How Long Do Tire Dressings Last? Detailed Answer
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Car tires are the only part of the car that has contact with the road. The road is full of dirt, grime, mud, water, oils, etc., and because of that, keeping tires shiny and clean is extremely difficult and requires regular details. Many car lovers wonder how long tire dressing lasts, so they know what they’re dealing with. Today, I’ll give you a detailed answer on how long tire dressings last and what you can expect from different tire dressing products.
Most tire dressings last anywhere between 2-4 weeks. However, it depends on the quality of the product, type of the dressing, way of application, where you keep your car, how often you drive it, and of course, how often you wash your vehicle.
It’s important to know that everyone can’t have the same results, and that’s because of various factors that I mentioned above. My friend and I both use the same tire dressing, yet his last few days longer, because he keeps his car in a garage and doesn’t drive it daily as I do.
I made this article to help you with the answer, but also, I’ll help you choose the right tire dressing products by making a table with the product name and longevity expectations.
Longevity Depends On a Few Factors
Before I show you longevity data for popular tire dressings, you should know all the factors that may affect the longevity of those dressings.
1. Quality of The Product
First things first, the quality of the product is the most important thing that’ll affect the longevity and shine in general. You can’t expect a $5 product is the same as a $20 product (we don’t have Xiaomi in auto detailing, hehe).
I’m not saying that there are no good and cheap products, but usually – you get what you paid for is the truth about auto detailing products. On my site, I always recommend high-quality products that are not too expensive.
2. Type of The Dressing
There are two main types of tire shines that you can get, solvent-based and water-based ones. Usually, you can expect solvent-based tire dressings to last a few days longer because they bond to the tire better, and the weather won’t wear them off so quickly.
On the other hand, water-based dressings will usually last a few days less, but they’ll give your tires a matte-finish, which many people like. When using water-based tire dressings, you’ll have to apply them more frequently.
3. Way of Application
The way of application is extremely important, too. Many people make mistakes here, and the biggest mistake is that they don’t wash and dry the tires properly. That way, dressings won’t bond correctly, and they won’t last long.
Another thing is that some people apply two layers of dressing, increasing the product’s longevity a lot.
4. Where Do You Keep Your Car
Tire dressings protect the rubber from the Sun’s UV rays and other weather elements. So, instead of destroying the tire, those elements will slowly wear tire dressings. If you keep your car in a garage, tire dressings will last much longer since they’re not exposed to harmful elements all the time.
If you live in an apartment like me, you probably don’t have a garage, and your car stays outside most of the time, you can expect tire dressings to last a few days less.
5. Is The Car Driven Daily
At the beginning of the article, I said that the road is full of dirt, grime, oils, water, various chemicals, etc. All of them are slowly wearing off the dressings from the tire. If you drive your car daily, that’ll also reduce the longevity of tire dressing, especially if you live in a rainy climate (luckily, I don’t).
6. How Often You Wash Your Car
Some people tend to wash their car every few days to keep it as shiny as possible. Washing the vehicle frequently reduces the longevity of car dressings, especially if you’re using a pressure washer, APC, and brushes to clean the tires.
Washing your car every two weeks is more than enough to keep it clean, at least in my opinion (unless it gets dirty because of rains, snow, mud, etc.). And for every two weeks, you can re-apply the tire dressing to bring the tire shine and protection back.
Longevity Data For Most Popular Tire Dressings
I researched some of the most popular tire dressing products and made a table with the longevity data for each of them. Remember that this data can be affected by many factors I just talked about. These are some averages to know what to expect from each product.
| Tire Dressing Product | Average Longevity |
|---|---|
| Gyeon Q2 Tire Dressing | 3-4 weeks |
| Adam’s Tire Shine | 3-4 weeks |
| Black Magic Tire Wet Spray | 3-4 weeks |
| Meguiar’s Endurance Tire Gel | 3 weeks |
| Car Guys Tire Shine | 3 weeks |
| TriNova Tire Shine Spray | 3 weeks |
| Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel | 2 weeks |
| ArmorAll Extreme Tire Shine Gel | 10-15 days |
| Chemical Guys Silkshine Protectant | 1-2 weeks |
| Chemical Guys VRP | 7-10 days |
My favorite tire dressing is the Gyeon Q2 Tire Dressing (check my review), it gives my tires a perfect amount of black color, shine, and it lasts pretty long, even after washing the vehicle a few times.
How To Increase The Longevity of Tire Dressings
Now I want to show you how I increase the longevity of tire dressing and how you can implement that too. Don’t worry; I won’t say that you should wash your car less often; that would be dummy advice. I’ll share tips and tricks to ensure that the tire dressing bonds to the tire perfectly.
Step 1: Thoroughly Wash and Clean Tires Before Application
The first step is always preparing the surface (tire). You’ll do it by thoroughly washing it by using a pressure washer, APC, and a brush (check my recommended brushers here). Also, instead of APC, you can use wheel cleaners, which are even more potent than APC.
So, thoroughly pressure wash the tires, spray them with All-purpose cleaner, and then agitate them with a brush. You’ll see plenty of dirty foaming on the tires, and that means that you’re breaking all the dirt. If tires are extremely dirty, you might want to repeat this step twice to ensure they’re as clean as possible.
Related: Cleaning Extremely Dirty Wheels and Tires: COMPLETE GUIDE
After you wash the tires thoroughly, you should completely dry the tires before the dressing application. I see many people making mistakes at this step – they apply the product on a wet tire, and it wears off in a matter of hours. To dry the tires, you can use microfiber cloths, or even better, use an air blower or air compressor to blow the water out of them.
Step 2: Apply Two Layers of The Dressing
When the tires are ready for application, you should take your favorite tire dressing and apply it to the tires. Since there are many products, make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle to use it properly.
What I like to do to prolong the longevity of the tire dressing is to apply two layers of it. First, I apply one layer and let it dry naturally in the Sunlight. The Sun will slightly heat the tire so that the dressing bonds even better.
When the first layer is completely dry, I apply another coat of tire shine, which increases the longevity a lot. Again, let it dry naturally, and it usually takes anywhere between 5-10 minutes.
In my experience, it’ll increase longevity for about a week. And that’s it. Your tire shine should last longer now. Furthermore, it’ll increase the longevity, but it’ll also improve the tire shine/matt finish, depending on the type of product you’re using.
Conclusion
Car tire dressings are fantastic products, but we can’t expect them to last forever. As you can see, most of these products will last from 2 to 4 weeks, again, depending on the various factors and conditions. In my opinion, they last just enough, since we should wash our car every few weeks anyway.
I also suggest you try my methods of increasing the longevity of the tire shine products. It worked for me, and it should work for you too.
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