Cleaning white wall Coker classic tires

[Tom's36coupe]

Have been working on my 36 coupe for paint job and finally getting around to blasting the wheels for new paint. The white walls have some type of stain on them, not sure what it is and my guy who is painting the car has tried cleaners and bleach white with little or no success. body work is all done and looks amazing, can't wait to start putting it together! Any suggestions on what might help? Thanks so much

[Krylon32]

When I had a 30 RPU with white walls they said to never store them with back side touching the white side. The body shop stored them one on top of the other resulting in some black stains on the whitewalls. It took some very aggressive work with Westley's Whitewall Cleaner to get the sides back to pure white.

[50fordcoupeman]

I sometimes try laquer thinner for stubborn stains. Always do a test area first hopefully on old tires. Good luck!!

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Lava soap and a brush works the best !!!!!!

[my4dv8]

Simple green on regular road rash every time.
I have lightly sanded whitewall that were damaged by a clutz at the tire shop. 400 grit to 600 grit wet ,worked perfect.

[Ronnieroadster]

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What you have on the white wall is called carbon transfer caused by laying the white wall side against the black side of another tire which Krylon32 mentioned above. That type of stain is pretty hard to eliminate. If the white wall was not laying on any black tire then its a flaw in the tire which has also been a problem with Coker tires at times.
I would never use Westley's Whitewall Cleaner that bleach will kill the white wall causing cracking over time I know from experience the stuff will do more harm than good. To clean and maintain a good looking white wall I find MisterClean multi purpose cleaner with Febreze works great.
Ron

[Tom's36coupe]

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions, give it a try tonight!

[Krylon32]

Ronnie Roadster's comment about Westley's cleaner may be correct but at the time it was the recommended cleaner. I have no idea as to the long term effect on the whitewalls as a few months after the cleaning the car was given away.

[Royal Ryser]

I had some seriously stained whitewalls that resisted all kinds of scrubbing, like steel wool etc. Finally, I used 320 grit sandpaper with water on my random orbit sander. That worked very well.

[rick r]

Castrol Super Clean

[38bill]

I use a piece of Scotchbrite with whatever cleaner I happen to have at the time.

[1927Tudor]

In a similar vein, I've had success with magic erasers and simple green...

[deuce lover]

Brillo pads worked for me.

[woodiewagon46]

Same as '27 Tudor, those Magic Eraser white pads that I stole from under the sink. My wife still doesn't know where there went.

[bmwillia]

I used Comet back when I was young to clean my moms whitewalls. Also Brillo Pads occasionally.

[HOTRODPRIMER]

Greased Lightning. HRP

[Steves46]

LA's Totally Awesome. Available at your local Dollar General Store.

[supereal]

SOS pads work wonders on whitewalls, particularly if you have any curb scuffs.

[Paul Dobbin]

I just took a set of Coker Tire wide whites off one of our cars. (66 VW) I had used Brillo pads and bleach white in them for 15 years. The tires removed were still perfect but the whitewalls checked and aged from the bleach & steel wool.
On another car (35 Buick) I have 10 year old Diamondbacks that I've always cleaned with Simple Green. They still look like new, with no aging or cracking.
The new set for the VW are Diamondbacks and will get only Simple Green cleanings.
I will also switch to Simple Green on the 3 year old Firestones on the 34 Ford too.
P. S. I also learned that garage kept radials last a lot longer than outdoor radial tires.