Utah Detailing and Tuf Shine Tire Dressing How to Video
by Greg NicholsAs many of you know, I’ve been using the Tuf Shine products for over three years. I’ve been contacted here at Reflections Detailing of Utah with a flood of questions about the products and how to use them. A lot of the questions revolve around the “I don’t want to mess up” or “can you tell me if I’ve done it right” email inquiry. Trying to help someone over the phone or email is difficult at best. It’s the little things that you NEED to see to assess the process are what make it hard. I have developed some best practices for these products and felt it was time to create a video on how to apply the wheel coating dressing. Like all things in detailing the devil is in the details, and felt a video would show best how to clean and dress the tires with this product properly. Here in Utah, the seasons can be pretty harsh and this dressing has proved to be a great benefit to those who want low maintenance with their tires. Detailing in Utah is a seasonal thing -we get our cars ready for the winter, and want a program and products that will last the entire season. Tuf Shine tire dressing is perfect for the winter. While it may dull in appearance over time it can be spruced up easily; even in the winter if you want. You can reference the previous article on tuf shine here on Detailed Image ask a pro blog, here Tuf Shine product review.
Cheers,
Greg Nichols
Greg, this is very helpful. Thanks for sharing in detail. I love trying to keep my daily driver looking its best, but many times I can’t keep up. I’m thankful to know which products make the maintenance easier to follow through with when the limited time to take care of things like this is available.
I didn’t know which to go with — Aerospace 303 or a tire product. I think I’m going to give this a try for its durability.
Andy
Andy,
303 is a great plastics and rubber treatment. On tires it works well, I don’t get great durability out of it, but it leaves a nice matte finish.
Cheers,
GREG
Great video! Videos like these are what really help people.
Brian,
Thanks I too think videos help people visualize applications of products better.
What processes would you like a video made for? Give us some ideas of videos that would be useful to you…….
Cheers,
GREG
I use Tuf Shine now too, I think it works extremely well I haven’t cleaned my tires in about a month and I can still tell there is protection on the tires and they still remain decently clean, my only trouble is cleaning up afterward my tuf shine brush is permanently black with silicone and my sponge is the same way and I have no idea how to get the products out of the sponge I tried Megs D103 I’ve tried dawn soap I cannot seem to get the sponge clean, in addition the tuf shine sponge has several tears in it so I have had to switch to a different sponge I don’t know if that matters that much but I still get the same great effect of the product I usually do 3 applications of it because I like more gloss in my tires.
Adam,
The tuf shine brush is black? Are you applying the tire selant with the brush? I’m not totally sure why the brush is black, if its from the tire cleanings, have you tried to clean it with the tire cleaner? I’ve not had the problem of the brush getting black and can’t clean? The sponge shouldn’t be black unless you are using the black restore, yes then it will be black after use and it cannot be cleaned to remove the tint in the tire shine. If you are just using the clear tire sealant it shouldn’t get black? The sponge that comes with the kit is very good, better than I’ve found locally to apply the products, the tears don’t seem to effect the application unless they are tattered badly.
Help me better understand what is happing to the brush…..I’m unclear.
Cheers,
GREG
I think that there was black silicone from a previous tire dressing on either my tires or my brothers tires and I picked it up while using the tire cleaner, it was from brushing the brown so much and I think it turned it black. I think the sponge turned black from excess dirt.
tyvm Gregg,very helpful………
Great video review.
How long do you have to wait between each application? I am going to try this on my snow tires, which have had no protectants ever applied to them, so that should make the cleaning process easier.
Roger<
You just need to wait until its dried, that can vary depending on temp. In the summer I have to wait about 5 min, in the winter I give it 15 in my shop. Sorry its not an exact answer.
MAKE SURE: you clean the tires very well, even if they didn't have protectant ever on them, the tires still have products on the surface and just below that need to be removed for the product to bond properly.
Cheers,
GREG
Hi Greg,
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I’d like to try these products, but I’m concerned that I may one day want to remove the sealant. You mentioned in the video that doing so is difficult. How can the sealant be removed without damaging the tire (or damaging a clear coated wheel due to overspray)? Will the cleaner remove the sealant, or would something more aggressive be required?
Thanks again.
Brian
Hello Brian,
My first comment is why do you think you will want to remove it some day?
I removed it by using a solvent that flashes quickly so it won’t react too much with the rubber on the tire. I wipe it on and scrub it off. No the tire cleaner will not remove it, but it will dull the finish greatly. It will take about an hour per tire to remove, maybe less but I have about 5 coats of the stuff on the tires over the years. I would advise you, that if you want to remove it, just leave it and just use the dressing you want.
Cheers,
GREG
Greg,
Thank you for making the video. A number of us learn from watching rather then reading. I have a couple questions.
I have a new set of tires that I had shipped to my house. I was planning on applying the product before they are mounted. Do you think this will make it hard to create a seal when they are mounted?
Also, my brush has turned black from another set of tires. There wasn’t much dressing on the tires because they were on the new side. I never applied the clear coat as I could never get the cleaner to turn any other color then brown. I did 4 cleanings and stopped so I could do these new tires. I believe the brush is what kept the tire suds from turning white. Any suggestions as I have tried to clean the brush with the cleaner and everything else.
BPR,
If you want to clean them before mounting that is wise, but I would not apply the coating until after mounting. They will likely mar the coating when they install, that is a larger concern than the coating causing mounting problems.
The brush bristles are black and won’t come clean? If you cannot get the bristles clean I highly doubt that the brush is what is keeping the tires from coming clean. You don’t “have” to use that brush, switch brushes to see if the problem continues if it does then its the tire not the brush that is the problem. I’ve never had my brush get so stained I couldn’t clean it?
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
GREG
Hi again Greg,
Thanks for replying to my questions. If I begin to use the Tuf Shine sealant, I don’t know that I’d want to remove it–I was just curious, and really only thought of removing it because you said it would be difficult.
I’m thinking of using the Tuf Shine products on my daily driver, a Nissan Xterra. I currently use Sonax Tire Gloss Gel on this vehicle and actually like the look of the gloss finish and the fact that it hides the scuff marks from curbing the tires. But the product is virtually gone after getting wet. (I use Griot’s Garage Vinyl and Rubber Dressing on my BMWs, preferring a matte finish.)
So I think I’ll give Tuf Shine a try, hoping that my Xterra’s tires can look better for a longer period of time.
Thanks again Greg.
Brian
Hi, I have four new tires that I will not be mounting on my car for about four months. I have them in my shed lying flat on a pallet two on two (= =),covered with plastic sheet. I am thinking of coating them with 303 until I am ready to use them. Should I just leave them alone or is the 303 a good idea? Thank you,Jim
Hello Jim,
Just let these new tires continue to “gas out” until its time to use them. I might want to not use plastic next to the tire face as it might react with the petro bases in the tire.
Cheers,
GREG
Greg, Thank you for the advice. Us car enthusiast are always ready to do something special for our cars,but in some cases leaving well enough alone is the best solution. After the tires are put on the car then I will start using the 303. Also I will remove the plastic. Jim