How To Clean Exhaust Tips With Household Items (7 Easy Ways)

Have you ever noticed your engine is making a strange gurgling noise? That is probably a reason for bad exhaust tips, or the tip is not clean.

Whatever the reason it be, you probably don’t enjoy the sound. In other cases, you might just want to improve the sound quality. Either way, you want to clean the tips for deeper, better sound performance.

Cleaning might seem like an easy thing to do, but things get tough when it comes to DIY it. But, heck, you can do it with the household item you already have.

So, the question is how to clean exhaust tips with household items? Washing your car’s exhaust tips with everyday household items is duck soup. Start the process by cleaning the debris around the tips and picking a household lubricant like WD40, and cleaning the surface after spraying onto it. You can even clean it with vinegar! There are a lot of DIY ways, actually.

Yes, literally, you can get the job done following these, but you want to know in detail about the process; hence the summary is just the tip of the iceberg. So, without wasting time, let’s get to know this?

What Makes An Exhaust Dirty? Common Dirt Problems

The sole purpose of an exhaust system is to evacuate the harmful chemicals, smogs, and gasses from the engine.

The exhaust tip is built with metallic construction and used to deflect the unburned carbon gasses that generally exist as part of exhaust gasses. So, it’s very prone to building exhaust dirt.

One of the common problems of the exhaust tip is it turns black swift. Forming carbon build-up is also a severe problem that causes common dirt problems. And, when the exhaust tip turns black, it’s due to carbon buildup. Accumulated pollution over time is another significant factor of exhaust dirt.

And here are a few things that may cause forming carbon. Here are a few:

1. Fuel-burning soot
2. Fuel additives
3. Incorrect air/fuel mixture

How To Clean Exhaust Tip With Household Items? ( 7 Easy Ways)

How you clean the tip depends on which ways you are following.

In this section, I’ll be discussing the different ways and show you step by step on each of them.

1. Use Vinegar To Clean Exhaust Tips

Vinegar is a common household item, and it’s very rare not to find it in your kitchen. So, you can make use of this readily available item.

Here’s how to clean exhaust tips with vinegar:

1. Cooldown the exhaust tips.
2. Grab one of your old yet clean cloth and soak it in vinegar.
3. Rub the cloth into the dirty or carbon formed area.
4. Wipe away until any residue is clean.

Following the steps, you can easily remove carbon build-up formation as well as clean the exhaust tips.

2. Use WD-40 With Exhaust Tip

Since carbon buildup is one of the leading causes of exhaust tip dirt, removing it can help decrease exhaust dirt in a reasonable sum.

Here are the steps you can follow in cleaning carbon buildup and exhaust dirt.

1. Make sure the exhaust tips of your vehicle are cool to the touch and that your car is well-ventilated before driving.
2. Clean a cloth or paper towel with WD40.
3. Remove carbon buildup by rubbing a cloth or paper towel over the affected area.
4. Remove any residue with a clean, dry cloth.
5. Repeat steps 2-5 as needed.
6. After removing the carbon buildup, apply WD40 to help prevent future buildup.

Following the step, you can easily prevent building exhaust carbon formation and clean exhaust tips.

3. Use Bleach To Clean Exhaust Tip

Another cheaply available household item is bleach, and you can use it to clean exhaust tips using bleaching powder.

Here are the exact steps:

1. Start by mixing bleach with water.
2. Rinse it for a couple of minutes.
3. Now, thoroughly scrub the exhaust tip using a rag.
4. Rinse and repeat the process, light dirt will be washed off.

4. Use Wheel Cleaning Brush To Clean Exhaust Tip

The wheel cleaning brush is handy and it’s a common item in your car’s accessories bucket, right?

So, why not make use of it?

Follow these steps to clean the exhaust tip with a wheel cleaning brush.

1. Pour wheel cleaner into the wheel cleaner bucket. (It’s another familiar item, you already have)
2. Apply wheel cleaner and let it dwell for some time.
3. Wait until the color gets changed.
4. Now, use your wheel cleaning brush to clean the inside and outside of the exhaust tip.
5. You should expect to see a good amount of exhaust waste coming out from inside. Wipe down and clean it.
6. Now at this stage, you will be cleaning the front and outside with exhaust wire wool.
7. Scrub off exhaust outside until as clean as you want. Once you are happy with the result, rinse down and dry.
8. There you have it, man!

