Tires. Whitewall cleaning?

Ok ok ok....I finally got my aluminum rims cleared of the notorious Westley's Bleech Wite etching (overspray). After three months of cleaners,polishes, and chemicals they are about 90% restored. Unfortunately I don't think I can get them to 100%. At least it doesn't seem that way. Anyhow I can live with what I have.


My question is what can I use to clean the tires and most importantly get the white wall lettering white again? They are not too bad and my guess would be to use Simple Green and a scrub brush. Anybody out there have any ideas.....anything better that might work?

no chemicals please.....

Kissel-

Westleys bleachy white. Use to use them on my 88 caprices white walls

I use soft scrub on my tires to get them really clean. Even after I clean them with regular car wash or even simple green, I seem to get even more dirt and crud off with Soft Scrub.

I use Westley's for normal whitewall cleaning, but if they still don't look white enough I use a Brillo pad to take off the top layer of dull white. Don't worry, there's plenty of white, it isn't like paint.

I should also mention bleaching abrasives like Ajax work well, too, and on occasion I've even used sandpaper to grind off bad stains.

Well there is some good info here. I am trying to stay away from the chemicals if I can. The Bleech-Wite did a number on my rims. They will never be the same. The white walls were great, absolutely white. but the trade off wasn't worth it.

guess you can't beat good ole elbow grease and regular soap!


Kissel-

Never use a product with any kind of bleach near the wheel surface! Bleach will cause damage to the wheel finish, as will strong acids. Many wheel finishes can be as delicate as paint finishes, so a good rule of thumb is to never use something on the wheels that you wouldn't feel OK about using on the paint. Granted, I'm not saying use Simple Green or something similar on the paint, but it's safer than most for touchups.

IMO, the best way to clean the tires is to use a general cleaner, like Simple Green, or Eagle One AtoZ cleaner, or Meguiar's Gold Class cleaner, etc...and a lot of elbow grease. You'll need a good tire brush to scrub the surface white. With a decent cleaner and a little hard work, you can get them like new.

:)

I have the PERFECT solution for your problems if you don't want to spray anything on the tires or wheels. An SOS pad will do an excellent job of getting the letters white again.

(an sos pad is steel wool with cleaner in it but you probably already know that) You can probably get them at the grocery store or kmart or something.

Originally posted by KillerTA
I have the PERFECT solution for your problems if you don't want to spray anything on the tires or wheels. An SOS pad will do an excellent job of getting the letters white again.

(an sos pad is steel wool with cleaner in it but you probably already know that) You can probably get them at the grocery store or kmart or something.


I second Killer TA's post. SOS pads will do the trick. I used SOS pads on my white walls in my pimpn days.