Anybody know what kind of bulk tire dressing a dealership would use?

[mustangmike]

I`m guessing it`s a bulk dressing anyway. I just bought a used car at an auction and it was obviously detailed and I think it was done at a dealership but I don`t know for sure. The tires were dressed with something that made them slightly glossy and they beaded water like crazy so I`m pretty sure the dressing was not water based. I washed the wheels with APC today and it didn`t faze the tire dressing at all, the APC did not seem to remove any of the tire dressing. I`m seeing some kind of substance down the side of the car which I think is tire sling, it wipes off easily.

Actually I kind of like the way whatever dressing it is makes the tires look, nice and black and slightly glossy. It reminds me of the dressing that the dealership used on the tires of my Escape when I bought it back in 2011. I tried to find out then what dressing was used but I was unsuccessful, the tire detailer never replied to my inquiry.

Thanks, Mike

[TheMeanGreen]

I`m guessing it`s a bulk dressing anyway. I just bought a used car at an auction and it was obviously detailed and I think it was done at a dealership but I don`t know for sure. The tires were dressed with something that made them slightly glossy and they beaded water like crazy so I`m pretty sure the dressing was not water based. I washed the wheels with APC today and it didn`t faze the tire dressing at all, the APC did not seem to remove any of the tire dressing. I`m seeing some kind of substance down the side of the car which I think is tire sling, it wipes off easily.

Actually I kind of like the way whatever dressing it is makes the tires look, nice and black and slightly glossy. It reminds me of the dressing that the dealership used on the tires of my Escape when I bought it back in 2011. I tried to find out then what dressing was used but I was unsuccessful, the tire detailer never replied to my inquiry.

Thanks, Mike

You have a unicorn of an experience. You are most likely experiencing the silicone based dressing that every dealership uses, but yours has most likely been applied the correct way with an applicator and wiping off, instead of the person just spraying the tire and walking away. Super Clean full strength once and then one application of Mineral Spirits, if it doesn’t come after that, then you need to wait, you wouldn’t want to do any damage to the tire.

[Mike lambert]

A lot of them around here use Meguiars all season or whatever auto magic has.

[mobiledynamics]

Interesting comment on Meg. I would think it would be some odd bulk name us *consumers* are no used to like *#Brite, Malco, etc, etc

[Mike lambert]

All season is available in 55 gallon, I believe, for sure 5 gallon. Around here, the slimier the longer it lasts, the less they use.

[mustangmike]

You have a unicorn of an experience. You are most likely experiencing the silicone based dressing that every dealership uses, but yours has most likely been applied the correct way with an applicator and wiping off, instead of the person just spraying the tire and walking away. Super Clean full strength once and then one application of Mineral Spirits, if it doesn’t come after that, then you need to wait, you wouldn’t want to do any damage to the tire.

A unicorn of an experience. LOL.

Silicone based dressing, that is something that I didn`t expect because I`m not all that familiar with it. I`ve used water based dressings but they don`t last long IME and I`ve been leery of solvent based dressings for fear of damage to the tires. I`ve settled on Tuf Shine, I like it a lot and it`s on all of my car tires. I`ve had very good experience with it.

In regard to the tires in question with the silicone dressing applied at the dealership they were old, had dates of 2012 and 2013 on them. One tire had 2 screws in it which caused a slow leak and it also had a huge cut in the sidewall. I had them replaced this morning with a new set of Yokahamas and I spent today applying applying Tuf Shine to the new tires.

Thank you very much for the replies, this was very educational.

[Larry A]

We use oil base tire dresing from Technitions choice.

[Older]

Based on my experience, dealers use the type that you can`t remove and looks like crap after a few days.

[JohnZ3MC]

Years ago, a local Honda dealership prided themselves on their service policies, offering washes and cleaning for all their customers` cars. Their policy was called `Service Plus`. My daughter-in-law worked there as an accountant and I asked her to find out what the cleaning team used on the tires.
Granitize
It`s still available but I`m still a bit surprised that they used such a pricey product for their `free service`.

[Dan]

Most places I`ve seen use the blue clear stuff. Have no idea why, it doesn`t seem to last any longer than a good water based dreseing. Must be cheaper.

[mustangmike]

Today I noticed that there was tire sling all over the front of my Escape that came from the car that I bought at the auction. My wife drove the Escape and followed me home on the 50 mile drive on the interstate. She wasn`t right on my bumper but stayed back several car lengths and other people cut in front of her several times. I`m kind of amazed that tire sling could be airborne enough to contaminate a vehicle following the offending vehicle. That was some tire dressing they used.

I spent the day cleaning tire sling off both cars. Hopefully Eraser removed any silicone that was present. I used some old MF that I intend to toss, don`t want the silicone to contaminate my other MF towels. The auction car got a fresh coat of CMX, I`ll see how the durability goes on that.

[mobiledynamics]

Eraser to remove grime......I would have used APC / tire cleaned the heckuva out of it for such a sublime task.....

[Old Pirate]

They probably still use good old Vitalis..........

[Lonnie]

I asked a similar question to this thread in the thread I started:
What Do Those of You Who Work in High-Volume Detail Shops/Dept Use for Car-Care Chemicals?