Just thought I'd pass this info to all that use Westley's w/w cleaner. Yesterday,I went to my local tire dealer to buy 4 new w/w tires for my 92 Broughm. I was shocked when the sales person told me they had no w/walls of all the thousands of tires they had in stock. Said their not making them anymore as all the new cars come with black walls. He was able to however special order 4 w/walls for me. Also,2 rechroming shops in my area have gone out of business and you know the reason for that. Now,getting back to Westly's,I got to thinking the company may stop making this product as to weak sales and so I made a call this morning and my worst fears was as I expected. Was told they were going to discontinue the product.
So to those of you that been Westly's buyers,I would suggest the next time you go to your auto parts store you buy every bottle off the shelf while it's still available.
bob
I've never been too pleased with the results from Westley's.
I get a much brighter and cleaner whitewall with Soft Scrub and brush. I don't see them discontinuing SS any time soon.
BJ
Joe Abernathy #17524
I have used Westleys for quite a number of years but discovered two alternatives. If you read the label it states Westleys Bleach-White. One time when I ran short, I used bleach and got the same results. I have been told amonia works well too so I tried it and it is even better than bleach. If you are carefull and do not scuff your whitewalls while parking, all you need to do is rub it over the whitewall and you will see it turn from yellow to white instantly. Has anyone out there had any experience with these product?
I use this
http://www.nytechsupply.com/techtire/tech_prod2.htm
704 Rub-O-Matic, 1 qt., 945ml can
This Rub-O-Matic liquid is a professional tire rubber cleaner. I use it on my brand new firestone white walls (2 cadillacs) and it works great. No need to use water.
I also have the Wesltey spray but it is less effective and requires water to wash it off.
You just need a few drops of this liquid on a towel and will remove any dirt or marks.It did not affect the color of the white wall. It does not remove the yellow/brown layer that sometimes appears on some tires.
Rob
Just a word of caution here. It's not a good idea to use ammonia or bleach on
whitewalls since they both degrade the rubber. Westley's has as its "magic"
ingredient sodium metasilicate, which is a very strong alkaline chemical (Ph 13)
used in cleaner / detergent formulations, mostly for industrial use.
A potential replacement for this use is called TSP (trisodium phosphate)
that, along with a Brillo pad or similar product, should get any whitewall clean.
This is available in most any hardware stores and is cheap (about $4.00 will
give you 10 years supply for a 2 pound box).
One caution, WEAR GLOVES when using this stuff. A few tablespoons in
warm water (about a quart) is enough to clean most anything. This
product is often used as a prep agent for cleaning (exterior) paint on homes
prior to repainting. After cleaning your tires and rinsing throughly, apply a
suitable tire dressing to seal the rubber and keep the "clean" and shine.
Also, avoid contact with aluminum as it could "etch" the surface.
Mike
I was in Advance Auto Parts this afternoon, right next to the Westley's White Wall Cleaner was Advance's store brand of the same thing. Bet if Westley's discontinues theirs you'll still be able to buy Advance's brand (unless they buy it from Westley's in their own packaging ;D). BJ's method sounds good to me, I'm going to give it a try.
;)
Knowing how the chemical business works -- I would guess that the
Advance product is a "private label" brand made by the same folks that
make Westley's. I've seen alot of this over the years, Mike.
A very sad day indeed when Whitewalls are gone forever.
Thankgoodness we can still special order them if you know the right brand to ask for.
Todays kids just don't want to be bothered cleaning them. We live in such an "Instant satisfaction" society now. Look at how many cars with blackwalls and alloy wheels you see on the road where they are all nasty and blackened from brake dust. People don't even take pride in keeping their cars washed. not unless they get a free wash with a fillup of gas.
Granted a Cadillac Escalade may not look good in whitewalls, but you can't tell me that a new Cadillac sedan or Lincoln Towncar still doesn't look good with a set of whitewalls.
Scrubbing them clean is a messy chore, but it sure is satisfying to look back at the car with a sparkling clean set of WW's.
