Brown Tires After Washing? Here’s What You Need to Know

Think about the last time you washed your car. Your windows are crystal clear, the paint looks slick and glossy, your wheels are bright and clean, and then; brown tires. What a let down. You spent all of that time cleaning your car and this one detail is sticking out and ruining your car’s look.

Why do your car tires turn brown? How can I make my tires black again? Let’s answer those questions and figure out what process and products we can use to get the deep, black tires we’re after. And the next time you wash your car you’ve taken your cars look to the next level.

All Products Discussed in This Post:

This post contains links to products that I may receive compensation from at no additional cost to you. View my Affiliate Disclosure page here.

• Meguiar’s D17001 Hyper Dressing
• Tire Dressing Brush
• P&S Detail Products Brake Buster
• Optimum Power Clean
• Detail Factory Tire Brush
• EZ Detail Wheel Brush
• Soft Bristle Wheel Brush
• The Rag Company Spectrum 420 Microfiber Towels

What Is in a Car Tire?

You know car tires are rubber, but they’re also made up of many different parts. We’re going to focus on the sidewall of the tire which is mostly what you see when you look at your car.

When exposed to the environment, rubber will break down over time. This breaking down leads to cracking, brittleness, and crumbling. Your tires being exposed to oxygen and ozone in the air is the biggest factor in this degradation and cracking over time. So, should we plastic wrap our tires and suffocate them?

6PPD is an organic chemical used in modern tires. It resists degradation and helps the tire maintain is structure long-term safety. As the tire is exposed to the environment and driven, 6PPD “blooms” or moves its way to the surface of the tire. Once on the surface, it acts as a protective layer and reacts with the ozone before it can react with your tire.

Why Are My Tires Turning Brown? – Tire Blooming

Tire blooming? Does it only happen in spring? No, unfortunately not. (No more dad jokes; I swear)

Your tires can get dirty from dust, mud, and brake dust. You can wipe this stuff easily and get back to a black tire. We’re not talking about brown on the tire, but the tire actually turning brown.

We learned what’s in a car tire, but why are the sides of your car tires turning brown?

Let’s see what a tire manufacturer says about tires turning brown:

What Michelin Says About Brown Tires

What can cause the sidewall of my tires to start turning a brownish color?

The brownish color on the sidewall of your tires is not a defect. The source of this discoloration can be varied. One possibility is that the tires contain an anti-ozone agent in their rubber compounds to slow down the ill effects of exposure to ozone in the air. This anti-ozone ingredient will migrate to the surface of the rubber and leave the appearance of a brownish dust. This is completely normal and technically is no cause for concern. In time, depending on usage, it will disappear.
Other possibilities for discoloration can be simply dust that is picked up from normal driving or brake dust which is generated by the abrasion of the brake pads against the brake rotor. This latter condition is more prevalent when the brakes are new or have recently been relined. In all cases, we recommend that you continue to clean your tires with a mild soap and water.

From that, we can see tires will turn brown just by being exposed to air. I’ve noticed that not all tires turn brown at the same rate. Some tires will turn brown quicker than others even if maintained them identically.

Is It Bad if Your Tires Turn Brown?

Brown tire sidewalls do not impact the usability or safety of the tire.

But, they’re ugly. Imagine you step back to admire your car after you just washed it. The paint is slick and glossy, the windows are crystal clear, and your tires are brown? We want that deep, rich, black tire to complement how awesome the rest of the car looks.

Ok, how do we do that?

How to Clean Brown Tires

Tires (and wheels) should be cleaned during your normal car washes. If you have a plan for what protection you’re going to apply to your car and have frequent maintenance car washes it will get easier and easier to maintain the level of clean that makes you enjoy your car more.

Some people like to have dedicated tire and rubber cleaners, but I’m a fan of simplifying the number of products I have and carrying around less spray bottles. I believe most wheel cleaners or all-purpose cleaners do a great job on tires.

The two products I use on wheels and tires are P&S Brake Buster or Optimum Power Clean. My wheels and tires will have protection on them so they’re never that dirty. I use P&S Brake Buster diluted 1:1 (16oz water and 16oz Brake Buster in a 32oz spray bottle) for normal maintenance washes. If I need extra cleaning power I use Optimum Power Clean diluted 4:1 (24oz water and 6oz Power Clean in a 32oz spray bottle).

The steps to washing your wheels and tires are very simple:

1. Rinse wheel wells, tires and wheels with hose or pressure washer
2. Spray either diluted P&S Brake Buster or diluted Optimum Power Clean on wheel wells, tires and wheels
3. Scrub wheel wells with EZ Detail Wheel Brush
4. Spray a little diluted P&S Brake Buster or diluted Optimum Power Clean on Detail Factory Tire Brush and scrub tires
5. Clean inside the wheel barrels with EZ Detail Wheel Brush
6. Spray a little diluted P&S Brake Buster or diluted Optimum Power Clean on Soft Bristle Wheel Brush and clean wheels
7. Rinse wheel wells, tires and wheels with hose or pressure washer
8. If the suds/foam from the tires was brown repeat tire cleaning in step 4 until suds/foam are white

Restoring Tire Color With Tire Dressing

Now that your wheels and tires are clean we can dress the tires to make sure they have that deep black look that we’re after and stay black as long as possible. Typically you’ll wash your wheels and tires before washing the rest of the car. Dressing the tires comes after you’ve completely washed, dried, and dressed the paint of the car.

Tire Shine vs. Tire Dressing

“Tire Shine” is a common phrase you’ll hear for products that are put on the sidewall of a tire after washing. These products actually make your tires look shiny. That may be what you’re after so continue to chase that.

For me, I hate shiny tires. I like the contrast of the shiny, glossy paint and very flat colored tires. When I’m putting the finishing touches on my wheels and tires I want to make sure my tires are as deep black and the least shiny as possible.

Meguiar’s D17001 Hyper Dressing does a great job at that. You’re able to dilute this to adjust the look of the tire after dressed. Use Hyper Dressing straight out of the bottle for a more shiny finish. I dilute Hyper Dressing 4:1 (24oz water and 6oz Hyper Dressing in a 32oz spray bottle) for a perfect deep black look.

1. Two trigger pulls of Hyper Dressing from a 32oz spray bottle into a Tire Dressing Brush
2. Work the Hyper Dressing into all of the details of the tire
3. Wipe off with a black The Rag Company Spectrum 420 Microfiber Towel

Take a step back. Enjoy what you have created.

Brown Tires Have Left the Chat

Tires blooming and turning brown are a part of their life. It’s a process that happens due to an additive that keeps the rubber in a healthy condition for the life of the tread. Lucky for us, there is a very easy process to keep them at the level of clean we want that matches the rest of our car.

As you’re establishing your own level of clean for your car don’t forget to give your wheels and tires some dedicated attention.

What I’ve shared is a starting point to help you establish your own process. I hope that I can help you discover the process that you enjoy the most and can do consistently.