Stained White Walls

[cutlasguy]

I really beat the bushes to find  215 75 R15 Whitewall Tires for my 89 Caprice Classic before I found them at Mavis. The problem is they're yellowed. I've tried Bleache White, Steel Wool, Spray Nine, everything and they're still yellow looking. Any suggestions? I hate to use tire paint.

[F&J]

Old Bleache white worked, but the new one is "detuned", I assume for EPA reasons.

 

Years ago, I cleaned some Lester wide whites with lacquer thinner, even though everyone said don't do it.  That Lester white rubber seemed different than other whites though; it seemed softer?   Some old body shop guy told me to try it because on junky used cars they sold, with dried looking black rubber trim pieces, he said it made them look good

 

Old lacquer thinner was also different than today's stuff from Advanced Auto, which if you read it, it is just 100% Acetone.  No idea if that would work.  I'd try an old junk tire first  

[auburnseeker]

Are they wide white walls or the narrow 1 inch or less?  If they are the narrow ones they are probably raised.  If so I would sand them.  I did it before with good results.  You will actually be removing a little bit of the tire but if they are raised it doesn't matter.  You are not going to sand them that much.  I think I ended up using like 120 or 80 grit.  You could finish with say 220 to make them smoother.   I also used this trick on an old set of wide white walls and it worked pretty well.  You are not sanding anything more than the dead rubber off anyways which isn't providing any real structural integrity to the tire. 

[maok]

I use plain old garage degreaser. Just spray it on, give it a light brush and Bobs your uncle. Works.

Edited July 15, 2016 by maok
spelling error (see edit history)

[Terry Wiegand]

F&J, what are you using to apply the Bleche-White to the surface of the tire?  That could be part of the problem.  I use the roughest Scotch-Brite pad that one can find and give it at least two applications of the cleaner.  A friend of mine uses a fine bristled brass wire brush and has excellent results.  I'm not trying to be a wise guy on here, but, you gotta show the tire who's the boss.  My '22 Buick has 35 X 5 BF Goodrich Silvertown Cord White Wall tires and I only have to do the cleaning thing on them about once every 2 - 3 years.  They stay snow white in between for a long time.  Anyway, this has been my experience.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[60FlatTop]

I use Bleach White and I have a couple of 800 grit sandpaper folded in thirds and floating in the bucket. The fine sandpaper does a nice job on any discoloring.

 

Talk about fussy; jack the car up and put jackstands under to wash the whitewalls.

Bernie

Edited July 14, 2016 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[F&J]

10 minutes ago, Terry Wiegand said:

F&J, what are you using to apply the Bleche-White to the surface of the tire?

In them thar olden days, that stuff was so strong, you almost never needed any serious brushing with a nylon kitchen brush.  You sprayed it several times around, and tons of dissolved white would be dripping off the tire.

 

Lots of car forums have posts about the weaker formula...matter of fact that is how I found out why it just did not work good for me anymore

 

maybe I will look for some NOS 1970s BlechWhite   lol

[39BuickEight]

3M adhesive remover whitened mine up.

[Joe in Canada]

You have to watch what you use as products like Amoral will dry out the rubber and cause cracking I have been told. 

[Matt Harwood]

I use Simple Green and an SOS pad, which has been the most effective combination I've used so far. I've used 800 grit wet sandpaper in the past, but only as a last resort. This combination works as well as anything I've found recently on my whitewalls that turn brown from the inside out as oils leech into the white rubber from behind.

[C Carl]

Hey , Joe : I like that ! I like that a WHOLE LOT ! THAT is what I will call it from now on. Maybe most everybody already calls it that , but I hadn't yet heard it. I have thought for a long time , ever since I saw it bugger up leather upholstry , or put a dangerously distracting reflection on the dashboard , that it was amoral to even sell that stuff. I've been railing against that crap , but my upholstry man loves it ! Says it helps his bottom line as he repairs the damage it inflicts! Please , no offense to anyone who likes that look ( I have a friend who does ) , but you have given me a brief bit of comic relief in the face of this evenings horrors. Thanks , Joe ! Amoral ! Amoral! I love it !  - Carl

[cahartley]

When I got my 1920 Model T Coupe it came with white, New Zealand, tires which were badly yellowed.

One thing I learned in the machine shop over the years is GO-JO is great for cleaning more than hands.

I grabbed a Scotch-Brite pad and some GO-JO with pumice and in no time at all all four tires were nice and white again.

[Guest Skyking]

I found Purple Power and SOS pads to work the best.  Better and cheaper than anything else!

[Guest]

ZEP degreaser on a synthetic sponge that has a abrasive side to it, hose down the tire, apply to the entire exposed side of the tire ( DO NOT GET ON PAINT OR A CLEAR COATED MAG OR ALUMINUM WHEEL.) scrub well  and then use your pressure washer to blast. Do the whole sidewall as clean bright white rubber looks terrible next to the black portion of the tire not cleaned. 

