We’ve known about this for a long time now but have never had the opportunity to test it properly, but of course that has changed this year with the long term Indian Chief Vintage with its Dunlops whitewalls.
They are already filthy and without the time that I’d like to clean them every time, I was looking for something that would both clean and protect them. And that’s when I remembered Dave from Autoproud, and his eagerness for us to test his whitewall cleaner … and the experience of our old ad salesman, Doug Howard, who swore by it for his classic Yank car’s whitewalls.
Technically it is a tyre cleaner and it does much more than just cleaning the white sidewalls: it helps to reduce tyres cracking with age as well as dressing any tyre – or indeed any rubber product – and protecting it from the atmosphere, and even fresh and sea water in a nautical context!
All you need to be careful of is not to get it on the paint or trim, because the pigment from treated tyres could cause permanent damage, which is why they say you need to make sure your tyres are dry before setting off.
You don’t want centrifugal force spinning it off. Messy.
Application is a doddle: spray it on, agitate it with a brush and leave it to dry.
If it’s not clean enough, do it again, once dry. No pressure, no scrubbing, just brushing. You can use a lint free cloth but I didn’t have one to hand, so I didn’t. Maybe next time.
And I have deliberately cleaned a distinct portion of the tyre to see how that repels water compared than the surrounding area … and that sounds better than having run out of time, but we will be following this up in future issues.
Auto Proud Tyre Cleaner and Dressing
Sizes: 500ml / 1-litre / 5-litres
Price: £12.00 – £80.00