Welcome back to the Proje blog!
This week, it’s time to look down below at your wheels and tires. We get a lot of questions about DIY tire cleaning and wheel cleaning and it’s not hard to understand why. The location and shape of your wheels and tires means that 1) they are subjected to a log more punishment than anywhere else on your vehicle, and 2) the inner parts can be particularly challenging to clean with regular home-based products. For those reasons, it’s crucial that you consider a proper car tire cleaner that really does the job – and the accessories that should go with it to make reaching problem areas a whole lot easier.
So, let’s focus on our wheel cleaner and tire dressing now!
Redline Wheel Cleaner: The Best All-Round Wheel Cleaner on the Market
Redline Wheel Cleaner is a powerful, all-purpose cleaner that gets right into your wheel wells to break down all the toughest build-ups of dirt, brake dust and grease or contamination caused by the breakdown of surrounding metals at high temperatures.
We’re taking about the problems that are caused by high brake temperatures and forces here, which cause a mixture of hot iron and brake dust to be sprayed all around the interior of your rims, as well as the outer bodywork. These residues are corrosive and if you don’t deal with them, they can cause permanent damage to paint and bodywork as they embed firmly in your vehicle and don’t respond to typical cleaning techniques like car wash products. Instead, you need to neutralize these build-ups so they strip away – which is where Redline comes in.
Let’s take a look!
How to Clean Your Wheels
Start off by really saturating the area you want to clean - Redlineworks best when a full covering has been established. Then, wait a minute before agitating the solution with a brush – for this process, you’ll want the Barrel Brush - designed for maximum grip and metal-free, so you can exert force on to the nastiest stains without fear of any scratching.
You will see the wheel cleaner start to lather; keep going until you have thickened the lather over every part of the area you’re cleaning. Then, wait a few minutes and you’ll see the lather bubbling slightly as the active chemical in our cleaner neutralizes any acidic build-ups, so they strip away without any problems. As the cleaner really starts to take effect, it will start to turn red. This is the active sodium reacting, it shows that our product is working on your vehicle – and of course, it’s why we call it Redline!
After a few minutes, the whole area should have turned red. Now it’s time to rinse. As you do so, use your Inner Barrel Rim Brush to get into the nooks and crannies, so everything is washed away and all the layers of dirt have gone. You should immediately notice a much shinier wheel, which is great. But as with all our products, don’t be afraid to go round again if there’s an area that needs extra attention!
Once everything is really clean, it’s time to dry everything so you don’t get any water stain effects. Using a regular towel with the wrong GSM could make the stain worse or even create minor scratching on your rims. Use our Black Mamba Wheel & Trim Towel – it’s been designed to clean and dry tires and rims without any staining or scratching.
And what’s the best car tire cleaner?
So, Redline Wheel Cleaner will deal with your car’s wheels, but of course, you’ll want tires to match. You’d be surprised, but shiny, jet-black tires stand out just as much as the classic candy-apple shine that ceramic products give to your paintwork.
The key here is to look for a product that doesn’t strip away the antiozonant on your tires. This is where our Fusion Tire Dressing comes in. It’s a water-based dressing infused with a specific formula to stick to your tire and not sling down the side of your car. The water base is the key here - antiozonants are extremely important for the longevity of your tires, and as Fusion Tire Dressing is water-based, it won’t remove them like a chemical-based product would. This means that your tires will last just as long, but will have that added shine to the color of your choice when you use Fusion Tire Dressing. It is also grease-free, and completely adjustable; applying multiple coats and leaving the dressing for longer periods will produce deeper blacks, so if you prefer a slightly lighter color to match your bodywork, then remove it after a few minutes and only use 1 or 2 coats.
How to Use a Tire Dressing to Get Super Clean Tires
Start off with clean, dry tires. We typically recommend that you do your car wash first, then use Redline, then finish off your exterior detailing day with Fusion Tire Dressing. Apply a generous amount to your Blue Applicator Pad, then start at the bottom of the tire, working towards the top as you evenly work the dressing onto the face of the tire. This prevents any pooling in the cracks or natural grooves on your tire, so that your end result is an even shine all over the tire.
Leave the dressing to set for 10 minutes or so, before using our Black Mamba Trim Towel to wipe away the excess dressing. Alternatively, if you’re interested in a deeper black, leave it overnight. And don’t forget, you can always repeat the process – or cut that 10 minutes down to 5 for a slightly
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this week’s blog – stay tuned for more tips and tricks next week. We’re going to feature more of our kits each month too, so keep an eye out for more great all-in-one deals and some incredible discounts!
If you have any questions about any of the techniques or products that we’ve mentioned in this post, just add a comment below and we’ll post a reply! Remember that we stock only the best auto detailing supplies, so why not click some of the links in this blog post, or visit our products page to find out more? From all of us at Proje’, Enjoy the Process!