I got a set of 215 75 15's for my deville last winter for $40 each. They had a fairly wide white wall and the store had like 20 of them in stock. I guess they have them for cheapo replacements for the 80-90's suvs and trucks for the people that dont want to spend money on LT tires like they should. I guess they have a standard disclaimer that they are not the right tire for the car but people still buy them. A friend just picked up a set of Goodyear Regatta2's in a 225 he said those still have a whitewall and cost around $350 for all 4 installed. That sounded like a pretty good deal. The Regattas on my Eldo are 11 years old now and starting to get pretty thin on the edges so I may go shoppin next spring. I have one eldo that came with 235 75 15 LT tires with the raised white letters...... talk about the wrong look!
I recently acquired a Diamond-Back radial tire catalog from N.C..In there little pamphlet they sent,they even said not to use Westley's.They recommend using either spray nine or 409?.But I know Spray Nine for sure.
ive always used good old comet and a scrub brush
Hi Guys
If I can put my #teo pennyworth' in here, I'm in the UK, and White Wall tyres always have been a rare commodity here. I have to pay around $160 each for the tyres on my Dodge Ram Day Van, but still believe its worth it for the look.
Anyway, about 10 years ago, when I purchased my first American motor, I met up with a Packard collector at a car show and I asked him where I could buy White Wall cleaner, bearing in mind the scarcity of those types of tire over here, he said he only ever used standard washing-up liquid and one of those household pads that is sponge with an abrasive pad on the reverse.
I use that ever since and even after the staining of the Winter time the walls come up gleaming, and I agree entirely with another comment made earlier, You can't beat the look of a nice clean set of wheels with White Walls on them.
Best wishes for the UK
Barry (memb. 22329)
Brillo Pads always work well for me. (Available in any grocery store).
Fred
08-26-07
ALL Reader of this message board and cleaners of WW tires.
I find "Grandmaw's LYE SOAP" does the job in short order! "The secert is in the Scrubing, it never suds, it never foamed".
Good Luck,JIM
Well,I never expected to get such a feedback. After reading all the comments,I have only this to say to those of you that use a brillo pad,scrub brush or any item such as steel wool. Sure it does the trick and makes your w/w's look like new. But that's the worst thing you can do to a w/w. When you use a brillo pad or anything like a scrub brush you are scratching the w/w, scuffing it,making the surface like sand paper. Once the smooth finish of the w/w has changed to a rough or sandpaper finish from repeated cleaning. It starts to attract the dirt off the roads into it's pores like a magnet. The pores you created from using that brillo pad or scrub brush. I know what I am talking about,cause I remember way back in the 50's whenever the Westley's bleach w/w cleaner didn't remove a deep scuff mark I used a brillo pad to work my way into the w/w. It was later on that I started to notice where I used the brillo pad was always the area that would get the most dirt ,kinda like a sponge,suck it right in. After that I never used a brillo pad,steel wool or scrub brush. I Would continue using the Westly's over the same area till it finally removed the scuff with a wash mit. I've been using Westly's bleach white w/w cleaner for over 40 years and I swear by it. Also,on every convertable car I've ever owned since 1952 that had a white top got the Westly's treatment. My comments here were not intended to be a plug for Westly's. I'ts just that I find it to be a excellent product then and now. If what you are using gives you good results,then I would continue using it,whatever it is.
Bob
I used Westley's for a number of years.... why? Because it was easier than scrubbing. However, after some years of using it on my WW's, I found the sidewalls became chaulky looking, almost like it dried out the tire. Recently I bought a new set of radials from Diamondback... interestingly, they recommend you scrub your tires with cleanser, SOS, etc. and strongly state that you should not use Wesley's or any bleach product for the reasons I found out in sentence #1. Info on their website http://www.widewhitewalltires.com/ page 22 in the catalog.
Good luck
Whit Otis
Quote from: Whit Otis on August 27, 2007, 05:59:17 PM
I used Westley's for a number of years.... why? Because it was easier than scrubbing. However, after some years of using it on my WW's, I found the sidewalls became chaulky looking, almost like it dried out the tire. Recently I bought a new set of radials from Diamondback... interestingly, they recommend you scrub your tires with cleanser, SOS, etc. and strongly state that you should not use Wesley's or any bleach product for the reasons I found out in sentence #1. Info on their website http://www.widewhitewalltires.com/ page 22 in the catalog.
Good luck
Whit Otis
The proper name of the product is Westleys Bleche Wite not Westleys Bleach White.
I read the page of the Diamond Back catalog and found no mention of Westleys Bleche Wite at all. They did say not to use bleach on the tires.
Checking the MSDS for Westleys Bleche Wite at http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=2003016 (http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=2003016) I notice it does not list bleach as an ingredient.
My experience with Westleys Bleche Wite is good. I have not had any noticeable problems with it and I use it for cleaning parts as well. It does a great job.
But then I don’t like the oily look on tires that many people have. I don’t think tires are supposed to shine, they are made of rubber. Some of my friends in high school used motor oil on their bike tires to make them shine. Maybe that’s where I got my dislike for the shiny tire look.
Glen, you are quite right, the Diamond Back catalog only says not to use bleach products, so I stand corrected. However, when I bought the tires and spoke with them about tire pressure and proper cleaning issues, they specfically named Westley's as a product that should not be used. I presume that they would not name a specific product in their catalog due to the possibilities of some sort of resulting litigation. Since both Westley's cleaner and bleach are a corrosive, one could conclude that the effects on tires might be the same.. however, this is a subject I will leave for others to reseasrch. In my case, I did not care for the chaulky look that developed after using the product.... literally white and powdery, laying on the driveway. However, if that is a product you prefer, and you have had results to your liking, I would go ahead and use it. Also, using my current method of scrubbing the tires does not create a shiny look... just great looking whitewalls
Quote from: Whit Otis on August 29, 2007, 11:15:58 PM
Glen, you are quite right, the Diamond Back catalog only says not to use bleach products, so I stand corrected. However, when I bought the tires and spoke with them about tire pressure and proper cleaning issues, they specfically named Westley's as a product that should not be used. I presume that they would not name a specific product in their catalog due to the possibilities of some sort of resulting litigation. Since both Westley's cleaner and bleach are a corrosive, one could conclude that the effects on tires might be the same.. however, this is a subject I will leave for others to reseasrch. In my case, I did not care for the chaulky look that developed after using the product.... literally white and powdery, laying on the driveway. However, if that is a product you prefer, and you have had results to your liking, I would go ahead and use it. Also, using my current method of scrubbing the tires does not create a shiny look... just great looking whitewalls
Folks:
Check back to my previous post on this subject. Westley's does not contain bleach --
it contains a strong detergent. People are mixing terminology here.
I stated that "bleach" (meaning anything with chlorine) should not be used on rubber
and I stand behind that. The active ingredient in Wesley's is not a bleach, but
sodium metasilicate.
BTY Whit, your "chalky looking" whitewalls could be simply be from aging. Rubber
compounds (including tires) have about a 10 year lifespan at the most. After that,
the rubber has deteriorated to the point where they are no longer safe to drive on,
even if they look "OK". Whitewalls are especially prone to "staining" which is why
tire manufacturers tell you not to "stack" them for long periods. Also, on most tires,
the rubber (black behind the whitewall) will start after a time to migrate through into
the whitewall making it look yellow. Diamondback's claim to have a special liner / barrier
to prevent this -- but I'll let time be the judge to see how well they hold up.
I have used Westley's for 35 years without problems - but if it's discontinued I'll
just go with a brillo pad or similiar product or even a stiff brush and a detergent
to clean them.
Mike ("The Chemical Guru")
For years and years, I use a brass brush and spray on Chlorox Clean-up. Works great.
But all of my cars have blackwall tires now and that is even better (and easier).