[ScarredKnightfan]

Hopefully, with all of the suggestions, you find something that works on your 1989 CC.  Those look so much better with the whitewalls!

 

Shame that BW didn't work ... that's what usually always worked for me.

 

 

2-DAY EVENT S Elgin IL, with restaurant & hotel discounts:
http://www.oldcarsstronghearts.com/2016/07/12/tuesday-trip-69/

"I thought that time would cure" __ Tom Wopat __ 'A Little Bit Closer'

[Nevadavic]

I've used "Folex" carpet spot remover found at The Home Depot.  It seems to work well for me with a little rubbing effort and white cotton rags available in the auto section of Costco.

[cutlasguy]

Thanks for all the responses! I chose to try the wet sandpaper trick and it worked. A bluish grey crap was coming off by the yard and after two scrubbings per tire, the white walls were snow white. I wore a blister on my finger though. After a rinse, I dressed them with Vinylex! Not overly shiny and proven to be long lasting.

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

If Bletch-Wite didn't work, try Clorox.
(at your own risk, of course)

Also, bear in mind that rubber is not 'white' by nature, and not all white is created equal.
Making whitewalls look like Bathroom walls may be a fool's errand.

[SC38dls]

Sorry but the Natural Color of Rubber is White. Rubber is made black by adding various chemicals, such as carbon black. This isn't just for cosmetic reasons, but because adding chemicals like carbon black to the rubber drastically increases desirable qualities of the rubber.

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

I stand corrected.

 

[SC38dls]

I wasn't trying to be a smart a@s so I apologize if you took it that way.  White walls are much whiter than natural rubber anyway. If you look at original tires that were on some cars before they added chemicals you can see the natural color. They didn't last too long as they had a tendency to dry out and crack and were solid tires 

Again sorry if I offended anyone. Have fun 

[Spinneyhill]

Carbon black improves the UV stability of the rubber no end. But it is my guess there is not much rubber in tyres of today.

 

Update: http://www.ehow.com/about_6595553_tires-made-rubber_.html

says today's tyres are about 14% natural rubber.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

I haven't washed the body of one of my collector cars in over ten years.  I use detailer spray and those glass cleaner towels frequently to keep stuff shiny. The only thing I use a hose on is the tires and undercoated areas like wheel wells. Two weeks ago I had my '60 on a lift wiping down the torque tube and frame rails with a rag dampened with a little WD-40.

 

I do have a three or four gallon washing bucket for the tires. My son and I picked it up one day because it had a picture of a child falling into the bucket embossed on the side. I told my Son it is an international symbol warning him not to fall into the bucket. He has been careful. In fact, it may have scared him away permanently! That bucket sits in a corner, dry, with three or four pieces of folded Wet or Dry, a sponge, and a plastic scrub brush in it; only for the wheels and tires. I usually use it once a year, maybe twice. The rubber treatments seem to have a light oily film that attracts dirt. I quit using that. I dry the tires and wheel covers and polish as needed. I took all the die cast pieces off the wheel covers and made thin rubber gaskets to keep them from clicking. Once tightened I trimmed them close with a razor knife.

When the wheel is done I spray the wheel well undercoating with glass cleaner and pat it dry with the sponge from the bucket. Then I give the exposed undercoat a shot of Armorall and pat that down with a slightly damp sponge. If I do some 800 to 1000 finish sanding I toss the used paper in the bucket.Then I always know where to get some with the tooth knocked off.

 

And my keys are always in my left pocket, my change and folding money in my right. I have some funny stories about how annoying I can be to work with in the garage. Maybe that is why my Son hasn't fallen into the bucket.

Bernie

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

15 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

I wasn't trying to be a smart a@s so I apologize if you took it that way.  White walls are much whiter than natural rubber anyway. If you look at original tires that were on some cars before they added chemicals you can see the natural color. They didn't last too long as they had a tendency to dry out and crack and were solid tires 

Again sorry if I offended anyone. Have fun 

 

None taken by me.  In fact, I'll be first to admit that what I wrote above was far from my best choice of words.

But more to the point, while latex (raw rubber) is 'white', it is more akin to a mayonnaise color than it is to whipped cream.  In my opinion there is a point where the effort to make a tire the color of copy paper becomes a fools errand, and may actually be causing more harm than it is worth.

With this concept in mind, it is why I generally use very few 'products' for car cleaning, and those I do use are as benign as possible.  For example, I find distilled water and micro-fiber towels to be surprisingly effective at cleaning without damage (as well as being far less costly).  There is NO Armor-All to be found anywhere in my Shop and when I find it in a Customer Car, I advise the owner to desist in its use because it ultimately becomes 'schlimbesserung' (an improvement which makes things worse).