Need a new wheel brush. Opinions needed!

radarryan

radarryan

New member
I am in need of a new wheel brush because the ones that I am currently using are not getting the job done to my liking. Currently, I am using the Daytona Speed Master and Jr., 1" Boar's Hair Lug Nut Brush (the one from AG), and a Mother's Wheel Brush (thought it would be good for the face).

I am planning on getting a set of Wheel Woolies to use on the barrels because I am really hating the splatter that comes with the Daytona brushes. The bendability of the Daytonas are great, and I will still keep them around for behind the spokes, the caliper, backs of wheels, etc. but if I had to do it all over I would have just gone with the Woolies because I hate the splatter! Also, the lug nut brush works well for the lug nuts, but I need something that works better on the spokes than this. For me, the boar's hair is too stiff and makes it difficult to get the sides, among other things. The Mother's brush cleans the face but really is not needed.

What I need is a good brush such as the Swissvax wheel brush. From what I've seen, this is really the "gold standard" of wheel brushes. Many have had success with Raceglaze and some others. The ones I am looking at are:

-Swissvax wheel brush
-Auto Finesse Hog Hair wheel brush
-Wheel Woolies 1 1/4 inch detailing brush

Any opinions? I am really intrigued by the Auto Finesse brushes, they look really well made and the reviews from across the pond seem to be really good. The long bristles also would be a plus. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, especially real world experience with some of these products. Thanks and happy detailing!
 
Iv'e been using the Lake Country Wool Wheel Wash Mitt, the first one I got literally fell apart & the dye turned my hand black for 2 days.. haven't had a problem with the replacement so far though.

I use the Wheel Woolies as well & the 2 compliment each other very well.
 
I have both the RaceGlaze set and Wheel Whoolie "paint brushes". The RaceGlaze (1") is a bit short. The Wheel Woolies one is now my go to, but its not built as one as the RaceGlaze IMO.

So, I'd have to recommend the WW brush.

But, really this 8" brush does most of the work:

u2y2epy5.jpg


That brush is the must have IMO.
 
Auto Finesse makes wheel brushes???

IMO there is going to be drawbacks no matter what kind of product you use. I personally have never used the Daytona Speed Master Brush, but from all the reviews I've read on it, it's supposed to be one of the best. And I bet nothing can even compare to when you have to clean the inside of the wheel barrels with one. I kick myself everytime I don't have one for the inside of the barrels.
 
I use the race glaze XL brush (I think...the biggest one race glaze makes) for all the cracks and crevices. I believe I had to buy the brush form an online store out of Canada. I also bought the 5- pack of brushes off of amazon and they also work really well for the lugs. +1 on the wheel woolies! Can't go wrong with them either!
 
I have quite a few different brushes for wheels because I'm not 100% happy with any of them really. I have the Daytona, Daytona Pro, all the straight handle wheel woolies, the 1 1/4" wheel woolies lug nut brush and the wood handle "clean wheel" lug brush from autogeek.

Here's my 2 cents on the ones I've used...

The Daytonas don't clean nearly as well as the Woolies and splatter all over like you said. I use the pro for my wheel wells since my car is too low to use an actual fender brush in there so for me that's not being used as an actual wheel brush and it does work well for the fender liners on a low car.

The Woolies are the best of the bunch but I need to use all three on my wheels which makes it slightly tedious changing brushes all the time but that's just a nit pick and differs from car to car depending on wheel and brakes size which of course is the reason for different size brushes. My one actual complaint though is the short handle on the smallest Woolie is annoying as can be and I need to find a way to extend it since it's the only brush that cleans well which fits between my front caliper and wheel to clean that section of the wheel. The Daytona doesn't clean as well which is obvious on my black wheels. The areas I do with the Woolies look spotless but the area I have to do with the Daytona (next to front caliper) due to the short handle of the little Woolie not letting me reach back far enough always has a bit of a haze or missed dust. My wheels are also sealed and quite easy to clean so it's not like they need actual scrubbing which is what surprises me with how poorly the Daytona cleans when you can actually tell what it is and isn't doing on a black wheel. On silver wheels I never noticed its shortcomings since that haze left behind is masked by the silver finish of the wheel.

The wood handle clean wheel lug brush, the bristles are too short to be useful.

The Wheel Woolies 1 1/4" brush works very well for the lugs and in all the other nooks and crannies of the wheel and I end up using it for the majority of the face since my wheels have thin spokes. No complaint with it other than the price tag for a little brush but I'm still glad I bought it.

If Wheel Woolies came out with a long handle flatter brush for between big calipers and wheels it would be a home run and I'd ditch my Daytona gladly. Or a long handle version of the smallest brush would even work.
 
I think you need a good assortment of brushes to clean wheels. If you only clean your own cars that number may drop. With my cars i use:

Full Set of Wheel Woolies (3 pc set)
Angled Wheel Woolie
Short Handle BHB
Long Handle BHB
Uber Wheel Brush (Lugs and calipers/tight spots (jambs)
Large Daytona Wheel Brush (Mostly for wells on cars with little clearance between tire and well)

This all floats in my wheel bucket and I use what I need. Mostly the Wheel Woolies do 95% of the work and then I can usually finish with the Uber wheel brush for detrails, Short Handle for faces and Daytona or Long Handle BHB for wells.

I hope that heled.
 
Swanicyouth said:
But, really this 8" brush does most of the work:

u2y2epy5.jpg


That brush is the must have IMO.
Click to expand...

