It's safe to say that the world outside isn't spick and span. Rising levels of dust, pollution, along with the harsh weather conditions can really make our vehicles dirty. Some of the dirtiest parts, in fact, are the ones that are in close proximity to the roads which, as you might have already guessed, definitely includes our tyres.
Cleaning your car and leaving out the tyres is thus just doing half the job. A shiny car with dirty wheels is not what an owner strives for and that is where tyre polish comes into play.
A tyre polish is typically a formula that has various chemical compounds which help you get rid of the grime and dirt on your tyres. These formulae are specifically designed to loosen the sticky and stubborn dirt and help your tyres look as good as new.
There are two types of products available in the market:
Water Based Products
Water based tyre polish are very natural and contain natural oils, solvents and chemicals that are suspended in water. Such products are typically a lot safer than solvent based products. Water based products have silicone compounds suspended in water. Such products mostly give a matte finish to the tyres and since they are less harsh and sticky, you don't have to worry about any slinging (product slinging off to parts of the car from the tyre) from the tyres. These also evaporate quite quickly which is another added bonus.
Solvent Based Products
A solvent based product has the silicone compounds that make the tyre shine suspended in solvents which are usually hydrocarbon silicones themselves. The problem with solvents is that such hydrocarbon silicones are volatile organic compounds and VOCs are not good for the environment at all. Furthermore, they are quite harsh and not as forgiving as water based solvents.
A solvent based product does evaporate very slowly and hence it is suggested that a very thin layer of the product be used whenever you're applying it onto tyres. You could come across instances where you find such solvent based products being sold as sprays. We suggest you avoid them as much as you can since the spray makes it very hard to control the application. Gels, on the other hand, will be much better as they allow you to have full control over the application by utilising a sponge or a brush. The lesser and more precise the quantity, the better.
Since the hydrocarbon silicones found in silicone based polishes are sticky and also harmful for your car's body paint, we recommended that you try your level best to avoid any spillover or slinging by wiping off any excess product from the tyres. Solvent based products are great for a wet look or shiny look. Although very effective, they aren’t exactly the best in the long run for your tyre health. There are concerns that they do damage the tread and accelerate tyre ageing.
Also See: Can Tyre Sealants Plug Punctures? How Do They Work?
The products can also differ in terms of their application:
Sprays –
Tyre shine sprays allow for much better coverage area on tyres and ease of application. These can be much easier to apply as compared to gels and might seem to be much more user friendly. However, people almost always go overboard with such sprays. Thus, if you do plan to buy one of these, care must be taken to ensure that you don’t overdo things and only spray as much as required. Make sure you spray as accurately as possible and avoid spraying on the brakes or the car body.
Gels -
Gel based shines come in bottles and need some apparatus for application like scrubs or sponges. The basic difference between gels and sprays is that since gels are denser and come in a bottle, there much more control a person has over how much they want to use and where. Their application, however, is definitely more time consuming for the user.
