# Best way to clean tyres?



## SNAKEBITE (Feb 22, 2010)

I struggle to get tyres looking really nice.
In the past I have just wped the tryes round with a sponge then applied the dressing. It looks good for a few days but soon wears off. The applicator always looks filthy afterwards which means the tyres are not clean enough before I start.

What can I use to clean the tyres?
I was thinking about the Mr. muscle cleaner we use at work, well it's free:thumb:


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

I use Bilt Hamber Surfex HD. Its a great degreaser and can be used for all manor of tasks. Wheels, arches, tyres, door shuts, paintwork, engine bays etc. Its super cheap, around £14 for 5L and dilutes around 10:1, although it can be diluted more. 

Highly recommended.


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

Bucket of APC and a brush for painting fences. Mine's a plastic brush from Wilko's and has really long bristles. Just dip it in the bucket and slap it on. Also give them a wipe with a sponge after.


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

APC and a detailing brush, or cheapo paint brush...


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

APC and a tyre brush like this one: brush

:thumb:


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## Edward101 (Jun 5, 2009)

APC a slightly stiff bristled brush work well or a degreaser such as Chemical Guys Orange Degreaser works well :thumb:


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## ryan.jones11 (Mar 9, 2010)

Megs APC with a wheel brush.


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

Stiff brush + APC/Degreaser is the only way to go, also make sure to clean your brush after each tyre otherwise you'll be spreading muddy suds around each tyre and not cleaning anything.


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## SNAKEBITE (Feb 22, 2010)

Got round to it yesterday.

Iused the Mr. Muscle I had and the results were AMAZING! 
Great budget results, just kept it off the paintwork.

I see they are selling it for £1 in Tesco at the moment!


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## beko1987 (Jul 25, 2010)

I use CIF oxy action spray for the tyres and it works brilliantly! Spray on liberally, leave to work for a few mins (whilst I spray the rest of the tyres), by the time I come back to the first tyre, the foam is black and muddy! Good scrub with a tyre brush, maybe a few more squirts then a good rinse. 

Then the car gets cleaned, and I'll wipe the tyres over again at the end with whats left in the wash bucket to make sure it's clean.

Sorry for digging up an old thread, was browsing!


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

Apc, decrease, or even bilberry.


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Surfex HD and a medium stiff brush.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Autobrite Very Cherry wheel cleaner is the best I've found. Spray on then agitate with a semi-stiff long bristled brush.


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

Gaz W said:


> I use Bilt Hamber Surfex HD. Its a great degreaser and can be used for all manor of tasks. Wheels, arches, tyres, door shuts, paintwork, engine bays etc. Its super cheap, around £14 for 5L and dilutes around 10:1, although it can be diluted more.
> 
> Highly recommended.


agreed, simply amazing stuff. this, coming from a person who has used degreaser they use at an aerospace engineering firm. i really rate it. this is the stuff i use.

spray on and agitate with a stiff brush (i use a wheel brush)....it then will foam a little and go brown with dirt etc. and rinse off with water and dry. tyres will be very clean but you'll want to treat them with something as they won't look glamourous at all, just clean. if they are treated when the tyres have been thoroughly rinsed and dried, the treatment will last longer.

surfex HD is simply amazing. i use it at about 15% concentration. their postage charges aren't cheap, if you use ever use WD40 i'd thoroughly recommend getting ferrosol. think of it as WD40 on steroids. that'll make the postage a little more worthy


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## Jason M5 (Jul 15, 2010)

I done mine yesterday while washing the car i used a dish washer brush with long handle and long bristles 99p from Wilko and some hot water and cheap shampoo,done the job for me.:thumb:


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## alxg (May 3, 2009)

Another vote for SurfexHD, used it for the first time recently and was blown away by it; as soon as I sprayed it on the tyres and into the arches you could see the dirt drip off straight away and I hardly needed to use a brush. Top stuff :thumb:


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## Edward101 (Jun 5, 2009)

CG Orange Degreaser, Envirocare Tyre & Wheel cleaner and a decent APC do the job very well :thumb:


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## pete5570 (Jun 11, 2010)

Clean with APC as stated and get some carplan tyre foam from ASDA for 2 quid. Works a treat, you can see the foam remove the last of the dirt and it leaves a nice satin finish. Just spray on and leave, take 1 minute to do all 4 wheels. Mines been done 2 weeks now and still looks good.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

pete5570 said:


> Carplan tyre foam from ASDA for 2 quid. Works a treat.


I bought this the other day as a punt for a quid.Going to give it a bash in the week along with my new mer quick detailer.Anything that makes the boring jobs abit easier is a plus!


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## apmaman (Jun 8, 2010)

I personally use W5 tyre foaming cleaner from Lidls, then get a sponge and work it in pretty hard to get any mud that the PW and foaming might have missed before hand. 

Once thats done dress them with AG Instant Tyre Dressing.


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## pete5570 (Jun 11, 2010)

RoverIain said:


> I bought this the other day as a punt for a quid.Going to give it a bash in the week along with my new mer quick detailer.Anything that makes the boring jobs abit easier is a plus!


A quid! Right bargain. I reckon i'll stock up on a few. Much easier than those gels.


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## wyliss (Feb 9, 2007)

Hmm Mr Muscle & CIF could have harmful efects on the rubber. I'd stick with APC if it were me. HTH


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## GaryxG (Sep 8, 2010)

So, if you use APC on your tyres, doesn't it strip any wax on your wheels? Obviously you need to try to avoid it touching your wheels, but inevitably some will get on them. 

What is the advice here?


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2010)

GaryxG said:


> So, if you use APC on your tyres, doesn't it strip any wax on your wheels? Obviously you need to try to avoid it touching your wheels, but inevitably some will get on them.
> 
> What is the advice here?


There isn't really any choice here but the sensible thing to do would be to avoid spraying your APC solution directly onto the wheel, then, when you come to rinse the tyre, start at 12oclock on the *wheel*, fully wet the wheel, then, start at 6 oclock on the tyre and work up to 12oclock (going from side to side) on the tyre, you should find most of the solution will run round the tyre and not down the wheel -- any solution that does get on the wheel while rinsing will have been diluted by the water, and then further diluted by the water on the wheel, reducing it's potential to affect the wax.

You could try using bodywork shampoo or something less strong as to not affect the wax but you will probably find it isn't strong enough to clean the tyre sufficiently.

Alternatively use a MF cloth or something, or use a foam type cleaner and wipe off.

Simple.

Vikan Multibrush is excellent at cleaning tyres, I think Envy has the best price on them atm. - no need for stiff brushes when cleaning tyres, that's just silly.


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

APC and a stiff brush a couple of times, and make sure to thoroughly clean your brush before doing the next one, no point spreading mucky suds about.

just realised i've replied to this before! thought it seemed similar.. :lol:


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2010)

How come you use a stiff brush Alan? If you have a vikan multibrush give a go with that, make sure you use a strong enough APC to get some nice brown foam on the tyre , I'd be amazed if you went back


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

G220 said:


> How come you use a stiff brush Alan? If you have a vikan multibrush give a go with that, make sure you use a strong enough APC to get some nice brown foam on the tyre , I'd be amazed if you went back


If you lived here you'd understand :lol: cars are muddy as fook.

Aye I use megs/tesco APC, it turns brown after a scrub. So rinse and repeat until it stays white.


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

I used to give them a scrub with an old dishwashing brush with what was left of the water and suds from the car washing bucket, allow to dry, then I'd polish them with black shoe polish!


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