boarhair brush for washing

I love my Boar's hair brush for my wheels. I got mine from Griots garage.



Pros: it's extremely soft, I don't stain a mitt from washing wheels, very easy to clean and last a long time.

Cons: Sometimes it can be a little too soft if you need some scrubbing power. I clean my wheels weekly and maybe every two or three weeks during the winter, so I don't need to scrub my wheels.



If you're looking to use it on your paint, wait for Accumulator to jump in here as he's a big BHB fan. Or search on his name and/or BHB. I'm still to chicken to use a BHB on my paint.
 
I've since stopped using my griots garage boars hair brush. I actually returned it after finally noticing the swirls it was causing. I'm now using sheepskin mitts
 
Quic- reply (gotta get somewhere :o ). You can use a BHB *if* your paint if fairly hard and *IF* you use it right. Yeah, search on my user-name and BHB (or something similar)...my first post to Autopia was about using one. If the post has disappeared let me know and I'll rehash it.



Short answer- gotta be *so* careful with one that I'm sorta shying away from recommending it any more. I still use one on some of our vehicles, but I've been doing it for over 20 years so it's almost just a habit with me.
 
I like the idea of being able to feel the surface of the vehicle as I use a sheepskin mitt. Not really sure how you can tell how much pressure you're applying if you were to use a brush. Just my thoughts...
 
That's a good point, and might explain why so many people have trouble with the BHBs. They just can't feel what they're doing so they end up washing more aggressively than they oughta.



The idea is to barely touch the surface with the brush, you sorta "whisk" the dirt off the surface as opposed to "scrubbing" it off. You gently dislodge the dirt and let the wash solution carry it away. If you use so much pressure that you actually bend the bristles (more than just the tips of them), you're probably gonna rub the dirt into the finish and that'll cause marring. Dirt doesn't really migrate up the bristles very much, so it's a different idea compared to how most people use mitts. And note that this simply won't work if you have a surface that "holds onto" dirt (e.g., a non-slick surface) or too much dirt buildup (i.e., dirt that's sorta bonded to the surface).



Plus, IMO most people can't resist the temptation to do a whole panel with the brush before rinsing it. The "easy, efficient way" of using a BHB (and it *is* quick and easy to do it this way) will mar the finish every time.



All this adds up to why I don't really recommend the BHBs any more even though I still use them on some of my vehicles without any problems.



FWIW, I never really press hard enough to actually "feel" the surface of the vehicle no matter what I'm using (BHB, mitt, whatever), but then my wash techniques *are* sorta outside the box :o
 
OK, after weeks of deliberation, I finally ordered my BHB from Braun Brushes in Albertson, New York. I decided on the A12D

which has a 2.75" bristle epoxied into a mahogany block.



Man..let me tell you this thing is put together like a fine piece of furniture ! First off you notice the heft...probably weighs two pounds. The mahogany has a beautiful grain and is nicely finished with what looks like spar varnish. Each group of hairs is bound together, epoxied and then set into the handle where it is epoxied again. Looks like it will last forever !



Its just so rare where you see real quality workmanship and for a very reasonable price. The A12D was the least expensive of the car brushes at $35.00 and I can't imagine the Griots BHB being any nicer ; and it costs twice the price of this one!



Not knocking Griots..they have some great products..but many can be bought for less. I also picked up a wash bucket similar to their signature bucket/w wheels for $17.00 at THE CONTAINER STORE here in Atlanta...even has the grid in the bottom for dirt to fall thru so you don't pick it up with each dip....





Will give a report on both after some use ..............
 
Cool. I just checked out Barun's Website and it looks like they make some good products. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were a lot better than the ones Griot's sells these days.



The best BHB I ever had wasn't a Griot's, and it might have been a Braun.



Just be careful with it. Dirt doesn't really migrate up the bristles, so you have to rinse the brush out *a lot* to keep from marring the finish. And you *can't* push down hard enough to really bend the bristles you'll cause marring that way too. My favorite BHB method is to shoot soapy foam through the bristles with the shower-foam gun, but that's sorta unwieldy to say the least.



