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Few things in the automotive world are as retro as white wall tires. They’re sleek, luxurious, classy, and, above all else, look fantastic, especially on older cars. White wall tires used to be a common choice, but now you rarely see them on vehicles, making them much more special. If you’re lucky enough to have white wall tires on one of your vehicles, you undoubtedly know just how special they are. And you probably see all the heads turning your way when you drive your car down the street.
But because white walls are so lovely, keeping them clean is essential. Don’t worry, that’s easier than it sounds. Here’s everything you need to know about how to clean white-wall tires.
Why You Should Always Clean Your White Wall Tires
Sometimes, people look past cleaning their tires. While you can often get away with standard tires, you should never do that with white walls. You should clean them whenever you clean your car, and ideally even more often. You should keep them clean because they can easily pick up dust and debris, and it only takes a bit of discoloration for the tires to no longer look sleek and fancy. By constantly cleaning them, you’ll keep your car looking cool. Here’s how to do it.
Prepping Your Tires
You don’t have to do too much to prepare your old school car for having the whitewall tires cleaned. It’s a pretty straightforward task, but there are a few bits of prep work to make sure you’re all set.
Park On Flat Ground
When cleaning any part of your car, it’s important to park on flat ground. That ensures that the cleaning products don’t streak, and it makes it easier to clean the whitewall tires.
Make Sure You’re Comfortable
You have to squat or sit on the ground when cleaning your white wall tires, so you want to ensure you’re comfortable. If you’re parked on a gravel road, you’ll be miserable cleaning your tires and probably won’t do as good of a job. Try to park somewhere where you can do the job comfortably using a shop stool or lay down some rags or mats to work on top of.
Remove Any Large Items
Before you scrub your white wall tires, remove any large items that have stuck to them. If you have large clumps of dirt or debris or pebbles stuck to your white wall tires, remove them with your hands. Scrubbing over larger items can damage the tires.
Make Sure Your Tires Are Cool
White wall tires are always cool! But besides being hip, you want to ensure they’re fairly cold when cleaning. You don’t want to clean hot white wall tires. Cleaning products won’t work on hot tires either.
Rinse
Before scrubbing your white wall tires, give them a quick, light rinse with water, then dry them off. Make sure the tires are completely dry before you begin the cleaning process.
Best Cleaning Methods
Now, you’re ready to clean your white wall tires. And thankfully, it’s a fairly straightforward task! Here’s how to do it.
Apply A Tire Cleaner
Start by applying a tire cleaner to your white wall tires. You want to begin with just one of your tires, so don’t apply the cleaner to all four tires at once. It’s very important to use a tire cleaner designed for white-wall tires. There are a lot of cleaners specifically for white wall tires, as well as some all-purpose tire cleaners that are safe to use on white wall tires.
Always check the packaging before buying a tire cleaner, and make sure it explicitly mentions white wall tires. This will ensure that your tires stay perfectly white instead of taking on a faded off-white color.
Let It Sit
Make sure that the entire tire is covered in the tire cleaner. Then, let the cleaner sit on the tire for at least one minute, preferably two or three.
Scrub
After the cleaner has sat for a few minutes, scrub the white wall tire clean. You can use a tire brush with soft bristles if you want. You can also use a sponge or a scrubbing pad.
Rinse
After you’ve finished scrubbing the tire, rinse it with water. Make sure that no trace of dirt, grime, or tire cleaner remains on the whitewall tire.
Repeat
Now that you’ve got a clean tire, you can move on to the next one. Clean the other three whitewall tires just like you cleaned the first, and your tires will be immaculate.
Finishing Touches
Your white wall tires are clean now, but the job isn’t quite done. You need to add a few finishing touches.
Dry Your Tires
After all your white wall tires are clean, dry them completely. You don’t want any water to stay on the tires.
Add A Protectant
For optimal results, add a tire protectant to the dry whitewall tires. This will help lock in the cleanliness of the tires and protect them from getting discolored due to UV exposure. Just follow the instructions on the bottle of your favorite protectant, and your tires will stay clean and white for a long time.
Other Things To Know About How To Clean White Wall Tires
As you can see, cleaning your white wall tires is a reasonably easy task. But there are a few other things to keep in mind. First, you should avoid using bleach or harsh chemicals on your white wall tires, which will cause damage. Second, if you’re washing your entire car, make sure that you wash your white wall tires first. Clean the tires, wash your car, then dry the tires and add a protectant. That way, you won’t get any grime or cleaner from your tires onto your car’s exterior.
Cleaning whitewall tires is an important part of keeping your car looking great day in and day out. At JEGS, you can find all the products you need to keep your whitewalls looking perfect, and we also carry replacement tires for your classic and vintage ride if that time has come.
