Is Tire Dressing needed?

rjgervacio said:
If I get myself a wheel/tire cleaner like the Mothers Foaming All Wheel & Tire Cleaner, or Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner Plus D103, or Meguiars Wheel Brightener, will I still be needing a tire dressing? Can I achieve the deep black appearance of the tire (almost new look) just by using cleaners?

If not, what is the best economical tire dressing available?
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No, after cleaning your tires it will look dull and a faded black. I happen to like Optimum Tire Gel, but some like it glossy. You will get 10 different answers on tire dressings.
 
I prefer no dressing on the tires. Just the fenderwells. Looks much cleaner that way IMO
 
I really love the high gloss look, but I can't seem to get away from 'slinging' and those ever so annoying black specks that wind up on my car. I've tried lesser amounts of products, different products (All Armor All), and up to 12 hours of drying. Nothing seems to work. Going to attempt different brands and see if the results are any better.
 
Rsurfer said:
No, after cleaning your tires it will look dull and a faded black.
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Not necessarily so... I had a set of Firestone A/Ts for 4 years that had a smooth, sidewall apart from the RWLs. If you dried the tires after washing they were clean, black and unfaded. Only tires I ever owned that were like that.

TL
 
Another facet to this question: Do tire dressings actually keep the rubber from oxidizing/fading from deep black to charcoal-grey?

Several tire brands are actually producing sidewall compounds that are more resistant to fade than they were a decade ago.

I generally don't use tire dressing either because I go through tires too fast (too many corners to be properly experienced) and don’t see the need for spreading more chemicals around the roadways for little added value over the life of my cars. [and in case you're wondering, I'm of course cornering hard to save fuel... let's not concern ourselves with logic here] Even on non-daily drivers I don’t feel it’s possible for a tire dressing to prevent sidewall cracking as many manufactures seem to claim, but I would love to be proven wrong. Just my opinion on it; don’t get me wrong I like a black satin tire and would certainly be happy to dress up any customer’s car on request, I'm just more concerned with protection than image (no, that's not my approach to anything else).
 
Everyone seems to have mixed opinions about this topic and I could definitely understand why. I guess it's safe to say that tire dressing can be optional. Agree?
 
rubber will oxidize and turn brown naturally over time and with exposure to the ambient. Tire dressings are a way to mitigate the look of naturally occurring oxidation, or damage from brushing or cleaning too hard, or whatever. I don't think it will prevent anything or necessarily prolong the tire life, but tires sure look better black than brown IMO. I prefer the matte tire shine or the slightly glossy like Optimum (the new formula rocks!). For corrected black cars I believe a higher gloss suits the end result better, but I still knock it down with a dry wipe after application. Thin is the key to avoid fling, and make sure to wipe really good around letters and features since slop will accumulate there.

That said, Wurth used to make some nice rubber care product in a spray can. We worked on a Vector W8 with the original tires from 1992. Never washed, just wiped clean and Wurth Rubber on the tires. Looked flat black, awesome, no cracks. The cans were as old as the car, the whole few cases of the stuff the owner had stockpiled. Couldn't pay him enough to let us have one can!
 
I agree that tire dressing is optional. Many folk are happy with just a clean tire. For a locally available tire dressing, I'd try Surf City Garage's Beyond Black. It's a water-based dressing and will not sling. It will leave the tire looking wet and black. It's available at Advance Auto. Though I haven't tried it yet, you might also give the new trigger spray version of Meguiar's Endurance a try.

If you're willing to order a dressing online, then you have many, many choices, and you will get dozens of answers on this forum. At the moment I really like Mother's FX, but if you want less gloss try Duragloss #253. Neither product slings and both work well.

For all the above dressings, I use the Eagle One tire sponges, which I pick up locally. I spray the dressing onto the sponge and then spread it on the tire.

For an aerosol dressing, try Stoner All Shine, which you might be able to find locally. I know that my NAPA store is willing to order it for me.
 
I always use a tire dressing. Most tires fade over time.

If I'm going for a flat matte finish I'll use DP tire gel, it leaves the tires looking right off the shelf with no high gloss.

If I want something that has some gloss to it I prefer the WG Diamond Black tire gel. It lasts weeks and works awesome.
 
I wanted to add that Black Magic has a true "matte" tire dressing available over the counter at Pep Boys, says MATTE on the bottle and works great! This stuff is great on large truck or jeep tires.
 
rjgervacio said:
Any thoughts on Poorboy's World Bold N Bright Tire Dressing to serve as cleaner and dressing?
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I use it on my truck. Spray on liquid that does clean minor tire dirt well on it's own. Leaves more of a matte finish, certainly nothing shiny or super glossy despite the name. Durability is a couple weeks, perhaps more if it would stop with the daily rain. It's my go-to.
 
I can't tell you how many times I've looked at an obviously "just detailed" car and thought how much better it would look if they had finished the job and dressed the tires. Brownish tires on a great looking car are just wrong. Especially a black car. I prefer just a low sheen and a nice natural black.
 
RLove said:
I can't tell you how many times I've looked at an obviously "just detailed" car and thought how much better it would look if they had finished the job and dressed the tires. Brownish tires on a great looking car are just wrong. Especially a black car. I prefer just a low sheen and a nice natural black.
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I completely agree

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If you just want the new tire look plus a little extra, don't want slinging and yes, want some actual tire protection, then you're like me and I've used 303 protectant for almost four years now and it does the job beautifully. And it makes the black rubber window trim look deep and dark too. That alone makes the car stand out.

There are more "high tech" alternatives out there but this has the stuff to feed and protect the rubber, and make it look better than new. Just feed it often at first till it's saturated - maybe 3 or 4 times at first, and then it'll stay put for a while and do it's job.
I haven't done my window trim since last summer and it still looks great. Although it does last longer there than tires.

It's also available at boating supply stores - because it withstands the sun and salt to prevent fading.
 
Silverstone said:
If you just want the new tire look plus a little extra, don't want slinging and yes, want some actual tire protection, then you're like me and I've used 303 protectant for almost four years now and it does the job beautifully. And it makes the black rubber window trim look deep and dark too. That alone makes the car stand out.

There are more "high tech" alternatives out there but this has the stuff to feed and protect the rubber, and make it look better than new. Just feed it often at first till it's saturated - maybe 3 or 4 times at first, and then it'll stay put for a while and do it's job.
I haven't done my window trim since last summer and it still looks great. Although it does last longer there than tires.

It's also available at boating supply stores - because it withstands the sun and salt to prevent fading.
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I just washed my car including the wheels & tire using Mothers Wheel & Tire Cleaner. This stuff was amazing! Not only did it smell great but it also made by wheels shinier and tires are free of dirt, making them look nice and black again. However, even if it did clean the tires pretty good, it didn't give it the "glossy and wet" look that I was hoping for. So maybe I'll try a tire dressing next time in addition to what I'm using now.

You mentioned that you are using 303 protectant, what is that?
 
RLove said:
I can't tell you how many times I've looked at an obviously "just detailed" car and thought how much better it would look if they had finished the job and dressed the tires. Brownish tires on a great looking car are just wrong. Especially a black car. I prefer just a low sheen and a nice natural black.
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Once again, I'm oddball out :o

I too look at a freshly detailed vehicle and think "Man, that car should would look better if they wouldn't have put that cheap crap on the tires" :(

IMO just dressing the wheel wells, and having the tires/wheels spotless, the darkened fenderwell really makes the tire/wheel combo pop. I find it very attractive :)
 
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