I was wondering if anyone has used WD40 to clean and dress tires. I tried it once and it cleans well without leaving high gloss shine. Any comments pro or con?

 

I used it as redneck tire dressing on one of my race cars. Like you said, it cleans the tires very well and might softne the sidewall a little (good for circle track hahah), but doesn't leave an over-glossy effect. It doesn't seems to stay clean for too long tho like real tire dressing does. I don't know of any real issues with it.

 

I use armor all on the tires and rims(polished aluminum) and it looks great. Good for the tire too, uv rays and ozone are bad on tires.

 

Armor All attracts dirt and weakens the molecular bond in plastic/rubber. I avoid it like the plague. Have for years.

I use 303 Protectant. Excellent stuff, not cheap, but worth the price of admission.

303 Products - Aerospace Protectant, High Tech Fabric Guard - World's Leading Automotive Care Products

 

Yes 303 is the stuff, and my tonneau cover reps tell me that armor and sonofagun both have alcohol in it which is what dries out the vinyl.

I used to just use bleech white, but I have gotten back into shines. I love Mother's reflections tire care, it soaks in so there is no cast off, and it's not really glossy. It just looks like a new clean tire and doesn't do to bad about attracting dust.

 

WD40 eats rubber and would be dangerous to get on the tread. I'll keep mine far away from my tires, thanks.

 

Car Tire & Wheel Cleaners

A tire cleaner is a detergent that removes old tire dressing and the nasty brown film that forms on tires. Read the label on tire-cleaning products carefully. If a tire cleaner contains petrochemicals, bleach or abrasives, I don't recommend using it. They will harm your wheels and cause your tires to dry out and prematurely crack. Likewise, I'm not a fan of using wheel cleaner to clean my tires. While it works okay, most wheel cleaners are too expensive for cleaning the tires, and the cleaning formula is not exactly right.

Wheels need a strong cleaner that can break the bond between brake dust, road tar, road grime and the wheel. Wheel cleaners come in two basic formulas: acid cleaners and acid-free cleaners. Acid cleaners are very strong and work without much agitation. Care must be taken not to use acid cleaners on wheels with pitted or chipped surfaces. The acid will migrate into any fissures and accentuate flaking and peeling of surface coatings. Non-acidic cleaners are mild solutions of alkaline solvent. These solutions creep under brake dust to loosen and lift. Non-acidic cleaners require some surface agitation (brush or sponge), but are safer to use than acidic cleaners and will not etch the wheel's finish.

A few years ago, some wheel cleaner manufacturers started making gel formulas. The idea is that the wheel cleaner needs time to work on the dirt in order to clean. Gel wheel cleaner formulas allow the cleaner to cling to the wheel, which gives the cleaner more time to do its job.

This from Car Detailing Tips & Complete Auto Detailing How-to Guide
And no I don't work for them or even sell their products. I just happen to use many of their products and like them. Most work exactly how they say they will.

 

i've also heard of using furniture polish like "pledge" which u can get at the dollar store for .99 for tire dressing. personally there are Far too many uses for wd-40 to be using it as a tire dressing & spraying any lubricant anywhere around your rotors or on your tires is never a good idea.

 

That,s funny, i never heard of that. All my tires that i had over the 26 plus years, never had a problem. This last set the inspection station owner said the tires looked great, i have 67,000 miles on them.

 

Mike, read the info on the 303 page. Most of it I already knew, some stuff surprised me. Your choice whatever you use, but I stay well away from AA.

 

Thats cool dave, i,m not being ignorant or anything, but i never hear'd of the AA on rubber. I'll check that out for sure. Thanks.

 

Nah, Mike, I didn't take it that way at all. Most people are unaware of the effects on plastic and rubber that AA has. I used to be in a car club and we had the occasional tech day at a high-end detailer and car boutique. The owner had been in the business for 30 years and knew the ins and outs of damn near EVERY detailing product known to man. He stated in no uncertain terms what he thought of ArmorAll products, based on his own personal experiences. Opened a lot of eyes, did he. Many of us had been using AA up to that point - only one guy continued to after. And he constantly complained about how it was hard to keep his wheels clean after he AA'd them, how they were dirty and becoming really stained, and how hard it was to remove the brake dust. We told him -again- that the AA was attracting and holding the dust and allowing it to bake into the clearcoat. We cleaned ONE wheel for him, used 303 on it and 2 weeks later he was sold. The brake dust washed off easy. Really does make a difference.

Try it.

 

Dave, i will definetly give that 303 a shot, maybe why i never had a problem with the baking on the aluminum clearcoat rims is because i,m always on top of them. As far as the brake dust clinging to the tire and rims, your right. I was always looking for a way to prolong the tire integrity, not drying out. Rep points sent.

 

Thanks, Mike, I appreciate that.