Trouble dressing older tires?

[Eric]

I feel stupid asking this (I really feel I should know better) but has anyone ever had trouble getting tire dressing to take on older tires? I've been seeing this happen a lot lately when I do cars for others. If the tires are older, it seems the tire dressing are just not as effective.

This point was driven home to me the other night when I was preparing a car for a friend who was selling it. It had newer tires on the back, older tires on the front. All four tires were prepped and dressed in the same manner but the newer back ones look great while the older fronts look like they've barely had any dressing.

I've tried a variety of different ways of cleaning the tires and use quality products (my "go to" tire dressings are Wolfgang, CG VRP and Poorboys) but still seem to have trouble with it.

Any tips or tricks?

[Sherif]

How old are those tires you're talking about? I'm not a pro but from my experience, I had to repeat the cleaning process (spray APC, scrub hard with tire brush then rinse with PW/hose) 4-6 times to clean my 6months old tires (until the APC turns to white foam when scrubbed on tire)..

[jmsc]

Agree with Sherif. Newer tires may need cleaning with a dedicated tire cleaner like Tuff Stuff and their brush 2-3 times. Old tires over 3-4-5 years old may need 4-6 times cleaning. Or replacement 'cause they are too far gone. How much thread is left is a good indicator. Its not what product you are using but the age of the rubber.