cleaning tyres and wheels

A very effective way to clean dirty tyres is to pop the wheels into the dishwasher and run them through on a hot wash! This was a tip recommended to me by a young woman who tried this with the wheels on her pram and I passed the tip on to others and it is amazing how clean the tyres are! Of course the chrome also comes up clean too, so using the dishwasher is a great way to save all the hard work that normally goes with scrubbing tyres to clean them. If you don't have a dishwasher and have to clean your tyres the hard way, remember not to use bleach as this causes the white rubber to yellow. The best method is to use something like Cif or Cillit Bang and a green scouring pad. You might want to soak the wheels first to get rid of some of the grime. If you put them into the bath remember to put an old towel down first to prevent scratching your bath. An alternative is to buy an old baby bath from a car boot sale and use this. More tips of cleaning tyres and wheels are in my book Restoration and Renovation of Coachbuilt prams. The last copy of the current print run is now listed on E Bay, the cover is marked so this is listed as a bidding auction with a starting price of 99p and runs for 3 days. The next print run of the new updated version of the book is due out at the end of April