Keep an eye on your finish, watch your technique, and let us know how it works out.
 
I have several BHB and never use them on my maintained cars, only on older trash cars and trucks....ones that a client may use for hunting and so on.



The nice varnish finish will fade, the brush will shed big clumps of those neatly glued in hairs and the wood will eventually split and rot. This takes many washes and for the weekend warrior it may be years before they notice this if only doing one car every week or two but for using it on several cars a day every week it doesn't hold up well.



I prefer to use on my maintained cars a rock wool deep sea sponge.



Anthony
 
Accumulator said:
My favorite BHB method is to shoot soapy foam through the bristles with the shower-foam gun, but that's sorta unwieldy to say the least.
Click to expand...





I do like the foam gun VERY much but I'm going to stay far away from any BHB. Heck I'm so choosy about sheepskin mitts I evaluate every single one on the shelf and have left empty handed many times because none were soft enough for me :o
 
Thanks for the tip on the bucket springerfever! I've been wanting a big rectangular bucket to fit my BHBs better but couldn't bring myself to spring for a Griot's or a Rubermaid.



I have TOL's hand-held and pole-end BHBs and I love them. So far I haven't noticed any swirls but then I don't have any clearcoat black cars either.



When washing I don't apply any force, just the weight of the brush or less and I try to visualize the tips of the bristles just barely "bumping" dirt particles loose. If the finish is smooth and waxed that's more than enough to dislodge and carry away dirt. I always use two buckets, rinse often and work in sections from the top down. In each section I only brush in straight lines front to back. If the brush doesn't fit a nook or cranny I use a light pass with a chenille mit. Anything that's left behind is for the clay bar.



I read somewhere else that the biggest problem with BHBs is exactly what Accumulator says, most people can't resist the urge to scrub.





PC.
 
the other pc said:
When washing I don't apply any force, just the weight of the brush or less and I try to visualize the tips of the bristles just barely "bumping" dirt particles loose. If the finish is smooth and waxed that's more than enough to dislodge and carry away dirt.
Click to expand...



Yep, that's it exactly :xyxthumbs



A friend of mine uses a BHB sorta carelessly, at least by my standards. So yeah, he gets linear marring from it. But before I coached him about the BHB and going front-back (note that most of the coaching didn't "take" :o ) he was getting much *worse* marring (far deeper scratches), and it was circular (hence more obvious). Non-autopians are gonna mar when the wash/dry no matter what they use. But the BHB *does* at least rinse clean and as SK2003TypeS found with his wheels, you can only "scrub" so hard with one, not as hard as with some other wash media. So in a worst-of-all-possible/non-Autopian situation, I still think they have a place. People who drop sponges on the ground or never wash their mitts would be far better off with a BHB and with most "normal" :D people I'm satisfied with just making some improvement to their process.



Oh, and yeah, they *ARE* just great for wheels and other things you don't mind being sorta aggressive with.



Oh #2, as I gradually redo the MPV (panel by panel, one per each wash), I'm just amazed at how *little* marring it has from 14 months of quick/careless washes (by my standards) with the BHB. I really could get by without polishing it at all, as I did last year. Three years of BHB washes and I'm only polishing it for the second time since new.
 
I would consider them for wheels, maybe for my wire wheel style wheelcovers, but I can just take them off and wash them in the utility sink like dishes:D Perhaps as a follow up on the undercarriage after using a stiffer brush?
 
Bill D- For regular washes I think you'd save a lot of time washing the wheecovers with a BHB.



I use the Griot's flow-through BHB for undercarriage work. Works fine as long as things aren't too nasty (or undercoated with something gooey). Not too user-friendly though, I just don't like long-handled brushes for undercarriages, no leverage and the brushead's always mounted at the wrong angle.
 
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