What is tyre dressing for?
Many believe that tyre dressing is mainly cosmetic in purpose – it gives tyres a black gloss, making them look like new. This function is certainly important for a tyre dressing, but its purpose is not limited to appearance alone. Much more important is that tyre dressing performs a protective function. The point is that rubber ages and breaks down under the action of sunlight, atmospheric oxygen and aggressive road chemicals. A quality tyre dressing containing silicone creates a protective film on the rubber surface, fills the microcracks and defects that have appeared and considerably slows the ageing of the rubber. Moreover, it can be used to protect not only rubber but also plastic.
Why buy an expensive tyre dressing when the Internet is full of advice on how to make a very cheap equivalent from glycerine and water?
If you regard tyre dressing purely as a means of giving tyres a greasy shine in order to impress a car buyer or a girl on a first date, you can of course use the “home-made” remedy. But the whole problem is that a wheel smeared with glycerine and water will stay greasy, will soil hands and clothes and will also “catch” dust and dirt. A quality product, on the other hand, contains solvents that evaporate fairly quickly, surfactants that make dirt removal easier and help the product spread evenly over the surface, and silicone that creates a protective film. After treatment with a quality dressing the tyre surface dries quickly and a glossy dry black film remains on it. Dust and dirt stick to this film far less, which allows the tyre to keep a tidy appearance for longer. And of course a durable silicone film protects the tyre far better than semi-liquid glycerine.
When and where is it best to use tyre dressing?
It is recommended to treat tyres with AXIOM® tyre dressing once every few washes. In addition, it is very useful to apply it as a preservative to tyres before putting them into storage after a seasonal change. In this case it is recommended to treat not only the sidewalls but also the tread and, if the tyres have been removed from the wheels, the inner surface. But the use of AXIOM® tyre dressing is not limited to treating tyres. It is a good preservative for rubber, so it can be used periodically on the hoses of the brake system, the air conditioning and the cooling system, as well as on door rubber seals. AXIOM® tyre dressing is also good as a protective and decorative coating for the unpainted plastic of bumpers, mirror housings and door handles.
Are there any special considerations when using AXIOM® tyre dressing?
No special safety precautions are required when applying AXIOM® tyre dressing. It is not aggressive towards the vehicle’s paintwork. It should only be borne in mind that the silicone it contains is a lubricant, so when spraying, care must be taken to keep the product from getting onto the brake discs in large amounts – this may reduce braking efficiency.