to clean the dirt from your car tires if that becomes brownish. There is no problem to use a hard bristle brush to clean the tires as it can clean them perfectly and don’t harm the tire. However, you shouldn’t use a steel brush to clean the tires as it may penetrate the rubber and leak the air.
- Wash the tire using a hose
You can use a hose to wash the tire after scrubbing it. Also, you can use a high-pressure hose to remove all the dirt from your car tire effectively. If you are using a high-pressure hose for cleaning the tire, then you should ensure to take safety precautions before using that.
- Use tire gel
You can use tire gel to bring the original color of the brown tires. You can use a sponge to apply the gel on the entire tire effectively. After applying the gel to a tire, you can wash that before going to the next one to prevent the drying of gel on the tire.
- Use tire dressing or coat
You can use tire dressing or coating to bring the original shine of the tires. For better results, you can opt for a water-based tire dressing instead of silicone-based. After getting the right tire dressing for your car tires, you can follow the instructions of the manufacturer to apply that on the tire effectively. You can use a sponge to apply the tire dressing and let it dry before driving the car.
Also, you can use a tire coating on the tires to protect them in different weather conditions. The tire coating can create a safety layer on your car tires and last for months. For applying the tire coating, you can use a sponge as you did with the tire dressing. You can use tire dressing or coating whichever you like.
Don’ts for car tire cleaning
- Apply the tire cleaner on the paint or wheels
The tire cleaners are designed to deal with the dirt on the tires. So, if you apply it on the wheels or paint, then it may damage that and affect the look of your car. Also, the chemicals on the tire cleaner can cause the paint to come out and remove the coatings from the wheel.
However, if the tire cleaner you use is ideal for using with wheels, then you can apply that on wheels. But you should never apply the tire cleaner on the painting.
- Use normal soap or acid-added tire cleaner
If you use an acidic tire cleaner to clean the tires, then that may damage the wheels and tires. Acid can react with the coatings of the wheel and remove that. Therefore, you should look for an acid-free tire cleaner to keep your car wheel safe.
Also, if you use a general soap to clean the car tire, then it can damage that. As this soap is not ideal for the car tire, you should avoid using it for cleaning the tires.
- Use clean water for scrubbing the tire surface
You should never use clean water for scrubbing the surface of the car tire as it may scratch the coatings. As you are using a hard brush for scrubbing the tire surface, it may get stuck on the tire surface while scrubbing if the tire is soaked with clean water.
You can apply soapy water or lubricant on the car tire to scrub it effectively. These materials can make the tire surface smooth for ease of scrubbing.
- Use a steel brush for scrubbing the tire
For cleaning the hard dirt from the tire, you can use a hard brush but not a steel brush. If you use a steel brush for rubbing the tire surface, then that can damage the tire and leak the air.
- Cleaning the wheels at a time
There is no doubt that you need more time to clean all four wheels of your car. That doesn’t mean that you will try to clean all the wheels at a time to make the cleaning process quicker. Also, if you clean all the tires at a time, then the soap and water may dry when you return to it after cleaning the fourth wheel. This way, the cleaning process may become longer. Another downside of cleaning the tire in this process is you may feel dazed while cleaning the wheels. Therefore, you should finish the cleaning of one wheel before going to another.
Conclusion
Cleaning your car becomes easier by following some simple tricks. Also, you can make your car attractive by following the right steps of cleaning your car. But when it comes to cleaning the car wheels, it is not an easy task to do, and not everyone likes to do it.
However, you can clean your car tire effectively by following the dos and don’ts described in this article. You can follow these instructions to extend the lifespan of your car tires effortlessly.