Initial Impressions: Griot's Garage MF Wheel Wands and Foam Swabs

mjlinane

My name is Mike
In a different thread, I'd posted that I wasn't happy with any of the wheel brushes I had. I have a couple of CG offerings (Weasel and Raccoon) and a number of OTC offerings. They all "worked" but shared a couple of things in common: a metal spine and bristles. For my customer's cars (customers who didn't realize people actually cleaned wheels much less even knowing they have inner barrels), these worked fine - sometimes digging out years of caked on brake dust. But for my treasured cars (who look better than the day they drove off of the lot 1 and 9 years ago), they seem too aggressive and ill-suited for the rinseless washes I am generally consigned to doing. They also don't fit well behind the calipers. I also say "seem" because, after a year's worth of washes, I see no damage to the wheels. Still, just didn't think was the optimal solution. Then GG sent me an email last week advertising the MF Wheel Wands and Foam Swabs so I decided to give them a try.

When they arrived, I was a little surprised, They were somehow smaller than I was expecting. The MF Wheel Wands also use a stiffer MF than I'd seen before also but is was much softer than an bristled brush I owned. I really liked the spine was a thick plastic. The Foam Swabs looked like very large wooden spined QTips.

I tried them today during today's rinseless wash of my DD. The wheels were quite clean but you can't let a little thing like that get in the way of a good story. I use a grout sponge for the faces of the wheels and took the larger MF Wheel Wand to the inner barrel. It turned out to be an excellent fit and reached all of the inner barrel without any of that disconcerting metal-on-metal sound that I sometimes heard this the other brushes. I used the smaller one in the narrow areas in the spokes. I especially like that it didn't spray me with liquid brake dust while working between the spokes. The Foam swab fit nicely between the calipers and inner barrel.

So far, I'm quite pleased. If they last more than 6 months or so, I'll be ecstatic.

I'll continue to use the older brushes on my customer's caked-on wheels but like these so far. And, for the $26 total shipped, they appear to be a winner.
 
Thanks for sharing your impressions on these. I have looked at buying them in the past namely because of their price compared to wheel woolies.
 
Is it just me or do they look like the wheel woolies? I have been told that the wheel woolies are not 100% wool. Thanks for the review :)
 
thanks for the review

I've been wondering myself about these but have concerns that I won't be able to reach the full barrel of my rear wheels. The large gg woolie only comes in at 12 inches total and my wheels are 8.5 inches wide.

I've had it with bruising my knuckles which is why I get by with the daytona for now (I believe it's 18 inches long). Anyone use the GG woolie on wider wheels yet?
 
The microfiber wands sure do look very similar to the wheel woolies.

Do you have a side by side image?

The marketing pics comparison.

Griots
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Wheel woolies
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When they arrived, that was my thought, too. I'm thinking the smaller two. I don't have the Wheel Woolies to compare.
 
Wow, thanks for posting this - I was all set to get a set of wheel woolies until I read this. It would be interesting to hear from those who have both the wheel woolies and the Griot's wands - the price difference is pretty considerable.
 
The longest Large Wheel Woolie is 19 inches long and has a 3 inch diameter wool head. Use this long handled Wheel Woolie to reach deep into the wheels or clean the wheel wells of any vehicle, from cars to RVs.


The Medium Wheel Woolie is over 12 inches long with a 2 inch diameter wool head. This one is ideal for smaller wheel gaps, air diffusers, door jams, engine areas, etc.


Use the Small Wheel Woolie for small gaps, like grills, and narrow spoke wheels. It is 8 inch long and 1 inch in diameter.
 
Thanks for the info on these. I need to find something to clean the barrel of my wheels with. This could be ideal.
 
Thanks for another nice review.

When they arrived, that was my thought, too. I'm thinking the smaller two. I don't have the Wheel Woolies to compare.

I have a set of the Wheel Woolies, and in Georgetown (see your in Round Rock). If you want, PM me & we could meet up and compare the brands. I love the Wheel Woolies, BUT they are rather pricey.
 
When cleaning a wheel with wider spokes how do you get behind them when your doing the barrel. With a Dayton or comparable you can bend it to reach behind the spokes.
 
When cleaning a wheel with wider spokes how do you get behind them when your doing the barrel. With a Dayton or comparable you can bend it to reach behind the spokes.

That is one area where the other brushes could still be needed. You can get into a lot of the areas with the combo but definitely not all. They could reach pretty much all of my wheels but they aren't particularly wide spokes.
 
The thing with bending the Daytona is once it's bent, it should stay bent. Repeated bending and straightening will snap the center wire after a while. Some ppl keep multiple brushes for this reason (one bent, one straight).

I think I'll get some woolies and bend my daytona for tough spots...
 
The thing with bending the Daytona is once it's bent, it should stay bent. Repeated bending and straightening will snap the center wire after a while. Some ppl keep multiple brushes for this reason (one bent, one straight).

I think I'll get some woolies and bend my daytona for tough spots...

:exactly:

My plan, too.
 
I was wondering if the shaft on the Griots brush could be bent to reach behind. I was thinking maybe using a heat gun could soften it enough to put a slight bend in it.
 
I was wondering if the shaft on the Griots brush could be bent to reach behind. I was thinking maybe using a heat gun could soften it enough to put a slight bend in it.

I was thinking about that too. For the price it might be worth a try
 
The thing with bending the Daytona is once it's bent, it should stay bent. Repeated bending and straightening will snap the center wire after a while. Some ppl keep multiple brushes for this reason (one bent, one straight).

I think I'll get some woolies and bend my daytona for tough spots...


I leave the large dayton brush straight and have the small one that I keep bent. I did this after hear so many people having trouble with them. Im willing to bet with the quality service of AGO they would replace it if you broke it anyway. Better to be safe then sorry though.
 
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