non-glossy tire treatment?
 

In looking at the great shots of eightsandaces Dad's Fiat 124 (A Love Affair thread), it dawned on me I have yet to find a tire treatment that is nice and black, but DULL!! Rubber tires are not glossy, they are flat black, but clean and BLACK when new.
With the black Box and the Anthracite wheels, I need to make sure my tires stay black, not gray.
I saw something a while back that was a product by, who I believe is, a rap star doing car polishes, waxes, cleaning stuff, etc., and he had a non-glossy tire treatment.
Any one have the answer???????
I found that after a really good cleaning, Aerospace 303 works very well to keep the vinyl inner wheel well liners looking new and VERY black. Again, with my car and wheels, it was necessary and one of those details that keep your cars looking new and hard for non-experts to tell it's not a VERY late model car. ;) Same for the little vinyl mud flaps and spoiler flaps under the front bumper cover.

Most of the good rubber treatments are non-glossy. I like Zaino's product but have also had good results from Mother's and Maguire's. From what I've experienced, only the cheap stuff is glossy.

We have a Discount Auto and Auto Zone close to me, but I haven't seen a tire treatment from either of them, only cheaper products. Where are you getting Mothers/Maguires rubber treatment??

+1 on Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss

Despite the name, it leaves a satin finish and also contains UV protection. Easy to use and dries totally without that 'Gerri-Curl' greasy, glossy ooze.

Cheers!

It's been a long time since I've bought either. But I think I've seen both product lines at Autozone near me.

I just can't figure out why it smells like bubble gum.

You mean Zaino or Gerri-Curl ??

Cheers!

The Meguiar's tire foam does a good job for this. Since most all of the tire treatments do and should wash out under rain or damp conditions you really don't want to overpay. Michelin also had a good over the counter product until it was discontinued. If you must go mail order buy in bulk... www.chemicalguys.com sell to professional detailers. I'd give them a ring and see what they recommend. I put very little weight in brand names when it comes to detailing products. The No frills stuff like chemicalguys is used on high end cars and their clients keep coming back.

all of these water-based tire treatments don't last long thus you end up using a lot of product over the course of year unless its a garage queen.

Mine's sure not a garage queen, but you know black cars - when you get to the back with a good cleaning, it's time to walk to the front and start over!! :D

yes I do remember black car hell. It got a little easier when I started wiping the car down with Optimum No Rinse instead of doing the whole bucket and hose wash. Finish Kare 425 spray to cut down on the dust and grime.

That No Rinse came in very handy this particularly crazy winter. I used a 2 gallon pesticide sprayer filled with warm water, I chucked the nozzle and sprayer, dropped two ounces of No Rinse in there and with a microfiber towel dunked in the container I wiped down the car in the direction of the wind. Dunk the towel again with each panel..voila... Clean car in five minutes. The opening of the container was very narrow so it served as a washboard to wring the dirt off th towel. Then I used an old towel to wipe down the wheels with the left over water.
No hose to put away, no brushes, no aspirin.

I think you can get away with so much more with a silver car :)

I am using Ultra Luster waterless on mine. I used a damp large towel to clean any grit area and get the bugs off the front, then use the Ultra Luster. It has a micro polish in it that is about the grit of talc and a polymer glaze. I have a few areas that I am "working" on that I use the polish action. I will do the doors and fenders first, without turning the cloth. This tends to concentrate the polish on the surface of the cloth. I then "work" the areas that need it with the micro polish and finish the car turning the cloth more often to just apply the glaze. I go back over the worked areas to get more glaze on them. I haven't tried using my orbital buffer yet, but I'm getting ready for it. I figure a few more apps and I'll be nearing that "show car" appearance, or at least as close as a driven car can get. :cheers: