Any tips on how to remove stubborn tire browning? I've washed these tires 3x over the past month, scrubbed them pretty good with APC, McKee's Tire Rejuvenator, and Blackfire tire & wheel cleaner. I have not applied any dressing on them b/c the browning is so bad. These tires are continental cross -contact, they're 1 1/2 years old the owner never properly washed the tires, just took the car through automatic car washes, and the car has been driven cross country, and spent the winter in Montana, driven daily never garaged. My guess is that the tires have 20k (mainly highway) miles and are otherwise in very good shape. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Stubborn Tire Browning
- Thread starter luckypaco
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Klasse Act
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- Feb 21, 2012
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Adam's Tire and Wheel cleaner or Gyeon Tire cleaner
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Setec Astronomy
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Probably the best cleaner is the Tuf Shine. If they were spraying oil-based dressing on at the tunnel wash, it may take a while to leach that stuff out of the tires. Some of us who have applied tire coatings know...you just have to keep scrubbing until the brown comes out. 3 times is not a lot.
Eldorado2k
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The McKee’s Tire Rejuvenator should be able to to it. Use it full strength and scrub with a fairly stiff brush like the Tuff Shine Tire Brush. Don’t be so quick to rinse the tire. Give it at least 3x what you consider normal before rinsing off and repeat until you see the difference.
The difference will be a noticeably black tire unlike it’s been before. It can take a bit to get there but it’s worth it. Either that or get a drill brush.
The difference will be a noticeably black tire unlike it’s been before. It can take a bit to get there but it’s worth it. Either that or get a drill brush.
MisterSnoop
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- Sep 15, 2020
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It's been Tuf Shine tire cleaner and the Tuf Shine tire brush for me. I'll try for some before/after this weekend.
Rsurfer
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It's the releasing agents in the tire (rubber).
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The browning is blooming from the oil in the tyres can't always scrub it away,
Keep scrubbing untill you have white foam coming away from the tyres anything after that is blooming. Add dressing of choice
Thank you! so after the tires are thoroughly cleaned, I should just apply the tire dressing on top of the blooming?
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- #11
Yes the foam comes out white in the last pass, I dried the tires by hand with a yellow MF towel, using IPA spray until no more black residue shows up on the towel and after the tires are fully dried, they still show browning on the sidewalls, almost like a permanent stain.
Danube
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Setec Astronomy
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A hundred years ago I used to use that oil-based dressing that Eagle One used to sell. Those oil-based dressings soak into the rubber (some tire companies used to say not to use these kinds of dressings and maybe even void the warranty, I can't remember) and will draw the anti-ozonants out of the tire with them, it can take a LONG time to get it all out and for the browning to stop. I was suggesting that since you mentioned the tunnel wash and the previous owner, I know some tunnel washes will dress the tires with greasy kid stuff.
As some have noted, if you get the tire clean, but it is still brown, you can dress over the browning and that works, the problem with that is when the dressing wears off you have a brown tire instead of an undressed black one. If you wash/dress every week it can work out.
As some have noted, if you get the tire clean, but it is still brown, you can dress over the browning and that works, the problem with that is when the dressing wears off you have a brown tire instead of an undressed black one. If you wash/dress every week it can work out.
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- #14
Ha! If you're referring to that spray can of eagle one tire shine which was sticky like glue and lasted for months, I know exactly which one you're referring to, b/c I used it and liked it b/c it lasted for months and at the time I was driving 20k miles per year, so I would change tires every two years. But honestly, that tire dressing never caused browning or blooming on my tires, the main annoyance I had with that product is that sand and dirt would literally stick to the tires, but they would clean up after a wash, the stickyness would go away and the tires remained dark and black for months. It's a good product if you're a road warrior and change tires every couple of years.
Setec Astronomy
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No, it was clear silicone oil with...maybe I am not even remembering that right, maybe I never used that stuff, if I did it was one bottle. I used to use the Armor All Detailer's Choice aerosol 20 years ago, that may have been the problem. I also vaguely recollect that Poorboy's Bold and Bright from ~20 years ago also used to cause a lot of browning issues for me. But for a while I was using a Hi-Temp tire cleaner that was a caustic and that seemed to pull the anti-ozonant out of the tire and cause more browning than it cured. Anyway, for a long time I have been using the Optimum tire dressings (or DG 251 on the wife's car, she likes a shinier look), and OPC, M37, Tuf Shine, or sometimes some Mother's tire cleaners and I haven't had those lingering browning problems.
Eldorado2k
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As long as the tire is clean, you can apply tire dressing, even tire coating on it.
The reason the tire dries brown even when it’s clean is due to the tire cleaner being too aggressive as its aggressiveness makes the tire bloom. Some tire cleaners i.e. McKee’s Tire Rejuvenator and Mothers back to Black Tire Renew are formulated to clean tires without being so aggressive so they don’t leave the tires turning brown afterwards, but it may take several cleanings to get the tire to that virgin state.
Either ways you’ll be ok. I’ve applied tire coatings to clean tires that were blooming with no ill effects.
The reason the tire dries brown even when it’s clean is due to the tire cleaner being too aggressive as its aggressiveness makes the tire bloom. Some tire cleaners i.e. McKee’s Tire Rejuvenator and Mothers back to Black Tire Renew are formulated to clean tires without being so aggressive so they don’t leave the tires turning brown afterwards, but it may take several cleanings to get the tire to that virgin state.
Either ways you’ll be ok. I’ve applied tire coatings to clean tires that were blooming with no ill effects.
Setec Astronomy
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Eldo! That's fine if you're using a black coating like the old Turtle Wax that you like, but if you go over the browning with a clear coating like Tuf Shine, doesn't it look brown?
Eldorado2k
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That’s a good question. I wouldn’t know since all I use is the Turtle Wax Endura. I still have a bit of it.
So something like the Tuff Shine doesn’t significantly darken as it’s applied?
Tasmania
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Yep! See how you go with it, (Google tire blooming) or even talk with a tire manufacturer.
PaulMys
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Bingo.
Even tires that are cleaned regularly, then "neglected" for a month or two will get the brown "bloom".
I have found that just a quick scrub followed by a dressing application will take care of it.
And even on my Michelins, Ric!!
oke::laughing::laughing: