Before I attempted to use the tire dressing, I washed the car and gave the rubber a good scrubbing. For the actual application I used an old sock. When I first poured the dressing on to the sock, it was a bit runny, but still has some consistency. Keep in mind the temperature, 105 degrees in my garage where I stored it and where I was applying it and about 108 outside. I was a bit concerned, because with two show cars (one, a trophy winner and white!!) and having the tire dressing flung all over the paint isn’t cool, which is exactly what I won’t use the Eagle One brand.
I gave 3 of my 07 Vette’s tires two coats and I have one 3 coats. Take a look a the results.
First coat:
First coat - not even - most likely due to the sock.
Another first coat
An additional note – these pics were taken in my garage with a less than optimal source light.
Now with the Vette moved out into the sun and two coats.
Two coats - pretty nice coverage.
I really liked the 3rd application.
3 coats created a good look
So know I’ve given each tire 3 coats and since I don’t do this for a living, the next test had to wait. I had a few ‘honey-do’ chores, before I took the Vette for a drive. So the car sat in the sun for about an hour – temp was about 108.
With the to do list completed, I needed to take the Vette out to toss some air in the tires. Yes…average guy tools = small compressor that doesn’t hold enough air to top off four tires..heck…it can barely do one…got to upgrade one of these days.
Here is where the rubber meets the road and hopefully the tire dressing doesn’t meet the paint, but first a note. I did in fact drip some of Griot’s Garage – Long Lasting Tire Dressing on my chrome wheels and sure enough it cleans off with moist rag.
Take a quick spin about 1.5 miles from the house and I don’t drive 30 miles an hour…the tires spun pretty hard the entire trip.
At the air pump here is what I saw.
Light running
Same here.
I’ll mention, again the temperature and I think that might have something to do with it, but really this wasn’t bad. The real test was whether or not it spread to the paint and since it’s a black car you aren’t going to see it as easily – it’s a clear liquid as well. So a quick swipe with a white showed me all I needed to know, it came back clean.
So I’m pretty pleased with how the product worked.
As far as the “long-lasting” part. I’m not going to be able to render a fair opinion yet for a couple of reason:
1. I just put it on
2. We don’t get much rain here in Southern AZ but it is the monsoon season so it has rained 3 times since the application.
So that will have to be in Part 3 later on.
I need to add a few notes as I always do when I review a product. (Some of that laws school was worth the $$$.)
I don’t work for Griot’s, my only connection is that I”m on their mailing list. This is the first product I’ve purchased from them.
I did see a tweet from someone related to Griot’s Garage commenting on this review, but don’t know the individual.
I’m not Consumer Reports or Consumer Digest. I only comment on products I use in my search for “stuff” that works well for me.
Whenever I write about a product I try to follow the instructions provided and always give any variances or events/conditions that might impact the outcome.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Yes, understood on the tire use of the sock, but my point was that even “100% COTTON” socks have polyester threads. You can prove it yourself by trying to melt the cloth. If it burns into all ashes, then it is 100% cotton, but if you get some molten hard mess, then it has polyester threads.
I put light feather scratches into the hood of my once pristine all black Plymouth Duster by using a “100% cotton” sock as my wax buffer. Needless to say I was bummed……
I’ve been a customer of Griot’s for 20 years, or more. Their offerings are a mixed bag. Some items I bought were indeed the best out there and worth the high price, other items did not delight me so much. I will say that Richard Griot has an excellent liftetime warranty: no questions asked. I called about a shop light that my wife bought from Griots in 1990 as a Christmas gift to me. The lens had shattered due to years of Tucson Heat, and I wanted to ‘test’ their Lifetime warranty. It took the operator almost 30 minutes to find the original order (we had moved twice in that period and to different states), but once he found the order-there was no problem. I was responsible for shipping the old light back, and once receievd, I got the latest model shipped back FREE!
Since I am throwing out my two cents here, I also want to comment on the use of ‘old socks’. It is a car detailers ‘sin’ to use any old socks, or clothing for that matter as all socks have some polyester threads. Although your tires are not so delicate, most surfaces will get light scratches due to the polyester threads in old clothing. Perhaps the socks did not do enough ‘buffing action’ on the tires to get the the excess out of the nooks and crannies???
Do youself a favor; go to Pep Boys and get the 100% Cotton terry cloths in a 24 pack for $10.99. While they are nice and clean use them for paint and interior detailing. Then wash them and dry WITHOUT fabric softener. I keep a couple of buckest in the garage for the usefullness of the towels. Towles that are on their last use (dirty, stained, and worn) get in one bucket for oil cahnge and ‘one use’ type detailing applications. Better quality, or newer towels in another bucket.
Finally, wash terry cloths and microfiber SEPARATE. Two reasons of for this: one, the microfiber will attrach all of the terry cloth’s lint during the was cycle, andf two, microfiber towles will ‘melt’ slightly in a high eat dryer. The ‘melting’ of the microfibers can actually scratch your paint!
OK, you get FOUR CENTS form me today!
Thanks Bill. For the record is was a white cotton sock and only used on the tires.
Great info!