Any tips for cleaning up vintage gumwalls?

sparkybhp

Senior Retro Guru
Hi, anybody got any good tips for cleaning up vintage rubber? I picked up these Tioga tyres with the bike I bought today. The rubber on the tyres and the gumwalls is still nice and pliable but the tyres are dull on the sides (worse on one than the other).
Can they be improved?
Forgot to say that I’ve tried fairy liquid and a soft sponge..
Thanks! C2FB8912-9236-4D75-B490-A229C4E53CB8.jpeg
 
Fairy is very salty, what it did to my hands over 10 years cleaning window, I know!

If they will take the assault........put in washing machine cold wash, just a dash of powder.

I accept no responsibility for loss, damage, of tyre or machine, nor guarantee good results. Hehe. Done it a few times though, no probs.
 
Fairy is very salty, what it did to my hands over 10 years cleaning window, I know!

If they will take the assault........put in washing machine cold wash, just a dash of powder.

I accept no responsibility for loss, damage, of tyre or machine, nor guarantee good results. Hehe. Done it a few times though, no probs.
You know, my wife is very tolerant of my hobby.. but this might be a step too far!
Anyone tried toothpaste? I’ve heard people clean the rubber on their trainers with it, might try that.
 
Nail brush - Decent washing machine liquid - Small bin bag.

Soak tyres in the bath.
Take out the bath.
Scrub the liquid well in with the brush.
Put tyres in bin bag & tie up, stops the liquid drying out.
Leave for a few hours.
Takeout the bag.
Then rescrub & rinse clean.

To help with the scrubbing put the tyre on the rim, stick the inner tube in - inflate..... get scrubbing.

Depending how ingrained the dirt is you might have to do it twice.

Brings them up lovely and always works for me! Some say use WD40 but that only makes matters worse as that stuff soaks into the rubber and even after a good scrubbing it stays in the rubber and gets filthy rather quickly as dust sticks to the rubber.
 
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