Optimum Tire Shine; what am I doing wrong?

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imported_Picus

New member
Hey guys; I just got a gallon of this stuff. I wanted to try it out, haven't really found a "go to" tire dressing I like. Anyway, I've used on three cars now, all tires were cleaned with a degreaser and brush, allowed to dry, then I applies OTS using a spray bottle, applied uniformly and wiped off excess.



So, the problem? It looks terrible; splotchy, almost no gloss at all, and worst after about 30 minutes the tires don't look dressed *at all*. Am I applying wrong? What's the trick here?
 
I apply the first coat pretty heavily, as in, spraying a good amount on the tire and applicator pad, and actually *work it in* to the tire. Then go back 10 mins later, apply some product on the applicator(but not the tire), and work it in as well. Repeat until desired gloss is achieved.



I've used over half of my gallon that I bought and would buy it again no questions asked. Sorry to hear it isn't working out for you.
 
Can't give you a definite reason, but I'm wondering maybe if this is only a problem unique to the specific tires you are doing? If the tires are neglected, they often require a lot of dressing to dress the rubber. Maybe some pictures? :)
 
It's not that it isn't working out, I am sure I am doing something wrong. I didn't take pics of the applications, sorry. I re-applied another dressing on all three because the OTS was looking bad.



I applied mine similarly bigpoppa - pretty heavy on the tire, let sit for a few min then wipe off excess. I will try working it in.



The tires I am doing were pretty caried, a brand new set of bridgestones on a corvette, a set of kumho ecsta on a toyota matrix, and my own (toyo t1-r, ~3000km on them), all were clean.
 
Try not wiping off the excess. I personally never use enough of any tire dressing that there is excess to wipe off. I use a small amount, work it in, go around the car. Then I go back to the first tire and if it doesn't look "wet" enough, I will give them all another swipe.



I have found the Optimum to be one of the more durable of the water-based dressings, only surpassed by Z-16...but then again I haven't used nearly all of them out there...and I'm sure you have dressed a lot more tires than me, Picus, and I probably take a lot longer to do it, too.
 
Is there a gel? I thought we went through this before and there is just the one "watery" product even though one of the online vendors calls it a "gel" in their description.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Is there a gel? I thought we went through this before and there is just the one "watery" product even though one of the online vendors calls it a "gel" in their description.
Click to expand...



Yes there is. I remember asking someone about it (forgot who, think it was Dent's & Details or Anthony Orosco), and he said it was meant to be applied by a machine.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
If I'm not mistaken, we've been through this before, and that stuff at Kleen Car is the watery stuff, that's just an early picture/description, and there is only one Optimum tire product.
Click to expand...





no, I actually started a thread about this awhile back. I knew of another vendor who had this.

Now it is carried by a few others. You can put it on by hand, it is too thick for a regular pump sprayer.



Optimum Opti-Bond II Tire Gel



Optimum Opti-Bond II Tire Gel
 
it seems they have a few optimum products that arenta vailable anywhere else??? is it real optimum and why would they have knockoffs when the only product they seem to sell is optimum??? any way that site kinda creeps me out for some reason.
 
Ok...I found this posted by Anthony Orosco on 5/28: "Ron sprayed the tires with the new Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel..." so I guess there is another product. Since silk posted that Danase link, I notice Danase sells both and the Gel is significantly cheaper. IIRC Anthony posted some pictures a couple years ago about using an air-powered tire dressing applicator.



Edit: I put a thread up in the Danase forum asking about the differences: http://autopia.org/forum/danase/91712-difference-optimum-tire-dressings.html#post939661. I believe he's on vacation now, but he should be able to tell us in a few days. Sorry for the thread-jack, Picus, but I guess we have to know which product you are using and if it's the gel, it looks like not too many people have used it.
 
I have found that dressing react differently to different kinds of tires or tire conditions, ie how dirty the tire is, how old, how good the tire is, what it has been exposed to.



I dont know if there is any science that can explain it. On one of my customers car no matter what tire dressing I apply on the tires, the 2 rear tires which are older and different brand than the front tires never stay dressed longer than 1 day. Especially the drivers side tire seems to loose its shine faster then the rest, while the 2 front tires stay dressed for over a week.



They all get the same treatment, but that one particular tire looses the dressing.
 
VaSuperShine said:
it seems they have a few optimum products that arenta vailable anywhere else??? is it real optimum and why would they have knockoffs when the only product they seem to sell is optimum??? any way that site kinda creeps me out for some reason.
Click to expand...



You talking about the APC?
 
I tried it again today on three cars. One with older tires, an M3... and two with brand spanking new Pilot Sport 2's, a 997 911 turbo and a Carrera GT - I tired applying sparingly and working it in, tried liberally working it in, tried liberal and let sit, tried sparing and let sit....all tires were clean; and all looked like poop when dressed. Went over them with my regular old dressing and no problems.



I can't figure it out. It isn't that the gloss isn't good, it's fine; it's that it's always streaky and blotchy and doesn't last. I can't figure it out.
 
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