Are your car’s tyres noticeably under-inflated or flat? Knowing how to top up the air in your tyres is essential for your safety and the performance of your vehicle on the road.

Want to learn this vital skill? We talk you through the process, so that you can stay safe and help your tyres last longer.

How to Inflate Your Tyres

You can either inflate your tyres at a petrol station or at home, and the steps will vary slightly depending on which you choose.

Putting Air in Your Tyres at a Garage

To put air in your car’s tyres, follow these steps.

Check your tyre pressure

Once you’ve checked what your car’s current tyre pressure is by following the steps in the linked blog, you can adjust based on your manufacturer’s recommendation.

Remember, you should always check tyre pressure when the tyres are cold to get an accurate reading – and you should never deflate a warm tyre.

You can check your car’s tyre pressure using the gauge at a petrol station, or you can buy an LED tyre pressure gauge instead.

 

Inflate your tyre pressure

Now that you’ve checked your car’s tyre pressure following the steps in our blog on the subject linked to above, you can begin to inflate your tyres.

Make sure that you are parked safely on flat ground, with the engine switched off and the handbrake applied.

If you are inflating your tyres at a garage, you can add air by inserting the air pump into the tyre valve and squeezing the trigger.

Do this in short bursts to ensure you don’t over-inflate the tyre – continue doing this until the reading on the gauge matches the recommended value for your vehicle.

Not all garage air pumps will use a trigger that you need to squeeze – some UK pumps automatically inflate once attached or when you press a button – so be sure to follow the on-screen or handle instructions.

 

Adjust your tyre pressure if needed

If you need to lower the pressure of the tyre, just pull the air pump nozzle slowly out of the tyre valve to release some air.

You will hear a hissing noise as the air escapes – move the nozzle in and out of the valve in bursts until the reading lowers to the recommended value outlined in your vehicle handbook.

Once you’ve reached the optimal tyre PSI, replace the valve caps and repeat the process with the next tyre.

Note that some garage pumps release air via a deflate button instead.

Putting Air in Your Tyres at Home

You can also put air in your tyres by using a portable air pump at home.

The steps for putting air in your tyres are largely the same as those outlined above for doing so at a garage.

Portable pumps can be electrically-powered or manual.

Electric pumps will usually need to be plugged in to your car’s cigarette lighter port or 12V socket.

Some electric pumps allow you to set a target pressure before attaching them to the tyre valve, while others require the hose to be connected first – so make sure you follow the pump instructions.

Electric pumps should pump until the target pressure is reached and then turn off, but you should check this as not all pumps will automatically cut off.

Manual pumps work similarly, but you will need to monitor the pressure gauge to know when to stop inflating.

Now you know how to put air in your tyres with confidence, so you can always maintain the correct tyre pressure for your vehicle.

Keeping your tyres properly inflated has several benefits for your car, so it pays to be the type of driver who invests in their car's future today.