Quote from: David #19063 on August 30, 2007, 06:50:07 PM
For years and years, I use a brass brush and spray on Chlorox Clean-up. Works great.
But all of my cars have blackwall tires now and that is even better (and easier).
Dear Robert:
The reason why this is working for you is that the major ingerdient in Clorox "Clean-Up"
is sodium hydroxide (also known as lye) which is a very strong cleaning agent. I
personally would not use this (it's the major ingredient in oven cleaners).
It contains just 2% of bleach (sodium hypoclloride) for disinfecting purposes so that
Clorox Inc. can make that claim that it "kills germs". Germs on your whitewalls are
normally not a problem !!!
Mike
Hi Mike,
LOL! Now I know why my white wall tires never make me sick...no germs.
You're right, it probably is not a good idea...but it does work wonders on old disclored WW's.
David
By the way to you all -- went down to my local discount auto store today
and he still has plenty of Westley's in stock. I bought two gallons --which
should last me for the next 20 years or more -- far beyond when I'll need it.
I paid about $10 per gallon.
So -- message is -- buy it now if you want /need it !! It doesn't go bad.
Mike
Quote from: Mike Josephic on September 03, 2007, 12:12:04 AM
By the way to you all -- went down to my local discount auto store today
and he still has plenty of Westley's in stock. I bought two gallons --which
should last me for the next 20 years or more -- far beyond when I'll need it.
I paid about $10 per gallon.
So -- message is -- buy it now if you want /need it !! It doesn't go bad.
Mike
You should have bought it all. It would be just like buying "Westley's" futures. Who knows in less then 5 years with Westley's in limited supply, you could easily double your money. If whitewalls become popular again, you could easily triple or even quadruple your initial investment.
I tried buying whitewalls for my '98 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. Size was P255-65-R16.
Could not find any anywhere in that size, even by special order.
Sucks, that car would have looked nice with whitewalls.
Derek
I have been playing with cars for 35 years, and nothing ever worked better than Wesley's. This is sad news. I will be stocking up on it, and if this is a rumor to boost sales, so be it.
I need my Wesley's!
Brian
FRIENDS! Why is it that after I clean my whitewalls with Westley's cleaner,SOS pads and/or 409 cleaner the whitewalls gain a light yellowish tint to them after a few days? This has happened with my Firestone and Dimension tires too. Any thoughts?
Quote from: EAM CLC17806 on October 04, 2007, 07:41:14 PM
FRIENDS! Why is it that after I clean my whitewalls with Westley's cleaner,SOS pads and/or 409 cleaner the whitewalls gain a light yellowish tint to them after a few days? This has happened with my Firestone and Dimension tires too. Any thoughts?
Response:
It's because the background (base) rubber migrates up through the white-wall and
gives it that "yellow" or "brownish" appearance. See my earlier post about this in this
this same group of posts.
Better whitewalls have a "barrier" sandwiched in between the black background and the
white outer white-wall to help prevent his. This isn't a new problem.
BTY, you don't say how old your tires are -- the older they are, especially after 10+
years the worse this problem gets. Not much you can do at that point except keep
cleaning them -- no permanent cure is available. Tires, especially if you drive your cars
at highway speeds, should be replaced after 6+ years (10 max) anyway -- they aren't safe
to drive after that unless you have a trailer queen that goes just 100 miles per year
if that. After 6 years or so, the rubber compounds degrade to the point that their
resistance to heat is about gone -- so accidents (blow outs, tread separations, etc)
become very likely.
Mike
Try Westley's on rubber floor mats! They come out like brand new!
Andy
This is late, but I just had to add my two cents worth here. I have five cars and will not drive or own a car without White Wall Tires - and yes, they are still available sometimes at a high price. But no matter what they cost, A Cadillac does not look right without them. As for Wesley's cleaner, I have been using it for about thirty years and it is a must in my garage. I remember the days of some kind of cleaner that looked like a bowl of jelly and I used a brass brush with it - back in 1954.