Are Your Tires Turning Brown?
 

Apologize for posting in the General forum, but I'd like a larger audience for the meantime. Thank you.

Yesterday my dad and I took out the FR-S and drove it roughly 4 miles. It's been sitting for a little over a month because we went out of the country.

When we got home the tires were brown aka "blooming." But they weren't brown when we left before the short 4-mile drive.

We have the stock Michelin Primacy's.

I had a tire dressing which I had applied in October when we got the car--Meguiar's Gold Class Endurance Tire Gel. We got the FR-S without it being detailed by the dealership and when I cleaned the car, I cleaned the tires with neutral-ph soap. There was no prior dressing. Then I put tire gel when the tire was all dry. I didn't smother the tire with product either; I applied a moderate amount and wiped away the rest to prevent fling.

Since the car is a garage queen, within October and today it has only been washed once which was in the second week of November. I did not soap the tires nor did I reapply any dressing. The shine actually lasted until yesterday.

The car has 185 miles it and has never been driven in wet or dirty (construction site/off-road/dirt) conditions. And of course, is always parked in an enclosed garage.

The label on the tire gel says it stops tires from turning brown. My tires are virtually brand new still. If the tire gel accelerated it, then that could be potential false advertising.

So that's why I want to know if anyone else has a tire-browning/blooming issue. State whether you had applied tire dressing/how often.

Thank you in advanced.

EDIT: Pictures

Sure it isn't brake dust?

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yea if u apply tire dressing it'll turn orange brown. stop applying it for half yr or so the color will be black again.

I use the same product and have noticed mine to be brownish when the product is gone or when I wash it off... Never really thought much of it as I have always had this type of browning no matter which products I used. Just had to ensure I reapplied after cleaning.

I like using 303 on my tires. Re-apply every month or so when I was the car. Keeps a nice looking black satin look to the tires.

His tires were fine before they went out driving and then it was brown when they returned. The car was garaged for an extended amount of time. I still maintain that this was brake dust accumulation. Perhaps a layer of rust had formed on the discs while the car sat, and the drive around town was spirited enough to cause the brakes to coat the tires with dust.

I can't see how any tire dressing would turn brown after one short drive out.

Just use Duplicolor tire shine coating, lets about 3-4 times longer than most tire dressings (dry to the touch) and it isn't silicone based. Costs about 8 bucks on Summit racing.

Also the OP mentions they only drove like 4 miles then just left the car for 1 month. So it sat with Meguiar's tire gel on the tires for 1 month and they came back to brown tires. I used to use that stuff on my previous cars and I stopped and would indeed notice faster browning of my tires. Would not suprise me at all if the stuff accelerates the browning effect on tires. Note I have not used any tire dressing on my car and I have no browning of my tires after 5500 miles.

In my Nissan owner's manual, there's a clause that says Nissan does not recommend the use of tire dressing.

I don't know if Subaru says such thing?

I agree that it's most likely rust or dust on the brakes that accumulated while the car was unused. I've always used tire dressing on my tires (many different brands) and never had an issue with discoloring.

I always use Cover All. Cleans them right up. But for shows I'll use some tire shine.

I also would guess that it's brake dust. I've been using a tire shine spray but I haven't gotten browning, so yes I use tire dressing depending on your definition.

:needpics:

I think so too. It's easy to test: get a stick and rub the inside of the wheel. If there is a lot of brake dust generated, it will accumulate there.

I've found with using a variety of different tire dressings over the years, that if I don't re-apply them, after awhile the tires will turn brown to one degree or another. That's one reason I don't use them much anymore. If you start, you usually need to keep up with using the dressing regularly, anywhere from once a month to once a quarter or so, depending how much weather and driving the car/tires see.

Of course the Primacy HP's are turning brown, they're made of shite!

exact reason why I use Westley's Bleche White. stuff is borderline corrosive but it keeps your tires cleaner than anything else. The other option is no tire shine. My recommendation is to just forgo the tire shine and on the next wash scrub the tires. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I added pictures so that the issue is a little more clear.

I can confirm it is not brake dust because I swiped my finger and a towel in the inside of the wheel and there wasn't any dust accumulating there (surprisingly!). In some spots, like directly under the brake itself (bottom picture) there is an evident pile of brake dust or other microdebris but that's about all.

On the second picture, is that a mark of something or maybe you rubbing it off?

Its probably a chemical reaction between the tire compound on the side wall plus ur tire shine and exposure to air. This reaction probably didnt occur while the car is sitting in the garge becuase its sitting in the garge. Once you drove the car ur tires get stretched allowing anything on the surface to react what now a different surface. My advice is to just use a different tire shine or dont use one at all.

Am I the only one thinking OMG they're tires, relax!?

Yes, I touched it and noticed it crumbled so I rubbed it lightly. It looks like it's just the antiozonant but I don't know why that would accelerate it when it clearly says on the label it prevents it.

Did you paint your wheels. The sheen looks really good.

lol :lol:

Like I said, scrub your tires with a brush then use a crap sponge with soap to clean them. I'm personally not a fan of tire shine. Unless you're leaving the car for years they probably don't NEED any dressing to stay "fresh" so my recommendation is to keep it nice and normal :thumbsup:

First world problems yet once again.

I was told never apply tire shine on a car in storage. Some types degrade the rubber over time. Then again my car is in a deep freeze.

Here is a little blog post on tires Browning.

"Blooming - after the antiozonant works its way to the outside of the tyre and is exposed to the ozone in the air, it oxidizes and turns brown. The technical term for this effect is blooming. Many chemical compounds, especially solvents, react vigorously at ambient temperatures as the oxidizing process takes place between water and the tyre polymer-binding agents. Water tends to wash away the natural oils and micro-waxes that help to maintain the tyres flexibility

Tyre Cleaning

The slightly porous nature of rubber (however this varies according to the polymers used) attracts oils, dirt, brake dust and road grime. For any type of protection to work efficiently on rubber it must be able to adhere to the surface. First remove any brake dust, blooming, road tar, grease and grime, silicone and oxidized rubber from the surface to properly clean it. The key to tyre dressing durability is deep cleaning the tyre, spray or apply your cleaner allow to soak in for a minute or two and then scrub with a fairly stiff tyre brush, once clean you should be able to take an old white dry terry towel and rub the tyre surface, it should be almost pristine (if not repeat). Tyre cleaner needs to be strong enough to tackle a heavy build-up of tyre dressings, silicone and road grime, but not damage wheel coatings.

A quality citrus-based cleaner (P21S® Total Auto Wash) should clean the tyres down to the original rubber surface, this is especially important when you apply a new dressing, as dressings won't adhere to, or create the right shine on dirty rubber or silicone residue. This tyre cleaner is a strong concentrate; spray-and-rinse, without scrubbing, if you are starting on an old, neglected surface, use a fairly stiff tyre brush for the first application and a spray & rinse at least 3-4 times a year."

I love the TuffShine Tire cleaner to clean everything off the tires. Optimum Power clean diluted properly also works well.

Greg hit the nail on the head with his description of blooming. Some brands are worse then others. There are many good cleaners out there to take care of this. I have used Westley's for years with great results. Tire dressings and brake dust are not the culprit here.

Use some 409, simple green, etc. to degrease them, and then wash them with a good scrubbing brush. Apply some Armor-All Extreme Shine. Stay away from those gel tire dressings. That junk sucks

May I ask which tire gels you have tried ? I use Garry Deans Tire Gel and Optimum's Opti-Bond and consider them two of the best tire dressings on the market. No tire sling and and great longevity. Easy application and average price are what comes to mind. My customers stay very happy.