My new favorite tire dressing applicator

S

SpoolinNoMore

New member
...is an edging paint brush picked up at Lowe's.



After trying applicator-free aerosols, sprays, and of course foam applicators that worked decently but wouldn't last long, got my hands messy sometimes, and would be hard to maintain in between uses, I've found a much more efficient tire dressing applicator in my linen closet. Although I'm sure others have used this before, this is new to me. It uses less product than sponges/foam/MF applicators because hardly any product gets absorbed past the surface of the bristles. You also retain much more control when dressing low profile tires, along with a more even coat (plus it's much easier to get into the grooves of labeling in the side wall).



Has anybody else tried using this before? I'm sure there are boar's hair detailing brushes out there for this as well, but I was very pleased with these results.
 
Wooster-Factory-Sale-China-Bristle-Paint-Brush.jpg


I think it's more commonly referred as a trim brush, but it's what I used to paint along the edges of the wall by the ceiling.



The one I use is synthetic bristles, it should only be $5-6 at lowe's or walmart.
 
I agree these work great. I cut them down so they are stiffer and waste less product. I use them mainly on smaller areas like windshield trim, etc.



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That is what I used for quite a while until I tried a HVLP spray gun with Opti-Bond Tire Gel diluted 1:1.
 
Hmm....I'll have to revisit using one of thse, it's been a real long time and dressings are different now. Will any 2" brush do? I must have at least a few in the garage cabinets somewhere.
 
Bill D said:
Hmm....I'll have to revisit using one of thse, it's been a real long time and dressings are different now. Will any 2" brush do? I must have at least a few in the garage cabinets somewhere.
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I'd imagine any brush would work. Upon closer inspection of my brush it looks like it may be some form of natural animal hair and not a nylon brush. It was just a trim paint brush I found from when we painted our old house a couple years ago. As Brad B. suggested, cutting the bristles shorter would give you better control and would use even less product.



Erik Mejia said:
Ill give this a shot, how well do they clean up?
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I actually just hit mine with the hose after I'm done to break loose any of the grime. As long as you have it as a devoted tire/wheel well dressing applicator, removing *all* dressing residue isn't all that much of a concern IMO. I'm sure if you had a bucket of APC solution it would be more optimal, but for me a hose rinse or even just spraying the bristles with APC and then rinsing is good enough for me.



Also, I used my brush to dress the wider side wall tires on my MDX yesterday and while the paint brush method works well, its a bit more time consuming on a larger side wall tire. I'm going to try cutting up some old foam for SUV/larger side wall dressing applicators. However for the low-profile tires, I doubt I'll find anything I like better than using the paint brush :xyxthumbs
 
SpoolinNoMore said:
However for the low-profile tires, I doubt I'll find anything I like better than using the paint brush :xyxthumbs
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That's really good to know! I'll make sure I get an all-natural horse hair or whatever type. Hmm..now I might have to find other uses for the years supply palette of sponge tire applicators I accumulated long ago.
 
Bill D said:
That's really good to know! I'll make sure I get an all-natural horse hair or whatever type. Hmm..now I might have to find other uses for the years supply palette of sponge tire applicators I accumulated long ago.
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Save em for the minivans! Or just send them to me :P I think I'll keep using foam applicators for the larger tires due to them being faster. However I don't like how my usual foam applicators only seem to last for about 8 tires before they get eaten up, maybe I need to find some more industrial-strength foam :biggrin1:
 
The problem with these applicators too is that they're old and have been sitting in the garage for years. I have to reglue the black foam sponge part to the yellow foam hand part and hold it in a vice before using, so maybe the brush will eliminate all of that now and last much longer.
 
While I have only recently started using the brush, I really don't see the brush tiring out any time soon. Especially when you're used to the "durability" of the sponge and foam applicators :angry
 
I'm looking forward to re visiting the brush. I don't even remember if I used one with all natural bristles. It's going to beat re gluing those sponges as well as cutting them in half to be able to use them on low profile tires. At minimum, it's going to be another option to dress with.
 
Thanks, I'll give it a shot. I'm thinking foam for the large, simple tires and brushes for the ones with a ton of grooves and lettering.
 
My old grout sponges have lasted over 100 vehicle applications with hyperdressing. Maybe the silicone tire dressings break down the media quicker than then water based products.
 
lostdaytomorrow said:
Maybe the silicone tire dressings break down the media quicker than then water based products.
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IME, it's the raised lettering and little ribs around certain tires(Michelins in particular) that chew up my foam applicators. I've started using demoted white CCS pads for applicators, they seem to last longer than standard foam apps.
 
mikenap said:
IME, it's the raised lettering and little ribs around certain tires(Michelins in particular) that chew up my foam applicators. I've started using demoted white CCS pads for applicators, they seem to last longer than standard foam apps.
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Same here, it acts like a cheese grater on those spongy foam pads :-/



I might check into some grout sponges to see how well they hold up for larger tires. It still feels time consuming for truck/SUV side walls regardless of paint brush or the carrand tire dressing applicator
 
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