Why does tire staining occur and what can I do.
Why does Tire Staining Occur?
Tire staining can occur over virtually any garage floor coating. Pulling in and out of the garage on a regular basis can leave these nasty marks over time. While they do not affect the floor coating performace they can certainly be an eye soar.
Tire staining usually occurs for one reason: Plasticizers
Plasticizers are chemical compounds found in rubber used by tire manufacturers during production. These plasticizers will leech onto the floor over time and this is what causes tire marking and staining.
It most commonly occurs when tires get heated up from use. The tires are hot when they come into the garage and as they begin to settle and cool off the plasticizers from the tire leech into the floor, causing the stain to occur. If you tend to move your tires a lot while the car is parked, this can also cause staining and marking to occur.
If Tire Staining Occurs, What Can I Do To Remove The Stains?
We recommend our tire staining remover. Although we cannot guarantee this will work for your stains, we have received positive feedback that this remover works well for some customers. If that does not work, you can use a touch up kit to fix those spots on the floor. Another option would be to use parking pads that go over the floor and help protect the substrate where the tire will sit.
What can I do to prevent Tire Staining?
Using a high-performance topcoat can help protect your floor against tire staining but even the best of high performance topcoats can still be subject to tire staining and marking. Knowing what type of tires you have on your car can help you understand the chances of tire staining occurring on your floor. High performance tires tend to have much more plasticizers in them (the better the tire, the more plasticizers there are).
If you know that you floor will likely be subject to tire staining, then using our BallistiX clear sealer line as a final topcoat can help to prevent tire staining altogether. This special silicone ceramic hybrid coating has been tested to virtually resist all tire marking. It is one of the only sealers that can truly "prevent" tire staining from occurring.
Another option would be to use parking pads that go over the floor and help protect the substrate where the tire will sit.