Is it safe to use Diesel to clean your tires?
03-28-22, 12:38 AM
#1
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Is it safe to use Diesel to clean your tires?
I accidentally rolled into wet paint on the road. The paint can no longer be removed by soap and water. Would diesel be safe to use? It won't melt the rubber?
03-28-22, 04:15 AM
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I would just wait for it to wear off. I would use anything BUT diesel to clean a tyre! Ever driven over a diesel spillage in the road? Come to think about it, diesel is about the last thing I would use to clean anything.
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03-28-22, 04:25 AM
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Get out and ride it off. If you must try to clean it off, try a Magic Eraser. Solvents and cleaning agents are most likely going to make your tires slick causing traction issues.
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03-28-22, 07:32 AM
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Trichloroethane will clean them right up, if you happen to have a can of it sitting way back on a dusty shelf somewhere.
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03-28-22, 07:40 AM
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Diesel in itself is someone 'oily' and certainly slick as PeteHski has inferred. It is smelly and also quite bad for plants and such. IE if you do so outside and get any on the ground nothing will grow there for a long long time. A guy I used to know doing landscaping and such used to use diesel along train tracks back in the day to keep them clear (he had a contract with the RR).
According to where on the tire it is it would probably be easiest to dismount the tire and work it back and forth to crack/loosen the paint from the rubber.
According to where on the tire it is it would probably be easiest to dismount the tire and work it back and forth to crack/loosen the paint from the rubber.
03-28-22, 07:52 AM
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Mineral spirits will work as well as anything, if it works at all. It won't hurt the tires and the smell dissipates rapidly, compared to diesel at least.
Road paint is pretty good paint from a wear and adhesion point of view..that what it's designed for. If it's a two-part paint..solvent won't touch it.
Road paint is pretty good paint from a wear and adhesion point of view..that what it's designed for. If it's a two-part paint..solvent won't touch it.
03-28-22, 08:27 AM
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Diesel fuel is a mixture of long chain hydrocarbons while paint thinner is made of the same material but with shorter chains (fewer carbon atoms) so it vaporizes at lower temperature. If one would damage your tires, the other would too but take longer to do it. Anything I know of that would dissolve paint so you can remove it will probably damage rubber as well.
Forget about using trichloroethylene. It and other chlorinated hydrocarbons were taken off the market not to piss off the consumer but because they were bad for your health. Some caused cancer while others could asphyxiate you in high concentrations. Best left unused. Enough people died using paint removers that this type of paint remover was banned.
Forget about using trichloroethylene. It and other chlorinated hydrocarbons were taken off the market not to piss off the consumer but because they were bad for your health. Some caused cancer while others could asphyxiate you in high concentrations. Best left unused. Enough people died using paint removers that this type of paint remover was banned.
03-28-22, 08:28 AM
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Just have some diesel lying around and want to get rid of it? Pour it down a yellow jacket nest to kill them, maybe, or use it as charcoal lighter?
03-28-22, 08:47 AM
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I'd use my belt sander.
03-28-22, 11:40 AM
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Just paint the rest of the tire to match.
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03-28-22, 11:46 AM
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I'd just let it wear off naturally.
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03-28-22, 12:09 PM
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In addition to being poisonous, Chlorinated hydrocarbons had the same greenhouse effect as flourocarbons. They've all been off the market since the 80s. It's very volatile, so it probably would have evaporated out of the can by now. It would, however, clean rubber OK, aside from pulling all the oils out of it - we used it for cleaning rubber rollers on tape drives in my Navy days.
03-28-22, 12:16 PM
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I had the same problem with some car tires after running over some spilled paint. I did not notice the paint till it was fully dry and was not able to remove it completely. I eventually just painted over the stains with black paint of the same type...
Also note that I have used Diesel for cleaning butyl rubber parts as well as many other available cleaners both water soluble and of benzine structure. For the most part butyl rubber tires have held up just fine. Or rather, received no more damage than direct Texas Sun and Goat Head stickers...
Also note that I have used Diesel for cleaning butyl rubber parts as well as many other available cleaners both water soluble and of benzine structure. For the most part butyl rubber tires have held up just fine. Or rather, received no more damage than direct Texas Sun and Goat Head stickers...
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03-28-22, 08:52 PM
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Is it safe..?
.
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03-29-22, 08:59 AM
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Diesel fuel is a mixture of long chain hydrocarbons while paint thinner is made of the same material but with shorter chains (fewer carbon atoms) so it vaporizes at lower temperature. If one would damage your tires, the other would too but take longer to do it. Anything I know of that would dissolve paint so you can remove it will probably damage rubber as well.
03-29-22, 11:37 AM
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The only thing diesel fuel should ever be used for is to burn in a diesel engine. There I said it.
It stinks to high heaven and if you get any on your clothes, skin, garage floor, bike tires, it will literally follow around for a long time.
It stinks to high heaven and if you get any on your clothes, skin, garage floor, bike tires, it will literally follow around for a long time.
03-29-22, 11:47 AM
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Use a sharpie to make it the same color as the tire. Then it can wear off on it's own.
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03-29-22, 12:13 PM
#24
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I kinda like the smell of diesel. It reminds me of being on a ship and have nothing but good and happy memories on a ship!