Quote:
Originally Posted by gti16vman
As for the lettering, I used my tire cleaner (think it is Meguiar's off the top of my head) and it did get the letters dirty. Was going to clean them off, but just seemed like too much work at that point. This was at the end of the 3-4hrs with it being 95+ and humid out. Will check out that white stuff though.
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Yes, get some, you'll be glad you did.
This is what I do to clean the whole rim/tire/wheel well when I hand wash and it works great.
After cleaning the whole vehicle I spray out the wash bucket and make up a small batch of regular car wash just for the rims and wheel wells. I have a separate wash mitt and brushes just for this. Any generic mitt will do for rims and tires (I use a micro fiber wash sponge for my main wash, paint etc.).
Do one tire/rim/wheel well at a time. First, wet everything, then I wash off the rim with the mitt making sure to get every nook and cranny. Second I use Simple Green in a spray bottle and soak down the tire and wheel well with it. Then grab the Westley's and spray the white letters. I have a special curved tire brush that contours to the shape of the side wall. I scrub the whole tire taking extra time around the white letters. Then I grab my wheel well brush (yes another different brush) and give the well a scrub. Finally spray everything off and see if your letters are as white as you want them.
It didn't seem as though the previous owner ever cleaned the white letters on my truck, they were almost black. It took until about the 4th time of scrubbing them with the Westley's until they "popped" and looked pure white. You can also let the Westley's soak for a few minutes, but I never let it dry on the tire.
If you got the tire totally clean, any tire dressing you put on shouldn't pollute or discolor your white letters.
If done right, and you weren't mudding etc. trashing the tires, you can even skip this process once or twice and just gently clean your tires with the mitt and they will stay nice for a few washes.
/end dissertation