Tyre Maintenance Tips: 6 Steps To Shiny Wheels

When performing a car's exterior detailing, we often neglect the part of it that involves wheels and tyres.Think about the moment, when we get fully suited to attend a business meeting but forget to polish our shoes. Same is the case with our cars; it's all in small details. Apart from the looks aspect of it, detailing a wheel protects it against a number of environmental factors.

The wheel often gets coated with brake dust and tiny metal shavings from the rotor. Brake dust mostly comprises carbon and adhesive material. When this coat of brake-dust and metal is exposed to high temperatures, it makes it highly corrosive, and can eat into the alloy material, making it permanently dull. Frequent cleaning is the only way to prevent the corrosive deposit on the alloys.

Moreover, all tyre manufacturers add a chemical called Antiozonant to prevent the tyre from cracks, ozidation, spliting and overall degradation. But, one negative fallback of Antiozonant is that it makes the sidewall appear brownish as it seeps out.

Lets discuss how we can properly detail our vehicle's wheels-

Things we would require-

Tyre cleaner- Using regular car wash may be too mild to remove brake dust deposit from alloys. We therefore, require a purpose built Tyre cleaner. You need to make sure that the cleaner is harsh enough to clean the wheel but not damage the tyres or alloys.

Tyre Dressing- A good tyre dressing is essential to bring back that new tyre look again. There are basically two types of dressing- Water based and Solvent based. Water based products generally give a non-greasy finish, whereas solvent based provides shiny finish that also lasts longer than waterbased ones. But, since these solvent based dressing contains silicone, it might not react well with the rubber compound and increase the degradation. However, you don't need to worry if using a reputable brand product.

Tyre brush- Different size of brushes always helps to clean around tight corners around the wheels.

Car wax- You can pick any normal car wax.

Microfibre cloth.

How To-

1. While cleaning your car, start with the wheels first, as this prevents grime from wheel splashing onto the clean panels of your car. If the wheels are too dirty, apply normal car wash and rinse after 1 minute.

2. Spray your chosen tyre cleaner and spray it liberaly, ensuring that it reaches every nook and corner. Allow the wheel to soak it in for a minute or so before rinsing it off.

3. Take out brushes and start cleaning the wheel; make sure to spray more cleaner if it is drying due to hot work environment.

4. Rinse the wheel with water and dry it off with a microfibre cloth.

5. Now apply a thin coat of wax on alloys and wipe off after drying, avoid using wax on the tyres, as it gets difficult to take it off from rubber and plastic materials.

6. Now, the final step is to apply some dressing onto the tyres. If using water based dressing, squeeze out some product onto the foam applicator and apply it on the tyre sidewall.

There you go, now you have some shiny wheels that are also protected. Always make sure you do this process for one tyre at a time, to prevent water marks and drying of cleaner before rinsing.