Proper maintenance of your vehicle’s tires depends upon a regular cleaning regimen. Here’s how to clean tires using a simple, inexpensive process.
At the point where the rubber meets the road, your vehicles’ wheels and tires grab a lot of dirt and grime not to mention collecting layers of brake-pad dust and fine shavings from the rotors. Of these, road salt and brake dust represent particularly caustic threats that can pit your wheels and steal life from your tires.
Both tire manufacturers and installers recommend cleaning your tires and wheels at least every other week to keep them looking great and performing their best.
Environmental Tip: You may be tempted to clean your car in the driveway, and we can’t argue the convenience and time savings associated with that. However, car washes are legally required to collect gray water from their washing bays, recycle the water, and dispose of the cleaning agents in the proper way. We recommend working there whenever possible.
Dirty rims and wheels can take the joy out of any ride.
Before we start cleaning, make sure your vehicle is completely off and the rims are cool to the touch.
Hose down any large pieces of grit or dirt on the wheels and rims. This will save you some time scrubbing later.
Hand holding hose spraying wheel and rim and hand scrubbing rim with a soapy sponge
To create your cleaning solution, fill up a gallon bucket of hot water and add 1 teaspoon of a concentrated dish liquid like Dawn.
Use a rag or sponge to clean the outside edge of the rim. Scrub until all the grease has been removed from the metal surface. Next, clean the interior of the rim. Try using an old toothbrush to reach those tough-to-reach spots.
Rinse out the wheel wells starting from the top to the bottom. This ensures that all the soap is removed. Excess residue may lead to etching on certain materials.
Rinsing tire clean with a hose and drying rim with towel
Immediately dry with a soft, clean towel. Now hit the road with your clean rims and wheels.
Use non-abrasive cleaning agents like dish soap, warm water, and wheel wax. If you’re curious about how to clean car tires naturally, try using a 70/30 mix of white vinegar and baking soda.
Don’t use anything on your wheels that you wouldn’t use on paint. Windex is mainly ammonia, so it shouldn’t harm the clear coat. But it will take off wax.
Vinegar is also an all-purpose cleaner for aluminum. Pour vinegar on the aluminum rims, and use a sponge or clean towel in a circular motion to polish or clean the aluminum rim. Repeat as necessary.
Get rid of road dirt, grease and tar by using a degreaser and cleaners like dish detergent and baking soda! Mix your dish detergent with equal parts water and clean your rims using a soft cloth.
How To Remove Brake Dust from Wheels
After washing with detergent and rinsing off, apply Multi-Use Product on a cloth and rub in the product in affected areas. It is a formula that helps to remove grease, oil, and dirt without leaving any residue. It acts immediately on contact and is easy to rinse off.
You can use a glass cleaner for a tire/wheel cleaner if you use a wheel cleaning brush. It takes the brake dust right off. As with what rooba8 said, wax works well on wheels, but special wheel polishes work even better.
Simple Green and water, a 50/50 mix in a spray bottle. It was cheap and it works well. Wet the tire, spray it on, let it sit for a couple of minutes, scrub with a brush, rinse, let dry. Nice black and natural-looking tires.
For those who like their wheels looking spotless, brake dust is the sole bane of their existence. This dust is different from road dirt that your wheels inevitably pick up during the normal course of driving. It’s darker and finer-grained than your garden-variety dirt, often appearing reddish-brown in color.
Tires bloom because antiozonant pushes its way to the outer edge of the rubber casing with time. As the element comes into contact with oxygen, it leaves a brown residue on the surface of the tire.
Not only is Vinegar natural, but it is also non-toxic in nature. It means you won’t be worried about accidentally damaging parts of your car or even your own hands or skin while using vinegar to clean your tires.
We do not recommend using CLR on a car. The acids in our product should not be used on aluminum or any painted/coated surface. You can safely remove rust from car wheels (if rims are made of chrome or stainless steel only, no alloys).
Wash and scrub the tire thoroughly. With your bristled brush, scrub the tire with warm water and dish soap (about a tablespoon of soap per gallon of water). For stuck-on grime, let the soap mixture sit on the tire for a few minutes to help soften things up. Then, repeat scrubbing and rinsing as much as you need.
Dirty rims and wheels can take the joy out of any ride. Thankfully, cleans everything from baked-on to braked-on messes. So, take a quick pit stop to clean your brake dust and make those tire rims and wheels shine like new.
Get rid of road dirt, grease and tar by using a degreaser and cleaners like dish detergent and baking soda! Mix your dish detergent with equal parts water and clean your rims using a soft cloth. Then sprinkle baking soda on the rough side of a sponge and go over your rims again, and finally rinse off.
Don’t use anything on your wheels that you wouldn’t use on paint. Windex is mainly ammonia, so it shouldn’t harm the clear coat. But it will take off wax.
If there’s brake dust on your vehicle’s body, you don’t want to use a cleaner designed for rims. Instead, you want to use a paint-safe iron remover. Iron removers work similarly to Deacon lube. They use catalysts to remove iron deposits, and usually change color when they’re ready to rinse off.