Following the steps, you should be able to clean the exhaust tips with ease!

5. Use Steel Wool To Clean Exhaust Tip

Cleaning the exhaust tip with steel wool is a trendy way of the process.

If your pipes are heavily corroded or scratched, use automotive-grade steel wool with a degreaser or wheel cleaner to remove the carbon buildup.

In this way, scratches that metal polish alone cannot remove can be removed.

When you clean your tips for the first time, you should start using steel wool if they are filthy. Most polishes contain mild abrasives that can help remove light scratches or buildup.

Read Also: 4 Easy Steps to Clean Your Chrome Exhaust Tips

6. Use soap and water to remove exhaust tip dirt

Probably this one is the most simplistic way to remove exhaust dirt from your tip. To carry out the process, you will require:

1. Hose and running water
2. Car soap and several old microfiber towels
3. Cylindrical wheel cleaning brush
4. Degreaser or all-purpose cleaner

Here’s the exact process:

1. Apply soap and water mix to break down the dirt into the exhaust.
2. Find and grab old microfiber clothes to carry out the process.
3. Be careful that you will not get into contact with vehicle paints.
4. Carry out the process sincerely so that you won’t strain yourself!
5. Still, if the exhaust tip is not clean well, use a degreaser and tire brush.
6. Even if the dirt persists after this process, you can still use wire.

7. Even can use Cocacola to remove exhaust dirt!

Are you astonished about thinking about how Coca-Cola can remove exhaust dirt?

Then probably you don’t keep any idea about Coca-Cola’s ingredients. If you did, you should know that the carbonic acid in Coca-Cola can dissolve rust and dissolve dirt.

But, what should you do from start to finish?

1. Pour Coca-Cola into a bowl.
2. Now soak your exhaust tip inside the bowl after nicely placing it.
3. You can use an old toothbrush to rub off the dirt and dust.
4. Now, rinse the tips off with water, and dry them.

Cleaning with Cocacola seems intuitive, and don’t get it wrong; this can get the job done at your adverse time.

These are some of the few ways you can clean exhaust tips with household items. Note that cleaning stainless steel and black exhaust tips requires more extensive cleaning. Give them special care when you are cleaning them with household items.

Precaution?

When you engage yourself in cleaning activities, you should follow some precautions to keep you safe if you contact with harmful chemicals.

Here are a few precautions you might follow:

1. I recommend using gloves if you have them. Regardless of how you do it, give your hands a good wash after touching the exhaust tips!
2. You don’t want to use your driveway if you move your car to a suitable spot.
3. Be careful not to scratch or remove paint from the car.
4. Whenever you use a spray, make sure to spray from the top down.

FAQs

Can you use WD40 to clean exhaust tips?

Yes, you can use WD40 to clean exhaust tips. In fact, I’ve shown a step-by-step guideline on how to clean exhaust tips using the WD40 above.

How to clean the exhaust pipe inside?

You can clean the inside of the exhaust pipe using brushes and wire, and wool brush and steel wires can work best here.

Can I use steel wool to clean exhaust tips?

Yes, you can clean steel wool to clean exhaust tips. In fact, there are some cases you must have it, like cleaning deep, sticky dirt.

Does Vinegar Damage Stainless Steel?

Vinegar will not corrode stainless steel, and stainless steel can even be cleaned and polished using vinegar. However, vinegar in excess can cause corrosion, so use it in moderation.

Now What?

Cleaning your car’s exhaust tips won’t give a massive boost on performance but surely can improve the sound. Nobody likes gurgling sounds, right?

If you are motivated about this, you can easily clean exhaust tips by making use of a few simple household items like vinegar, WD40, soda, water, bleaching powder, soap and even coco cola!! In fact, there are lots more like this.

So, why shouldn’t you utilize those items for your advantage, man? Go get the job done! And, comment here when you get stuck to follow through with the process.

You may also want to see my step by step guide on How To Install Exhaust Tip Without Welding and if you are aware of the Exhaust then you need to know how hot an exhaust tip get.