Anyone using Griots Boars Hair Washing brush?

I know Accumulator will chime in here, they're supposed to be especially useful on wheels ,door jams, undercarriage, etc
 
Yah, Accumulator is a big fan of the BHB. I use the short handled one only on my rims. Mines about 1 year and 1/2 old and still looks brand new. Worth every penny.

btw: Nice lookin' CL :xyxthumbs
 
ACCUMULATOR....ACCUMULTATOR!!



Anyone home ;)



Hold on HotRodGuy, you'll get a solid response from the Autopian Boars hair guru.



The little Griot's boars hair wheel brush is awesome. I use it often, even on antique Mercedes wheels.
 
Spilchy said:
ACCUMULATOR....ACCUMULTATOR!!



Anyone home ;)



Hold on HotRodGuy, you'll get a solid response from the Autopian Boars hair guru...
Click to expand...



Heh heh, yeah, just mention the BHB or a Cyclo and here I am with a *long* post :D



Clarifying- we're talking about the "regular" BHB, right? The full-size one for washing the vehicle (pn 66073), the one that used to have a wooden handle but now has a plastic one. The smaller ones are great for nooks and crannies (and wheels), but I figure this thread is about washing paint with a BHB.



Gotta watch you don't mar the vehicle with it- these are for hard paint only. No problem at all on the MPV, nothing worse than "normal" marring on Audis or other "normal" cars, but I'm not gonna use it on the XJS' soft lacquer any more. Not as gentle as my "extreme wash technique", not as gentle as a perfectly clean mitt. It's not (IMO) that the hair itself is gonna mar the paint, but the dirt doesn't migrate up away from the surface very well (let alone get "trapped" as with a mitt) so you get marring from *that* unless you're *VERY* careful.



There are tricks you can use to prevent/limit the marring- use a high-lubricity shampoo, use a slick LSP and wash before dirt really "sticks" to it, rinse the BHB after almost every stroke, and use a shower-foam gun in conjunction with the BHB to flush dirt away.



The most important thing is to barely touch the paint with the tips of the bristles- just "whisk" the dirt away in a flood of wash solution. If you "scrub" you're gonna mar the finish. And if you do an entire panel without rinsing the brush, you're gonna get marring from that too. So if the vehicle is very dirty, watch out.



BUT..on the plus side, they're free rinsing- dirt doesn't stick to them. Mitts can sometimes pick up dirt that doesn't rinse out and thus cause marring that way. The BHBs last for many years (I still have two from the early '80s), but check that the flagging on the tips of the bristles isn't wearing down- it'll wear down to a coarse tip (that might mar- I dunno) long before the brush shows signs of aging. And, some of us just like using them better than using a mitt. A BHB in each hand is a pleasant way to wash, IMO.



Almost everyone gets *some* marring from their wash/dry technique, no matter what they use. Those that *don't* should keep doing whatever they're doing. The BHB can make the wash-induced marring worse if you don't use it right. But again, I sincerely doubt that it's the *hair* that's marring the paint. Wet hair, lubricated with wash solution, is *not* very abrasive. Yeah, it'll scratch a CD, but a CD isn't automotive paint.



Gee, how was THAT for an ambivalent BHB post from *me*?!? Sorta negative, huh? The thing works *GREAT* on the MPV- no marring after a few *years* :eek: It also worked OK on the WRX (I'd just polish once a year or so). But comparing Accumulatorette's A8 (BHB, no overkill techniques- just wash/dry the car) with my S8 (my extreme wash technique), well, there's no comparison. Her car has very slight (not a problem on silver) micromarring in spots that sure *looks* like it's from the washing. My S8 doesn't have any of that. Is it the BHB? I dunno, her car gets a lot dirtier than mine does, so that's a factor too. "Regular" wash techniques, using a mitt, will sometimes cause micro marring for me too, so unless I'm gonna do the extreme wash thing, I figure I might as well use the BHBs, I just like them better than a mitt. I oughta do a comparo- doing one side of the A8 with a mitt and one side with a BHB, but life's too short ;)
 
Accumulator said:
use a shower-foam gun
Click to expand...



Accumulator,



I've been trying for a while to locate one of these from several professional sources ever since I read you mentioning one. I also think you said they don't make the kind you have any more? Any thoughts on how I can obtain one, are they particularly expensive? Thanks
 
~One man’s opinion / observations ~



I wouldn’t go as far as to say “You'd have to pry it from my cold, dead, lifeless fingers� (LOL), but along with a sheepskin mitt I wouldn’t use anything else.



autosportcatalog.com has one as do californiacarduster.com, I can’t speak for their quality though



~Hope this helps~



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon

justadumbarchitect * so I question everything *
 
Wherever you get your BHBs from, be sure to check the bristles for adhesive contamination. Sometimes the glue they use to set the bristles in the handle gets *on* the bristles- scratch city it it touches your paint.
 
That sounds like a good way to keep the hair soft, but id be concerned about the conditioner leaving behind stuff in the bristles that could get on ur paint. *shrug* just food for thought!
 
Accumulator gee thanks another tool I'll have to get-does it siphon heavy liquids; ie Griots's wash?? If so does it consume about the same, more or much more than the bucket method with a quarter cup or so??
 
Accum, have you had problems w/ your old style brush (bigger one w/ wood handle?)





Mine is literally falling apart. You can pull the hairs out easily. I sent Griots an email, waiting for a response.
 
HotRodGuy- No real problems, but I felt the flagged bristle tips were wearing down. I gave my older GG BHBs to a friend who's not as particular as I am. Last I heard they were holding up fine.



My BH *wheel* brushes, however, are starting to shed a lot of bristles, including a few big clumps. I figure it's just normal wear and tear and that they'll only last so long.



I forget where I got my *original* BHBs, but I got them back in the '80s before Griot went into the detailing business. Their tips wore down a bit too, but they didn't lose any bristles.



RJJ- Heh heh, yeah, there are all sorts of must-have gadgets, huh?



Sorry, I can't really tell you how much shampoo it uses...I'm *FAR* from scientific about it :0 I mix up a much-stronger-than-normal batch of my GG Car Wash and keep it in a gallon jug. I then fill the shower-foam gun's cup with that and adjust the mixture so I get sufficiently soapy looking stuff out of it.



No, I don't think it would feed a high-viscosity material like undiluted carwash soap, but it comes out plenty strong anyhow.



I don't use it *instead* of the regular wash, but rather as a first-step to really lubricate/flush the surface when I'm dealing with the worst of the dirt. I'll use maybe one gun-full per wash, using it primarily on the lower areas (and the hatch of the minivan). That's one gun-full when I *don't* accidentally unscrew the cup and dump my mix :o which seems sorta easy to do.



I *will*, however use a few gun-fulls when I'm using it in conjunction with my "extreme wash technique" where I spray it through a cotton mitt. I do *those* washes primarily with the gun/mitt combo and just do a final quick (regular wash-style) pass with a MF mitt after I'm pretty sure I already have it clean and rinsed.
 
well i'm putting the boars hair brush away for awhile. After spending last week using DACP and NXT to remove swirls the car looked great. Went to wash it this weekend w/ my brush and what do I get afterwards? Micromarring. Gonna switch to wool and see if I like it better.





Btw, Griots took back my 5+ year old brush that was falling apart ( i mentioned it earlier) And I was able to exchange it and ordered a few other various items. They recieved the package last friday and sent out my stuff yesterday. Impressive service.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top