I actually just did mine 10 mins back.they were real dirty so i used degreaser with a kitchen scourer then i washed em with wash up liquid and hey presto like new........Marq
Diamond Back recommends commercial cleaners like Simple Green and Formula 409 and warns against fine scouring pads because they abrade the surface which lets dirt and grime get deeper into the material. That was quite a bummer for me, who used to use Brillo Soap Pads to keep his whites sparkly. 'Course those were in the days of inexpensive bias-ply tires that would last for maybe 15K miles if you were lucky. Since I'm expecting 65K-80K from my DB radials, I think I'll follow their recco . . .
After being "abraded" by the first curb I park against it really doesn't matter I've used the kitchen cleanser and a stiff bristle deck brush, or a brillo pad for years. I just figure after thay get cat pissed the third time they aren't "show quality" anymore anyway and quit worying about it. Of the products AV8 mentioned I prefer Simple Green in fact I keep a gallon jug in the garage and use it for all de-greasing but it doesn't have the bleach to get the yellow out of tires for me and 409 I don't like because it seems to always leave a dust attracting sticky film. Are curb feelers back in style yet?
Westley's Bleche White. No I didn't spell it wrong that's the name. It has a small amount of acid that takes the yellow out. Spray it on, wait a couple minutes and wipe it off. I've had good luck with it.
[ QUOTE ] Westley's Bleche White. [/ QUOTE ] Or simple green, Just make sure you wash it off within a few mins of spraying.
As you can see, these were VERY dirty, covered in mildew a**** other nasties. Before pic Made long long ago, and been sitting. So first thing we do is take some Westleys Bleche White and try to scrub most of the dirt and grit off. (I know its sidwards but I dont really care!!) Now using a stiff bristled brush scrub scrub scrub until it looks good, then rinse with a hose. Now that its clean you can begin sanding them. Use a fine grit sand paper, and keep it wet. 300 is probably about as low as you wanna go, I used 320 and it turned out perfectly. Now dont be afraid of sanding, the yellow stuff on the whitewalls is oxidation, and no amount of bleche white or anything else will get it off. Just makes sure to keep the paper well lubed, and check to make sure your not leaving gouges or anything else. Try not to use your fingers too much, but use your whole hand, fingers only makes gouges occur more easily. Here we are sanding. You can see here that all that white comes off, and that the sand paper is kinda white. That doesnt necessarily mean its bad, but rinse it of and keep going. Also rinse the tire occasionaly to keep the gunk from building up. Here the tire is halfway there, you may not be able to tell in the pic but theres still some yellowish crud there. Keep sanding until you think you are either going through the white, or its gone...remember go easy on it, dont kill the tires. After this we are ready to reclean the tires, again using a stiff bristled brush, and Westleys Bleche White. After this you're pretty much done with the hard stuff, rinse it off good and well with the hose. Then set em out and let them dry for an hour or two. After that soak em up in armor all or any other good protectant, you sanded the top coat off the white, and now they will only oxidize again if you leave them unprotected. Final product: I wrote that a while back, but the pics werent showing (no longer use that host)
Give NeverDULL a shot, I was REALLY surprised to see how well it takes off dirt and it wipes yellowing right off.
If you are going to use Bleche White are Simple Green to clean your WWW's be very careful, let me repeat that-BE VERY CAREFUL if you have aluminum wheels that are not coated with a factory-type protectant. I have a set of aluminum wheels off a Lincoln that I polished and stuck them on my Caddy. I squirted some Bleche White on my WWW's to clean them up good and instantly saw it was a BIG mistake. The cleaner attacked the nicely polished wheels and turned them to a set of not-so-nicely polished wheels. Apparently, the acid in the cleaner turns the aluminum to a real dull brushed aluminum look. It took me quite some time to reurn them to the polished look I had had before they were introduced to the cleaner. AAAAAARG!
The absolute easiest thing I have found is the Purple stuff sold by Castorol (SP?)Oddly enough, I think it's called purple stuff? Someone correct me if I am wrong. You just spray it on and the stuff just runs off and rinse with a hose. No need to touch anything with a scrub brush.
[ QUOTE ] If you are going to use Bleche White are Simple Green to clean your WWW's be very careful, let me repeat that-BE VERY CAREFUL if you have aluminum wheels that are not coated with a factory-type protectant. I have a set of aluminum wheels off a Lincoln that I polished and stuck them on my Caddy. I squirted some Bleche White on my WWW's to clean them up good and instantly saw it was a BIG mistake. The cleaner attacked the nicely polished wheels and turned them to a set of not-so-nicely polished wheels. Apparently, the acid in the cleaner turns the aluminum to a real dull brushed aluminum look. It took me quite some time to reurn them to the polished look I had had before they were introduced to the cleaner. AAAAAARG! [/ QUOTE ] That's the Gospel Truth brothers! Wesley's kicks *** on widewhites, unfortunately, it kicks *** on aluminum! Oooops!
I AGREE WITH ROOTHAWG. THAT PURPLE **** WORKS GOOD. AND MY BACK TIRES GET DIIIIRRRTY. DISC IN THE REAR PLUS SMALL WHEEL WELLS.
AV8, I have a set of diamond backs and have always used the recommended chemicals. I decided to call last week and talk to them about options, like Comet or SOS pads. The guy told me no problem about the SOS pads. I used a very wet SOS pad and did not rub hard to fine tune the cleaning. (Those chemicals can be hard on the eyes (fumes). What he did recomemend was using "Mop N Glo" on a pad over the cleaned whitewall. said he help make it easier to clean the next time.
I agree, I've clened whitewalls for years with a wet SOS pad and they work great. Watch out for that Westleys stuff on polished aluminum wheels, it can do a number on them if you don't clean them off right away.
Pretty much everything you guys have mentioned we do not have here at the house. We ended up using Soft Scrub and a detailing brush. Worked pretty good but they were not that dirty to begin with.
Knights Spray-9 works awesome. Give them a quick spray and some light scrubbing with a brush and they will turn out super clean.
Boones -- Thanks for the info on the SOS pads. It's tough giving up methods that worked well in the past, but as I said, tires didn't last long enough in the Day to show any degradation of the whitewall before they were traded in on new ones. The Mop-N-Glo is an interesting touch. I'll give it a try.
I had a bad experience with using comet and a scrubbing brush on a new pair of Cokers. As soon as I started scrubbing (very lightly) the white started to rubb away on the edges. I'd try to avoid comet. The mop n glo sounds good though. Anyone else have this problem? Seems to me that the coker white walls are very thin and almost painted on. WTF? Just my .02
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