No More Browning After Switching to OPC

S

Setec Astronomy

Well-known member
Short version: I switched to Optimum Power Clean as my tire cleaner, and my tires no longer get brown between washings. Unexpected bonus.

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Long version:


Somewhere here in the .org depths is a thread I started years ago about tire cleaning--basically about how many darn times you have to scrub before the brown suds stop (a now common topic when prepping for Tuf Shine). At the time I was using Hi-Temp tire cleaner, and I was taken aback at how aggressive the product was, and wondered if it was actually pulling anti-ozonants out of the tire, because the more I cleaned, the more brown seemed to come out.

I finally settled on using it diluted 1:4 and went about my business. Spray it on, brown suds, scrub til clean, dry, dress, a week or two later, tire is turning brown, repeat the process.

So I ran out of the Hi-Temp and wanted to try something else...tried Meg's 101 I had around...didn't like that...had some A2Z, Mother's Foaming...decided that I was going to give Optimum Power Clean a shot as my regular cleaner. Had a little trouble dialing in the dilution, it seemed to not really be working because when I started at 1:3, there was really no brown suds. Then I went to 1:2, 1:1, straight, and back to 1:1. Still wasn't sure it was really doing a good job, because no too much brown suds, and it was a little more expensive to use than I would have liked at the 1:1 dilution.

Fast forward to using it all year...my tires don't get brown anymore. Sure they get dull and "undressed", but they don't turn brown like they used to. This is on several different brands of tire and at least 2 different dressings. This was an unexpected side effect and bonus.

Anyone else experience this?
 
I use Bleech White, once and after that if I was every 2 weeks, I get by with just car wash to clean tires.
 
This is crazy because I was searching this forum wondering what members were using to get their tires completely clean. I found the thread where you asked about the anti-ozonants.

I was heading out the door to Lowe's to grab a gallon of zep 505. Looks like I'll be adding this to cart instead.

P.S. Just a thought, if you were to try hi temp after using opc for a year would you reintroduce the browning? Perhaps opc doesn't "attract" the browning as hi temp does? Idk just thinking out loud, maybe I'm off base here.
 
Optimum had been my cleaner of choice and looked at others until I found Mothers. I have two different Michelin tires. The ones on my truck do not really exhibit any blooming but the ones our our cars can do it. I am suspect the tire dressing more than the cleaner is a major variable. I know some of the crud coming off is tire dressing.
 
Vega@Autopia said:
Very interesting! I've never considered the cleaner as the cause of browning.
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jsou said:
P.S. Just a thought, if you were to try hi temp after using opc for a year would you reintroduce the browning? Perhaps opc doesn't "attract" the browning as hi temp does? Idk just thinking out loud, maybe I'm off base here.
Click to expand...

I don't know, it seems like some of these caustic tire cleaners pull the anti-ozonant out of the rubber. I'd love to hear what Dr. G has to say about this.
 
Bunky said:
Optimum had been my cleaner of choice and looked at others until I found Mothers. I have two different Michelin tires. The ones on my truck do not really exhibit any blooming but the ones our our cars can do it. I am suspect the tire dressing more than the cleaner is a major variable. I know some of the crud coming off is tire dressing.
Click to expand...

I generally use a "wheel bucket" when I'm doing wheels and tires, and frequently I've been using a "tire bucket" where I rinse off the tire brush. OPC definitely turns the water really black, I guess this is some combination of dressing, brake dust, dirt, and oxidized rubber. It's just with OPC the suds on the tire and what comes off seems to be more gray/black than brown like with some other tire cleaners.
 
Could it be that OPC rinses out of the tires fully while the more caustic aggressive cleaners don't rinse out as freely causing the browning?
 
I've been using OPC on my tires since I saw Scottwax's how-to video on using ONR + OPC to clean tires and wheels with a MF towel. I guess that's about 7 years ago, not sure. Over the years, I've just graduated to using OPC by itself with a Mothers tire brush at 1:1 ratio, and 1:3 ratio, whatever spray bottle is easier to grab from the cabinet. Like you, I've noticed less browning between washing and actually during washing as well. Never attributed it the browning to the cleaner, I just thought that the tire was actually cleaner using OPC. But you may have a point. Someone might now venture a test to prove this! :)
 
I picked up zep 505 for tire cleaning but after using it on one tire, I noticed the liquid dripped onto my forged rims coated in opti-coat had an effect. It covered the rim in stain marks as if zep was too aggressive and chewed a bit of the opti-coat. I tried to clean it off but it definitely etched the surface. Right now the rims are in storage for winter so I will try polishing it and re-coating them next Spring.

I also used OPC for tire cleaning but found the cost to be higher than just using Meguiar's APC+ ..perhaps I should go back to OPC for better results.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Setec Astronomy said:
...was going to give Optimum Power Clean a shot as my regular cleaner. Had a little trouble dialing in the dilution, it seemed to not really be working because when I started at 1:3, there was really no brown suds. Then I went to 1:2, 1:1, straight, and back to 1:1. Still wasn't sure it was really doing a good job, because no too much brown suds, and it was a little more expensive to use than I would have liked at the 1:1 dilution.

Fast forward to using it all year...my tires don't get brown anymore. Sure they get dull and "undressed", but they don't turn brown like they used to. This is on several different brands of tire and at least 2 different dressings. This was an unexpected side effect and bonus.

Anyone else experience this?
Click to expand...

What dilution did you finally settle on?
 
Nutbread said:
What dilution did you finally settle on?
Click to expand...

I've been using 1:1 with OPC.

Regarding the Hi Temp tire cleaner (HT-1), I was just looking at the MSDS and the hazardous components are 2-Butoxyethanol and Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach). The MSDS is dated 2011, and I'm pretty sure that's different than the version I was using which was from 2006, which I think had sodium hydroxide in it. The tech sheet for the HT-1 still says it's pH 14 which corresponds better with sodium hydroxide than with sodium hypochlorite (pH 12.6).

At any rate you fellows may not be able to duplicate my results as it seems the HT-1 was reformulated since the time I bought mine.
 
HTemp and OPC are effective tire cleaners. I tend to use 3D Orange Degreaser & LA Totally Awesome.
 
Maybe I will do a side by side experiment so using the same tire and same dressing. I recently was using Chem Guys VRP (from a trade) and it did not seem to brown as much but it has been cooler, etc. I am wondering tire temp is a variable. It seems to be worse in the summer.
 
Vega@Autopia said:
Very interesting! I've never considered the cleaner as the cause of browning.
Click to expand...

Never thought about it either. From my understanding isn't "browning" caused by the tire aging and the dyes pulling out of the tire? If that's the case could the cleaners be accelerating this process at a faster rate?
 
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