Thanks, swanic! I tried the 8" brush, but I actually found that the bristles were too soft and collapsed too easily. I couldn't clean the spokes and when I pressed down on the face, it just collapsed. Maybe it was used error? :confused:

I've seen in some of your previous posts your Raceglaze brush set. Question: where did you get the holder that you mounted to hold them? I have searched but can't seem to find them (searched for paint brush holders). The Auto Finesse brushes (if I end up getting those) don't have holes.
 
Addicted2Bling said:
Auto Finesse makes wheel brushes???

IMO there is going to be drawbacks no matter what kind of product you use. I personally have never used the Daytona Speed Master Brush, but from all the reviews I've read on it, it's supposed to be one of the best. And I bet nothing can even compare to when you have to clean the inside of the wheel barrels with one. I kick myself everytime I don't have one for the inside of the barrels.
Click to expand...

Check 'em out! I think they look awesome.

search
 
I like this one better simply because the wood handles don't stand up to soaking in my wheel bucket as well.

http://www.detailersdomain.com/Uber-Detail-Brush-made-of-Boars-Hair-_p_904.html



radarryan said:
Hey I'm sorry about that. I should have checked but I guess I missed it...

http://www.detailersdomain.com/Auto-Finesse-Hog-Hair-Detailing-Brush_p_919.html

^ here is the actual link, rather than me trying to "just" do the picture. There are some good reviews on some of the UK detailing forums, too if you're interested.
Click to expand...
 
radarryan said:
Thanks, swanic! I tried the 8" brush, but I actually found that the bristles were too soft and collapsed too easily. I couldn't clean the spokes and when I pressed down on the face, it just collapsed. Maybe it was used error? :confused:

I've seen in some of your previous posts your Raceglaze brush set. Question: where did you get the holder that you mounted to hold them? I have searched but can't seem to find them (searched for paint brush holders). The Auto Finesse brushes (if I end up getting those) don't have holes.
Click to expand...

Its just a peg board screwdriver rack from Home Depot. I had to bend it a bit to hold the brushes.

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The bristles on the WW brush is quite bendable:

u6esu2yh.jpg


Maybe this will help:

3y7yjaty.jpg


u4yrusa4.jpg


The WW brush has lost a bristle or two, but isn't "falling apart" for me. The RG brush is built better, but as you can see the bristles are a bit short.

RG also makes this "XL" brush. Good luck finding it though:

aruru7y6.jpg
 
There are no perfect brushes. In the end you end up with a brush breaking or something that last a descent amount of time but just nothing works perfect. I always hoped we could kicked around ideas to design a perfect brush.
I have Speedmaster pro and a couple of others. My solution to all my headaches. Wolf's deironizer. Get's all the gunk off for a good price with minimal agitation so I don't have to be concerned with find a great wheel while dropping tons of cash knowing they will fail at some point.
So every year on my cars wheels come off twice Spring and fall and if a client wants to pay extra the rims come off spray them down grab a brush scrub them down rinse them and coat them with two coats of CG wheel guard which really does a good job to keep brake dust baking on and all I have to do is hit them with concentrated car shampoo hit it with light power wash and apply wheel guard the best I can by hand into the barrels to keep them protected.
It's so much easier then chasing the unattainable perfect brush. Wolf's is so much easier and it's much cheaper then a collection of brushes that will fail at some point.
 
I have a set of wheel wooliest that have survived since TID sold them to me. Ture, that I only do my own cars so they do not get the same workout the Pro's give them. If they fail, I feel they are a good enough time saver that I would purchase again. For cleaning barrels they are #1 IMHO. The DD brush that you say falls apart has not and I have only had it a few months. After the first use, it stopped shedding. It is already better than the Swissvax wheel brush that the ferrel fall off or splits on me.

Nothing is perfect but for me my set up is the best I can find. I am willing to spend more for a better product and if I could find one better, I would buy it. I guess that is why I have so many detailing fosils.

Thanks for the input, I guess we can agree to disagree on the wheel woolies. If you are a pro, perhaps you just put them through the paces more often than I do. My car is dirtier than usual and perhaps I will document my next wash process and post the wheel cleaning portion so you can see what I use them for.

I might learn from the critique.

VaderGT said:
those fall apart..search about the Wheel woolie brushes..plenty of people had them fail and the bristles part just falls out and breaks apart. I have the AutoFinesse ones and they are great
Click to expand...
 
I like using either the Lake Country Wheel Mitt or an All Purpose & Wheel Microfiber Towel for cleaning the face and behind the spokes.

For in the barrels its either a Daytona or the Wheel Woolies

For the lugnuts I like the 1 inch Boar's Hair brush.

I am also a fan of the Montana Boar's Hair Wheel Brush for very delicate finishes.
 
+1, there is no perfect brush

I'm currently using a Mothers Wheel Brush for the wheels in general and also use one of those short handle wire/wheel brushes (green bristles) sold on the Autopia site. The Mother's brush is much better ergonomically.

I use a 16" Wire Wheel Brush for barrels instead of a Daytona, since I found it creates less blow back when pulling the brush out from between spokes, due to shorter bristle length. The bristles are also a little stiffer so there is more leverage to scrub. I also use a generic lug brush I picked up from Pep Boys for lugs.

Just my $.02
 
I have these



I detailed my engine yesterday



I also have the wheel woolies, I was able to detail more with the wheel woolies, then just the mothers brushes. However I was still not able to get into the really tight cracks and crevices, so I am planning on getting lug nut brushes also. So maybe the more the merrier?
 
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