Do you have four half-moon stains on your concrete or paved driveway? The main ingredient in tire shine products is silicone, an element with very similar properties to carbon.
Tires are made of natural and synthetic rubber (long carbon chained molecules) mixed with carbon and Sulphur to produce rubber. Some anti-oxidants are also incorporated into the rubber to prevent the rubber from oxidizing.
Getting rid of tire stains caused by the silicone or carbon-based oils in tire cleaners can best be done by using muriatic acid and water to dissolve and wash away the embedded oil. A propane flame is also very effective in burning off the oil and tire cleaner residue on your driveway.
There are many homemade or commercially available tire shine products on the market. The tire shine creates a thin protective layer of carbon or silicone molecules on the surface of the sidewall of the tires, giving them a shiny black appearance.
The application of tire shine products creates overspray on driveways, causing unsightly discoloration. Let’s look at some ways to avoid getting the driveway dirty and how to clean up stains on driveways caused by tire shine overspray.
How To Avoid Tire Shine Stains On Your Driveway
Silicone is the most common active ingredient in commercially available tire shine products. The silicone-based liquid is often applied with a spray bottle or in an aerosol mist.
Silicone is also used in concrete surface sealants and bonds very well to porous concrete. The white stains left by tire shine are the silicone clogging up the surface layer of the concrete.
To prevent stains on your concrete driveway, tire detailing should not be done on your driveway. Parking your car on the lawn will ensure that the soapy water and other dirt washed off the car and tires will be absorbed by the soils and broken down by biological processes.
Never allow very oily water to wash into the water drainage system. Even a tiny amount of oil can contaminate thousands of gallons of water.
Parking the vehicle on top of waste cardboard placed on top of the concrete surface will absorb the tire shine overspray and prevent the concrete from being contaminated.
Keep some old newspaper or cat litter handy to mop up any accidental oil spills or tire shine overspray. The newspaper and cat litter are very absorbent and will soak up most of the spilled substance and limit the cleaning needed.
Cleaning Tire Shine Stains And Oil Spills Off The Driveway
Cleaning off the white tire shine stains can be done similarly to removing oil stains on absorbent concrete surfaces. There are many proven methods to clean concrete, and most of them involve some scrubbing of the concrete surface. The cleaning method requiring the least effort is to use a propane flame to burn off the stains.
A propane torch flame is used to heat the surface of the concrete and turn the silicone or oil stain back into a volatile gas. The gas will burn off in the heat of the flame, leaving the surface of the concrete looking as good as new.
Acids such as muriatic acid, pool acid, or even vinegar can be used on stained surfaces. You should wear protective gloves, eye protection, and a face mask when scrubbing the acid into the surface of the concrete.
The acid will break down the structure of the stain and will dissolve a thin layer of the concrete surface. Hose down the scrubbed surface with a garden hose and let the concrete dry.
If any stains remain, repeat the process until the stains are completely gone. A strong alkali, such as a dishwashing solution, can also be used to dissolve the dirt.
Some elbow grease will be required to scrub the surface of the concrete. Wash off the surface and let it dry. Repeat as often as needed until the stains are all gone.
Shining Your Tires Without Staining Your Driveway
Meticulously washing and detailing your car can take many hours to bring back that new car look and smell. Working smart will save you the effort of cleaning up the workspace if you have completed the car detailing. The last step of car detailing is the shinning of the tires.
The most common place for car detailing is in the driveway in front of the house. The last thing you want to do is transfer the dirt and grime from the car to your pristine driveway surface. After washing and rinsing the car off, it is best to move it into the shade for drying and polishing.
Park the car in a shady spot on the lawn or under a roof, but place some waste cardboard under each tire to prevent the overspray of the tire shine from soaking into the surface of the soil or concrete. The silicone-based tire shine is an excellent sealer and creates a thin layer on the surface of the rubber, protecting the tire from UV damage and oxidation.
The tire shine overspray is equally effective in sealing off the surface of the concrete from water penetration. When hosed down, the tire shine stains will appear as four white half-moons on the wet concrete. These stains can be removed using a propane gas flame or by applying acid, vigorous scrubbing, and rinsing with water.
Conclusion
A sparkling clean car parked on a stained driveway can often be the result of a morning spent detailing your car. The stains on the driveway caused by tire shine and other dirt and debris washed off the car can result in more work than the car detailing.
Taking some intelligent precautions can make your car detailing more rewarding and avoid the need for removing the stains left by tire shine on your clean driveway. Doing the final drying and polishing steps on the lawn in the shade will prevent the need to clean tire shine stains off the concrete driveway.
Removing the tire shine stains on concrete driveways can be done but requires some effort and puts a damper on the joy of detailing your car. Using a propane flame to burn off the stains, whether from silicone-based tire shine or an oil leak, is the most effective and least strenuous method.