After less than two weeks from the day I ordered some new whitewalls from Diamondback I was happy to see them waiting for me when I got home from work today. I am suprised they got here so fast as they are made to order. If you did not know DB give a discount to HAMB'rs if you ask. They are not an alliance vendor but they will still hook you up. Thanks, Tab!! My question. What is the best way to safely clean the blue coating that is on the whitewall? Thanks, Todd
It will just wash off with soap and water. They say you can clean the white walls with 409, simple green, etc. but do not use bleach. They have care and other information on their website Dang, I didn't know about the HAMB discount. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
I have been using the Coker white wall cleaner on mine, it works great, even works well on plain 'ol black wall tires.
Mean Green spray cleaner from the Dollar General store (about $2 or $3), and a medium stiff brush. I then use a brillo pad if more cleaning power needed.
I'm pretty sure mild soapy water will get rid of the shipping "blue"s. I've tried almost everything under the sun to keep older white walls clean, but recently have had excellent success with my "orange" hand cleaner... Just a dab on the rag and viola! Just abrasive enough without any scratching. Works great! -Dave
What people have "used for years" and what DB uses for their white walls may not be compatable. I'd call DB, and use what THEY recommend. That way it's on them if the WW's get screwed up, and they can't come back and say YOU screwed them up using non recommended cleaners...
345 Desoto, you just make way too much sense. What a smart answer. Of course, you could try all sorts of folk remedies and when they screwed up your WWs, you could call DB and tell them what a lousy product they had... Yeah, that's the ticket! :
CLEAN BEFORE YOU MOUNT!!!!!! The blue trapped under the bead will sling out everytime they get wet. Mine is almost gone, after two years. To clean them use 'Mr.Clean Magic Eraser' and water. Ask your wife, she probably has them under the kitchen sink.
Wesleys...used it for 30 years. I don't know how they can say it's not good for tires! BTW, stay away from anything that's abrasive. Yeah, it will clean the stubbornest dirt fast, but it leaves scratches that attract and hold dirt, so they'll get dirtier faster, and stay dirtier, be harder to clean later.
Rubber compounds used for tires are not the same as they were thirty years ago. Westley's contains bleach. Whitewall manufacturer's suggest you NOT use anything with bleach in it.
When I used to use Westley's, you could just watch the white come off the tire and flow down the driveway. 3 years later my www's are full of little fine spiderweb cracking, and the smooth finish they had is dry as a popcorn fart. I just bought another set, and I guess I'm going to spend the money and buy cleaner from Coker's.
Westleys does not contain bleach. They just use a word that sounds like it but spells differently. Some marketing genius came up with that one, apparently not having a clue what real bleach does to rubber. A search online for the ingredients shows an aqueous solution containing isopropanol, 2-butoxyethanol, sodium metasilicate and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate. I use it on both white and black wall tires, maybe once a year. The whitewalls get wiped down once a month with an old cotton t-shirt and a little water. If you can, avoid abrasives, like medium or hard brushes, steel wool, etc. on new smooth rubber.
After I have cleaned my whitewalls I spray them with Pledge furniture polish and wipe them with a good old fashioned yellow dust cloth to give them an antistatic coat and to reduce the dust being attracted to them. This helps with Cokers and Goodyears and other brands where the whitewall is recessed and reduces dust build up in the groove, plus they smell sweetly of lemon...
from DB: CLEANING TIPS (No Bleach) One of the first things you will notice is that Diamond Back Cl***ics are extremely easy to clean. Most whitewalls turn dingy or yellow because of the leaching of chemicals (mostly anti-oxidants) into the white material. Because our process uses a butyl lining to stop chemical leeching, you only have to clean the surface dirt. We recommend frequent cleanings with an abrasive cleaning pad. A fine or medium sanding sponge works well. These are available at most hardware stores. Any good cleaner works OK - Castrol Super Clean, 409, Simple Green, Greased Lightning - just to name a few. Avoid cleaners that contain bleach. Prolonged use of these cleaners can “dry” the whitewall surface. Do not use products such as Armor All on whitewall. This could cause slight discoloration. Whitewall surfaces tend to “dry” with time, heat, ozone, etc. A vigorous cleaning periodically will get rid of the dry surface and help maintain the tire’s beauty. Don’t be afraid to scrub. http://www.widewhitewalltires.com/cleaningtips.html
Well, whatever you may wish to call it...but it has a warning in large BOLD letters: "DANGER: CORROSIVE" both on the front and back of the container. That does not sound like a benign compound to me...
The Jalopy Journal
