I was just searching and reading on those brushes. A lot of people don't like them and say they create swirls and scratches. Others say they've not had a problem.
I've read the same types of comments for years... a couple of comments...
First, paint systems are different, I beat this drum a lot because
A. It's true
B. It needs to be pointed out because I'm not sure most people consider this huge factor
I don't rant on any forum but about one topic and I brought that topic up here,
What new products would you like to see introduced at SEMA?
We've all heard people describe the paint on their cars as scratching so easily that even wiping them carefully can induce swirls and scratches. At the same time there are paint systems that are a lot less prone to scratching. I've found the paint on newer Mercedes-Benz to be very scratch-resistant from normal maintenance functions plus normal wear-n-tear as an example.
Color is a factor only in that it determines how easily or how difficult it is for the human eyes to see defects. Since most vehicles have a clear coat you're never really working on a "color" but a layer of clear paint, thus the reason color isn't really an issue.
I wash my truck using a Boar's Hair Brush but the red color doesn't show scratches easily to your eyes and about 90% of the time after I wash it I'm going to buff it with something normally to test out products.
Water softens
One more comment is that if you place a piece of paper in a sink of water what happens to it after some time goes by?
It softens the paper and can even cause it to start falling apart. That's because water is a universal solvent in that with enough time it can cause many materials to dissolve.
Using this same analogy of how water can soften things... one of the tips included on the Boar's Hair Brush pages on Autogeek.net reads like this,
Detailing Tip: Soak your boar's hair wash brush in soapy water for a few minutes before use to make the hairs even softer and more pliable!
Warm water is even better for softening than cold water. Besides that, rinsing your brush often using a two bucket method or with a blast of water so any dirt removed off the car is removed off the brush before it's used on the next panel, this way you're not simply transferring dirt from one section of paint to the next section of paint inducing swirls and scratches from the dirt.
I was thinking maybe a foam gun, a boars hair brush and a rinse bucket. Use the foam gun to apply shampoo, wash a section with the brush, rinse in the rinse bucket and then move on to the next panel.
Using plenty of soapy lubrication for any type of washing is always a plus...
How you wash your car is also a factor and something I brought up on the forum in this thread,
Do you wash cars differently?
and I also brought this topic up in my e-book on pages 12, 13 and 15
The big picture being that if the paint on your car is complete polished to the hilt you need to wash it carefully, not scrub the paint no matter what you're suing to loosen surface dirt.
The thing is most people don't pay close attention to "how" they are washing their car when they wash it which I also commented on in my book on page 15 under,
People Watching
Here's what I wrote,
Mike Phillips said:
People watching
If you watch the average person wash their car, you'll see they don't focus on the task at hand. This leads to rubbing their wash mitt back and forth, over and over again to the same area. There's no reason to do this. If there was dirt on the surface and did effectively loosen it, rubbing your wash mitt back and forth over and over again just grinds the dirt into the paint. This needlessly instills swirl and scratches into the paint. Focus on the task at hand and only rub your wash mitt over each section for a few passes and then move onto new territory.
The same advice would apply to whatever you're to wash your car be it a wash mitt, sponge or brush.
