The most important factor on tire shine is to make sure that you use a water based product. Most commonly they are found as a white gel. Petroleum based products, most commonly sprays and transparent wipes, leave a residue that not only brakes down and hardens the rubber simply because of the chemicals used and their abilities to increasing effects to ozone the rubber.
I use 2 different tire gels:
Armorall gel, easiest to find water based gel and works real well! If you want a dull finish use one coat if you want it shiny use multiple coats.
AMMO Tire Mud. This is a premium quality tire gel and can only be purchased from
www.AMMONYC.com. It is designed to be as good to your tires as possible and provide the shine we are all looking for. It lasts a real long time, keeps the side wall supple by providing a blend of oils to absorb into the rubber all without sling. If you want shiny add more coats.