Why should I clean my car tyres?
It is vitally important that we look after and maintain our vehicle tyres. After all, they’re the only part of the car that’s in contact with the road. Additionally, having clean, dressed tyres, frames the alloy wheels, which also enhances the overall look of the vehicle.
Cleaning and properly dressing your car tyres will help to increase their longevity. Tyre dressings help protect the rubber from UV damage and lock in oils and other chemicals which keep the compound supple.
What are the best tools and products to clean car tyres?
To clean your car tyres safely and effectively, we recommend you use the following tools and products:
- Stiff Bristled Tyre Brush
- Citrus Fuelled Pre-Wash or
- Citrus Wheel & Tyre Cleaner
- Conditioning Tyre Serum
- Tyre Dressing Applicator
- Pressure Washer or
- Garden Hose
What Is The Best Way To Clean Car Tyres?
It’s never a good idea to clean a car that’s just been driven. Brakes, tyres and other sensitive components could still be extremely hot. Cooling them too quickly with water from your hose or pressure washer could damage them. Applying car cleaning chemicals to hot surfaces could have unexpected results, like staining or chemical etching. Once all surfaces are cool to the touch, it’s safe to clean your car tyres – and the rest of your car too!
If your tyres covered in mud or winter road grime, begin cleaning them with a thorough pre-rinse. The best tool for this job is a pressure washer as this will help to blast away mud, as well as removing surface road salt and general road grime.
The best way to clean car tyres is to apply our Citrus Wheel & Tyre Cleaner directly to the tyre’s sidewall. If you're using our Citrus Fuelled Pre-Wash, dilute accordingly and apply liberally, coating as much of the sidewall as possible.
Allow the product to dwell for a few minutes. Rubber is a porous material and will naturally absorb some of the chemical. The scrubbing and agitation in the next step will help to remove both ingrained dirt and any absorbed chemical cleaner.
Grab your stiff bristled tyre brush and start scrubbing! Don’t be shy, get stuck in and use plenty of elbow grease. During this stage, you may see that the Citrus Wheel & Tyre Cleaner foams up and turns brown. This is normal and indicates that the chemical is working, removing dirt, grime and any old tyre dressing.
Next, rinse your tyres with your garden hose or pressure washer and allow to dry naturally. Once you've cleaned the entire car, apply our Conditioning Tyre Serum to dress, protect and maintain the tyre sidewalls.
