Tire Dressing For Better Tire Shine

"How do I get my tires to look new and shine again?"

 

Tire dressing kicks it up

A washed and waxed car is the pride of any car owner, but a clean car with old looking tires is like a man in a tuxedo wearing dirty sneakers. There are tire dressing products available that will restore tire shine with various degrees of gloss. They not only complete the look of your car, they help prevent dry rotting and hardening of the rubber and color fading. Depending on the formula, they may even provide important UV protection.

There are two basic types of tire dressing products on the market today: Solvent-based and water-based tire dressing. Both use silicone as the restorative ingredient. Solvent-based tire dressing tends to last longer in general than water-based and provides a good long-lasting, usually glossy, waterproof surface when dry. Water-based tire dressing tends dry fast and well and gives minimum "spin off" or "sling." Spin off or sling is when the product remains liquid on the tire surface and is sprayed onto the car surface around the wheel wells.

Application techniques vary depending on the product, but there are two basic ways of application. For best results, the tires should be clean and dry. 

For Wipe-on or Gel Tire Dressing products

Gel tire dressing usually comes with an applicator sponge or you could use a soft bristled brush. The problem with the sponge is that it is often difficult to spread the tire dressing into and around raised letters or other raised details on the tire. The better the tire shine is spread, the less likely there will be a spin-off or sling problem. Wipe off any tire shine that may have gotten onto the wheel or hubcap.

For Spray Tire Dressing products

Don't just spray the product onto the tires despite what the bottle says. Spraying onto the tire often makes the tire dressing bead up and not be evenly applied. The greater risk, however, is that you will get over-spray onto the finish of your car. It won't hurt and you can just wipe it off , but you probably just washed and waxed your car and don't need the extra trouble. Instead, spray onto a soft-bristled brush. The brush will help get the product onto the tire evenly and into the details of the tire. If you accidentally get some tire shine onto an unwanted area, just wipe off. 

Some Recommended Tire Dressing Products

Armor All Extreme Tire Shine - 18 oz. bottle: You can get this for around $10 almost anywhere. This is a gel-type product that comes with an applicator sponge. The sponge tends to make it hard to get the gel out of the rubber details, but the product seems to give a good, bold shine that is decently long lasting.

Turtle Wax T-476 ICE Tire Shine - 23 oz. spray bottle: This has a unique applicator brush that's built right onto the sprayer. You can remove the brush for better control if needed. This hybrid system helps eliminate over-spray and is fast and easy although it is somewhat hard to brush when attached to a full bottle. Low spin-off. Very affordable and can be purchase just about anywhere for about $10.

Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss - 16 oz. bottle: Non-greasy, no sling and UV protectant, Z-16 also has anti-static properties that repel dirt and dust. It's pretty durable, too - water repellant through a couple of rains and a few weeks. Z-16 is water-based and gives a nice satin finish - like a new tire - but you can do an additional application to increase the gloss. It's a little more money per ounce than Armor All or Turtle Wax and you can only get it online. Sell for about $13.

Meguiar's Hyper Dressing - 1 gallon bottle: Unusual for the fact that you can actually mix this in various ratios to achieve anywhere from a matte new tire finish to a high gloss. Very durable for water-based tire dressing, Hyper Dressing is also very low sling even at higher ratios if you let it dry properly and buff. It's usually sold only by the gallon, but you can get a small sample bottle some places online. Gallons go for about $35; the 32 oz. sample bottle for about $15. Because it can be diluted up to a 4:1  ratio, Hyper tends to be a great value per ounce and will probably last the average person years. You'll have to use an empty spray bottle with this. Recommended bottles and spray heads are sold along with the tire dressing. Apply with a foam sponge or brush.