Anyone else sand their whitewall tires today?

[challenger]

Yup. That's what I did today. The tires on my car are nearly new from a tread wear standpoint. Unfortunately they have been sitting still much too long and the whitewalls had somehow become very yellow to almost a light brown. I tried all the usual whitening agents but nothing helped so I broke out the 3" D/A sander and sanded them all down to nice bright white rubber bands. I used 3 grades of paper up to 1000 grit and finished by putting some vinyl and rubber "dressing" on them. I don't know if it will help to keep the whitewalls clean but I do know they would get dirty very quickly if I didn't get them nice and smooth.
I never thought I'd spend 2 hours sanding tires.

 

[78Brougham]

I've had good luck with Westley's and a SOS pad. Yours must've been real bad. I'll have to try that on one of mine that has a nasty *** spot on it. Course that means I'll have to do all of them to make em even... sheesh see what you started.

 

[C Body Bob]

SOS/Brillo pad here

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

I have heard using Kiwi white liquid shoe polish on the tires or white vinyl/convertible tops..

 

[commando1]

I have used every, cleaning, brightening, bleaching, and voo-doo juice known to man and the next day they are that yellow brown. 

 

[300rag]

I have used every, cleaning, brightening, bleaching, and voo-doo juice known to man and the next day they are that yellow brown. 

Just scrub them along a curb weekly. Guaranteed to stay white.

 

[commando1]

Just scrub them along a curb weekly. Guaranteed to stay white.

That will scuff the chrome on my curb feelers...

 

[david hill]

An old school method, gas on a shop towel using a fresh portion of the towel with each swipe. Works like a charm on raised white letters too.

 

[69monaco]

I don,t think they sell this in the US but this is the best and fastest way to make them white again .
No hard scrubing , spray it on , wait 5 minutes , was it of and ready.
Wibra is the only shop selling this product and they sell a lot of these bottles.
We use it for bikes , motocycles , boats , caravans , BBQ,s , ..........

Dasty superontvetter met sproeikop | Wibra

 

[69monaco]

But on an old car that doesn,t look new i like them a little yellow..........

 

[67Monaco]

This and a scotch brite pad brings the white letters on my truck back every time. Spray on, give it time to soak, about 3 minutes, scrub and rinse. Takes the brown look off the black too.

Heavy-Duty Wheel Cleaner - Griot's Garage

 

[rapidtrans]

Brillo pad was my old school procedure maybe 40 years ago. Now i use Westleys Spray on a wet tire, couple minutes of dwell time, scrub with a tire brush and hose off.
Will not use any of the tire shine or no-touch cleaners. Those products cause the brown residue.

 

[challenger]

I've had good luck with Westley's and a SOS pad. Yours must've been real bad. I'll have to try that on one of mine that has a nasty *** spot on it. Course that means I'll have to do all of them to make em even... sheesh see what you started.

Ah, those "*** spots". They are the worst. Very stubborn to remove. I must say iI've not yet had one on a tire? I suppose "yet" is the important word here

I tried theWesley's and it didn't touch the discoloration. This was a case where more material needed to come off. I suppose Wesley's, as well as gasoline, removes some rubber. I never tried gasoline so i can't comment on it. My guess is that it works by dissolving some rubber.

 

[CanCritter]

not one pic...fail

 

[Ironwolf]

Has anyone ever tried "WISK"

 

[69monaco]

cleaning white wall tires - YouTube

 

[73Coupe]

When WW tires are manufactured, the white part is buffed with an abrasive wheel in a machine, and on new tires you can sometimes see the marks it leaves. So, not a bad move if chemicals didn't work.
For maintaining the whiteness, my top three chemicals are Westley's Bleeche-Wite, simple green, and comet (whatever I have in stock).

 

[pomonamissel]

used a stone for sharping knifes , cleans it right now . with soap n water .

 

[challenger]

Here is a youtube I put up for the heck of it. Maybe it will raise my grade from a "fail"??? If not then no problem. That's pretty much my grade average in high school so I am comfortable with it

 

[rags]

you may have flunked high school but you have a damn nice car.