Hi...

I've never been able to master applying tire dressing.

If I use the spray it on kind, it seems like I get dressing everywhere (especially on the wheels and wheel wells) and the tires get too much and end up spinning off all over at highway speeds. I've used a towel to spray on and wipe... then I either don't get enough on or I have towel fibers/lint all over my tires. If I use a paint brush, I have to pour all the contents of tire dressing into a bowl or bucket and then I have no safe/clean place to store this.

Can anyone give me some suggestions and tips on what type of dressing to use and how best to apply without getting stuff everywhere or not enough on the tires?

I'd appreciate any tips from the masters! Thanks!

 

Tyre Cleaner:
The most important thing you can do to protect the durability of vehicle tyres is to endure they are clean. For any type of protect ant to work well on rubber first remove any brake dust, road tar, grease and grime, wax and dead rubber from the surface to properly clean it. 3M Tire and Wheel cleaner quickly and safely clean the rubber tyres and helps tyre dressing and / or UVR protection (303™ Aerospace Protectant) durability. .
Leaving tyres rubber surfaces with a brilliant matte shine, cleaning the toughest scuffs and soil from sidewalls

Cleaning Tyres:
•Rinse thoroughly with a fairly strong stream of clean water to remove any loose road dirt etc., from tyre’s and wheel wells.
•Clean brake dust, road dirt, asphalt, etc from tyres with a rubber cleaner (3M Tire & Wheel Cleaner -39036) or a citrus-based APC (P21S Total Auto Wash) Spray cleaner on to a clean surface, agitate with a stiff tyre brush
•Clean whitewalls / lettering with Race Glaze Whitewall Tyre Cleaner (http://www.raceglaze.co.uk ) wire wool or a fairly stiff wire brush
•Rinse with a d-limonene based (citrus) APC (P21S Total Auto Wash)
•Apply a tyre dressing (use a water-based polymer tyre dressing) apply product to applicator and spread evenly on tyre (for a matte finish buff tyre when product is dry)
•Apply a (UVR) protection to the tyres (303™ Aerospace Protectant).

 

Try some of the applicators available at Target or Autozone. Usually a soft foam front with a hard foam or plastic back to hold onto. Apply your dressing to the soft foam (i use gel) and then swipe across the sidewall. don't forget the spot at the bottom that you can't reach without moving the tire!

 

Any particular brand of gel I should get? Is gel easier to handle and apply than the pure liquid runny stuff?

 

Two suggestios- Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ - http//:www.Zainostore.com
or Groit’s Long Lasting Tire Dressing - http://www.griotsgarage.com)

 

i've used both sprays and gels. I went to Home Depot, or lowes and picked up a bunch of foam "paint brushes" and use those to "paint" the tire. It works great with both gels and sprays if you apply the spray to the applicator and not the tire directly. You save so much product since a little goes a very long way, especially with gels.

 

Ditto, I use the Four Star Tire Gel.
When is all said and done, and Im ready to park for the night, thats when I touch up that little spot ya just cant reach down south......

 

I clean the tires first with Whesley Bleech Wite then apply a water based dressing ( armorall/303 or the likes ... all the same family ) with the small green backed kitchen sponges you get for 12/$1 at the $$ store ..

 

Eagle-1 Tire dressing applicators, they are curved and have a soft foam for the dressing and a yellow hard backing that you hold. They are curved so you can swipe under the tire at the 6:00 o clock position and almost get all the bottom.
However, they dont last forever and eventually fall apart.
I have used alot of different dressings and most of them leave a black shiny surface that is oily and gets all over everything.
The only one that doesnt do this is Zaino Z-16 Tire gloss. 2 coats of it and the tires look great to me and it lasts through a few rainstorms too.
Alot of the other tire products come right off in the rain. Good luck. DanF

 

Something that might seem obvious, but wasn't to me, is to apply tire dressing only when you can let the car sit for a while. That is one of the reasons you get the tire spray on the body of the car b/c it hasn't had time to dry on the tire. I only noticed this recently, because my tl is white (only had it two weeks) and I could see the tire stuff on the body. My old car (black) I could never see anything.

 

This technique works for me too! These foamies go for around $4.00 for a pack of 3.

The neat thing is the soft foam part gets saturated enough, that sometimes you don't even need to load it with gel on quick touchups. Just "buff" the tirewall with the foam. It's even better 'coz it comes out as matte!
My bottle of Meg's Endurance Gel lasted me more than 2 years with doing this!

 

I tried using those foam brushes for both tire dressing and applying protectant on the dashboard. The brushes work great for getting into the tiny crevices like the vents and such. HOVEVER, the brushes don't last forever. More like three uses or so per brush. I noticed that the foam would start to break down and "smear" across the dashboard. Went back to the old paper towel during that session. But hey, the foam brushes are cheap, so what to expect?